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English</title></head><body>
<div>Dear list members,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font size="+1" color="#000000">I have had similar thoughts to
those articulated by John below: given the increasing
sophistication of the academy regarding the fluidity of identity
construction, I think we should ask what makes a particular blog
"Korean." To what extent can one call the "Ask A
Korean" or "Stuff Korean Moms Like" blogs
"Korean", given that, as seems to be the case, the authors
have been living in the US for several years, and received a US
education? Is it self-proclamation of identity on their part?
"Blood"? The passport they carry? ( I would hardly be
surprised to learn that each carries a USA rather than ROK
passport.) The fact that they write with reference to
"Korean" upbringings? Clearly it's not the physical
location from which their blogs purport to be written.</font></div>
<div><font size="+3" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font size="+1" color="#000000">Indeed, are these blogs more
"Korean" than, say, the perceptive Scribblings of the
Metropolitician? Presumably yes, given the Metropolitician's
very considered proclamation of himself as "American" and as
adding an expat perspective to consideration of matters
Korean. Nonetheless, he has a Korean mother, he has resided in
Korea for something like a decade, and I understand that he now also
operates a separate blog in Korean. But what if he were the author of
"Stuff Korean Moms Like"? Couldn't that be an
"authentic" "Korean" perspective on Korean
moms?</font></div>
<div><font size="+3" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font size="+1" color="#000000">Let me further complicate the
question with an example from more traditional media: how does one
situate the work of Choe Sang Hun, one of the Korea
correspondents for the New York Times? I think his work is
outstanding, and indeed, he has won a Pulitzer. He is currently
based in Korea, of Korean ethnicity, and a fluent Korean speaker.
I don't know what his citizenship is. Does his work offer a
"Korean" perspective? Or because he is working for the
flagship American newspaper, working with American editors, is his an
"American" perspective? Are these questions even relevant,
or is what makes his work noteworthy simply the fact that he is a damn
fine journalist?</font></div>
<div><font size="+3" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font size="+1" color="#000000">I just want to throw these
questions out to help unpack some of the assumptions that may underlie
the discussion.</font><font size="+3" color="#000000">...</font></div>
<div><font size="+3" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font size="+3" color="#000000">Stephen</font></div>
<div><font size="+3" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I am simply left wondering how this
thread relates to the earlier thread about the presence or absence of
a "Korean position."</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>If there is not one, which seemed from my
subjective reading to be the opinion of most on the list, then do we
need to be worried about Korean bloggers in English. Or, rather,
shoul we look for informed and informative bloggers on Korea
regardless of their nationality, citizenship, ethnicity,
etc.?</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Best,</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>John Frankl</blockquote>
<div><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div><font color="#000080"><b>Dr Stephen J Epstein</b></font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Director</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Asian Studies Institute</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Victoria University of
Wellington</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">PO Box 600</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Wellington</font><font color="#000000">,
NEW ZEALAND</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Ph. +64 4 463 5703</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Fax +64 4 463 5291</font></div>
<div><font color="#000080">Stephen.Epstein@vuw.ac.nz</font></div>
<div><font
color="#000000">http://www.vuw.ac.nz/saelc/staff/stephen-epstein.aspx</font
></div>
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