[KS] Japan-Korea, France-Algeria: Colonialism and language policy

[Frank Hoffmann]

Dear Balazs:

Two things, very short:

1. We do not necessarily always have to understand similar developments 
as a kind of "copy" of some model. After all we do talk about the same 
wider East Asian cultural and historical Sino-centric world here that 
both Korea and Japan belonged to. The Koreans were certainly inspired 
by the Meiji period reforms, no doubt. But then, given the similar 
cultural past, and also given that, when talking about cultural purism, 
which I just called the lowest common denominator model, we may see the 
very point that this was an easy step! That cannot be compared with the 
adaptation of a far more complicated political model such as Marxism 
with its theories about society and economics (and culture), that a man 
like Kim Il Sung seems not to have understood until long after he was 
in power. It really just does not "take much" to get to what you call 
cultural purism.

2. You just wrote:
> I wonder if it was Taiwan's more ambiguous identity/identities 
> (Chinese? or Taiwanese? or Fujianese/Hakka?) that somehow "softened" 
> Taiwanese emotional reactions to naisen ittai. 

I doubt that this statement about a "softened" Taiwanese reaction can 
factually be sustained. Taiwanese history may not be very well known in 
Korea. But I see no such "softened" Taiwanese reaction -- what I see is 
the same fights, resistance, and collaboration issues as in Korea. 
Except, Taiwan is an island with no Manchuria or Russian Far East in 
the neighborhood where resistance troops could operate from or flee to 
for a hiding, or where they could create an alternative system and 
culture, more or less independent communities (so it was easier for the 
Japanese to control). ... And also, the differences I was talking about 
in my last message was more with those South East Asian countries in 
mind that had been British or French colonies. Books hardly make you/us 
understand these differences, but once we see how people talk about the 
colonial period and their own part in it, then there is a huge 
difference there. 

Best,
Frank


On Sat, 26 Oct 2013 17:48:03 +0100 (BST), Balazs Szalontai wrote:
> Dear Frank,
> 
> I certainly agree with most of your observations, particularly with 
> regard to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Still, I think that we should 
> distinguish between the various phases of Japanese cultural influence 
> in Korea. Your model is fully applicable not only to the 1880s and 
> 1890s (with Kim Ok-kyun as a notable example) but also to the 
> "cultural policy" in the 1920s. 1937-45 is another matter, however. 
> In my opinion, the Japanese cultural impact that Korean society 
> encountered in these periods probably would not have triggered a 
> long-term policy of cultural purism, but the policy of naisen ittai 
> did (see South Korea's official import ban on Japanese films, pop 
> music, etc., which persisted until 1998, and which had no real 
> equivalent in other post-colonial countries in Asia). I wonder if it 
> was Taiwan's more ambiguous identity/identities (Chinese? or 
> Taiwanese? or Fujianese/Hakka?) that somehow "softened" Taiwanese 
> emotional reactions to naisen ittai.  
> 
> All the best,
> Balazs Szalontai
> 
> 

--------------------------------------
Frank Hoffmann
http://koreanstudies.com