Session 8 (10/27) readings

[Anonymous]

I love the theme of teaching through biography. I use some personal letters when I teach the Middle Ages in my World literature class and now have more examples to use as move through literary periods and into contemporary literature. I think quite often we overlook primary sources as valid pieces of historical information due to the personal nature of some of those documents, but the personal nature gives readers a new perspective on historical events, a perspective I think is vital to helping people understand that real people died in real conflicts. The movie source guide is also helpful - I would not have the time to put this together or research the movies, I hope to share this list with our librarian and social sciences department so we can further develop our common core curriculums.

[Anonymous]

Lost Names, by Richard Kim, provide an invaluable insight of the Japanese occupation of Korea. I especially enjoyed reading of Japanese teacher who was initially described as one that would be show up regularly late to the class. Initially I had thought it was because of an apathy in the teacher's part in teaching a class of the Korean students, but the shows his humanity and is disgusted at the Japanese for forcing the Korean's to 'lose' their names. I thought the stories of the lost names could be a powerful introduction for students to delve into the significance of family names as a part of a thematic unit on ancestry and biographical narratives.

I also particularly enjoyed the lectures of Korea regarding the development of South Korea and its infrastructure. My friend, a South Korean film maker who studied film in the States, filmed a documentary about Cheonggyecheon, a part of Seoul in South Korea known for its metal industry after Japanese colonizations. The film comments on, among many other things, a metal dependent and rapidly developing South Korea, inevitably leaving behind remnants of an old and underdeveloped South Korea that has more recently become gentrified for an urban beautification project. Here is a link to information about the documentary.

http://www.hancinema.net/hancinema-s-film-review-cheonggyecheon-medley-a-dream-of-iron-33127.html

[Anonymous]

I agree with egonzalez regarding When My Name was Keoko. I think we can easily find that students in our community (maybe not so much in today's society, but in their parents/grandparents) who were not allowed to speak their native language (particularly Spanish) at schools because of immersion requirements. Today of course we are more open to cultural diversity and pride in that diversity, but it's something to bring up that other countries struggled with these issues as well.

[Anonymous]

One of the attached readings in an excerpt from Kyung-sook Shin's Please Look After Mom. It's about a missing elderly woman, and how her disappearance affects her family. It was critically acclaimed in Korea and also here in the United States.

I read the translation when it came out, and honestly, I was not crazy about it. I felt that it fell into the same tropes that a lot of Korean dramas and folktales do--that of the all sacrificing woman/mother, who is so noble and honorable, even though nobody in her family appreciates her. I felt like I was being lectured by the author--appreciate your mother! She gave up everything for you!

I actually ended up discussing this book with my (Korean) mother, and she felt the same way. She didn't like the book, but felt a sense of great national pride that a Korean book had gotten such wide acclaim and recognition by foreign audiences.

I'm curious to know if anybody else has read the book and had a different perspective on it.

[Anonymous]

This reminded me of the Catholic schools to train Native Americans to be White...destroyed their culture, family ties and identity and beyond that the sexual and physical abuse that occurred. Occupiers always try to destroy the culture of the oppressed. Very sad part of history.

[Anonymous]

This reminded me of the Catholic schools to train Native Americans to be White...destroyed their culture, family ties and identity and beyond that the sexual and physical abuse that occurred. Occupiers always try to destroy the culture of the oppressed. Very sad part of history.

[Anonymous]

1. South Korean firm aims for the sky in L.A.
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/08/business/la-fi-downtown-skyscraper-20130208
I really enjoyed the lecture on Korean culture and politics because not only do I teach the Korean War but we also have a big Korean community here in Los Angeles and I’ve been wanting to learn more about the history and culture of the people. Here in the United States, South Korean companies play a really important role in the US economy. Companies like Kia, Samsung, Hyundai and LG are household names. Here in Los Angeles, Korean Airlines is backing the Wilshire Grand Tower. The 73 story hotel is going to be the tallest skyscraper on the west coast. This shows the power that South Korean companies have, even here in our communities. I just wish we had some more information on North Korea in the mainstream media that wasn't so biased. We have to do our research on non-mainstream media outlets to get some objective reporting on the DPRK.

[Anonymous]

I particularly liked Kim's Lost Names as the idea of name in relation to identity and culture which has been very relevant for me personally. After moving to the states at the age of four from living in Germany and South Korea, I kept my Korean name Yunsok as the neighborhood I initially lived in had a Korean population and using the name was not too out of the ordinary. However after moving to a more predominantly white neighborhood later in elementary school my parents thought it best to have a Christian name. As a result, my brothers and I came up with the most common American names we could think of at the time. Hence Daniel, Sam, and Bryan. For a period of time I didn't identify with my name and at many times failed to take notice at people calling at me. The story Lost Names intrigues me in the sense that these surnames were taken from them.

[Anonymous]

21. Hwang Craneshttps: I found this web source and I have yet to try the teaching materials. I like that they include the middle grades and not just high school. I particularly enjoy the poetic, descriptive qualities of the reading on the first page. The ethereal language to express the author’s sources of inspiration as well as his kin ability to distill the intangible and noble character of the “people” using nature as a literary medium to deliver an engaging worth reading short story. Sunwon appreciation for powerful symbolism is apparent in the confluence of the land the dwellers young and old as the means of symbolic representations of the spiritual and transitory nature of life. He grounds the journey and progression of life; the sense of wonderment of the young child to the aloofness and solitude of old age. //www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cranes-Hwang-Sunwon-Handouts-Worksheets-Answer-Key-Lessons-33324

[Anonymous]

http://www.melissakim.com/richardkim/lostnames.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">

25. This reading selection is a perfect example of the transformation the conquered/occupied undergoes during the aftermath of any hostile takeover, even among the same tribes or ethnic groups, “Asian on Asian” (from the readings). I personally can relate to the dehumanizing experience the Korean people subjected to. Similarly, in the New World where, La Malinche the indigenous woman native to Mexico and the Spaniard Hernan Cortez appear side by side in perfect cultural confluence and bliss. Contrary to popular beliefs, historical evidence shows that, Cortez took advantage of Malinche and together they created the mestizos-mix/hybrid group people. Like the Korean people in the story, (the indigenous people in the new world, lost their names to the Spaniards) lost their names and were renamed by the Japanese. Herein the US, at Ellis Island same treatment of renaming the immigrants from European and Eastern blocks countries was common practice. Malinche and many indigenous women were enslaved for the express purpose to give pleasure at will to the European men. According to historical accounts and illustrations on the codices the Spaniards ‘cruelty parallel that of the Japanese towards the Korean people. Consequently, the population at large was quickly annihilated and many died from venereal disease given by the Spaniards, and as a result of the subhuman treatment. Likewise, according to the readings the Korean people not only suffered unspeakable hardships; hunger and exploitation brought about by substandard working conditions, but were force to adopt the Japanese religion. I can help to reference, that similar fate met the indigenous people; they were force to worship the Catholic faith sanction by the church and the crown of Spain. My heart goes out to the unfortunate, demoralizing and subservient experience that befell the Korean women, their dire objectification by the Japanese, when they were reduced to become Comfort women http://www.melissakim.com/richardkim/lostnames.html
Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood
In this classic tale, Richard E. Kim paints seven vivid scenes from a boyhood and early adolescence in Korea at the height of the Japanese occupation, 1932 to 1945. Taking its title from the grim fact that the occupiers forced the Koreans to renounce their own names and adopt Japanese names instead, the book follows one Korean family through the Japanese occupation to the surrender of the Japanese empire. Lost Names, which was praised in the New Yorker, the New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere, is at once a loving memory of family and a vivid portrayal of life in a time of anguish.

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[Anonymous]

Although the grade level states 9-12 the instructional materials/resources in this lesson, can be modified to meet your specific students needs and abilities. After reflecting on the readings, it seems this lesson drives the point 'Lost Names" home and is user friendly. In the final analysis and from all the readings posted for the institute, I related the most to Kim's topic of Lost Names. I felt a profound sense of personal connectedness with Korean people and their experience of subjugation by the Japanese, about being foreign in ones own land, ones own country, with the Ellis Island immigrants, with the Native Americans and the countless human beings that for one reason or another have been subjugate/enslave by others, sadly in the name of whatever divine providence, lost their names and in the process their cultural identity.

[Anonymous]

Here is the lesson on Lost Names

[cgao]

Please download and read the attached documents.
edited by cgao on 10/27/2014

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