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Dear all,<br>
<br>
First of all, pardon my lack of modesty, announcing the publication
of my own book rather than someone else announcing it for me. My
book is:<br>
<br>
Eugene Y. Park, <i>A Family of No Prominence: The Descendants
of Pak Tŏkhwa and the Birth of Modern Korea</i> (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2014).<br>
<br>
<img src="cid:part1.00080909.05060305@sas.upenn.edu" alt=""
height="198" width="131"><br>
<br>
The publisher's blurb:<br>
<p class="first">Koreans are known for their keen interest in
genealogy and inherited ancestral status. Yet today's ordinary
Korean would be hard pressed to explain the whereabouts of
ancestors before the twentieth century. With <i>A Family of No
Prominence</i>, Eugene Y. Park gives us a remarkable account of
a nonelite family, that of Pak Tŏkhwa and his descendants (which
includes the author). Spanning the early modern and modern eras
over three centuries (1590–1945), this narrative of one family of
the <i>chungin</i> class of people is a landmark achievement.<br>
</p>
What we do know of the <i>chungin</i>, or "middle people," of Korea
largely comes from profiles of wealthy, influential men, frequently
cited as collaborators with Japanese imperialists, who went on to
constitute the post-1945 South Korean elite. This book highlights
many rank-and-file <i>chungin</i> who, despite being better
educated than most Koreans, struggled to survive. We follow Pak
Tŏkhwa's descendents as they make inroads into politics, business,
and culture. Yet many members' refusal to link their family
histories and surnames to royal forebears, as most other Koreans
did, sets them apart, and facilitates for readers a meaningful
discussion of identity, modernity, colonialism, memory, and
historical agency.<br>
<br>
For more information, visit the Stanford University Press link at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=22981">http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=22981</a><br>
<br>
Yours,<br>
Gene Park<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Eugene Y. Park
Korea Foundation Associate Professor
Director, James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies
University of Pennsylvania
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.history.upenn.edu/faculty/park.shtml">http://www.history.upenn.edu/faculty/park.shtml</a></pre>
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