Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945 (9780801472701): Hildi Kang: Books

Amazon.com: Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945 (9780801472701): Hildi Kang: Books

Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945
by Hildi Kang  (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars    17 customer reviews
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"In this riveting and highly informative collection of oral histories, Kang has intricately woven together these voices into an impressive history of the Japanese colonial period that tells the story of people who lived their lives under the duress of the Japanese. . . . This is an important book and sheds light on areas not often covered in other works. Most assuredly, Kang's book is a valuable addition to the growing body of works on the Japanese colonial period. The 'voices' that Kang has collected for her book present a fresh view, not to mention a clearer picture of this period of Korean history."―Jeffrey Miller, Korea Times (3 August 2001)



"It is often said that Japan's colonial ventures produced two contrasting legacies: bitterness in Korea and positive memories in Taiwan. This book argues that Koreans had in fact more mixed experiences."―Foreign Affairs (January/February 2002)



"The recollections that Kang collected contribute an essential (but to date neglected) ingredient to our understanding of Korea's colonial history. Their contents disturb the neat package that pits the colonizing (Japanese) aggressor against the colonized (Korean) victim."―Mark Caprio, Korean Studies Review (2002)



"Whereas history is usually a story of 'great men' told by its 'winners,' Hildi Kang's Under the Black Umbrella offers new insights into Korean history as it was lived every day by ordinary people. The diversity and heterogeneity of human experiences in this book challenge the oversimplified story of the Japanese colonial period in Korea that has held sway in Korean history until now."―Elaine M. Kim, University of California, Berkeley



"For its many voices and for the candor that comes from those voices, Under the Black Umbrella is a book of exceptional merit. Through the observations and reminiscences of Koreans who lived under Japanese rule, Hildi Kang shows us an interesting and mostly unknown picture of daily life in a neglected colony."―Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago



"Under the Black Umbrella is a pioneering collection of oral histories of Koreans who lived through the turbulent years of Japanese rule. It has many rich, vivid, and moving stories that reveal diversity and complexity of colonial life. No doubt this book will be a valuable addition to the growing body of works on colonial Korea in the West."―Gi-Wook Shin, University of California, Los Angeles

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From the Inside Flap
"Whereas history is usually a story of 'great men' told by its 'winners,' Hildi Kang's Under the Black Umbrella offers new insights into Korean history as it was lived every day by ordinary people. The diversity and heterogeneity of human experiences in Under the Black Umbrella challenge the oversimplified story of the Japanese colonial period in Korea that has held sway in Korean history until now."--Elaine M. Kim, University of California, Berkeley

"For its many voices and for the candor that comes from those voices, Under the Black Umbrella is a book of exceptional merit.Through the observations and reminiscences of Koreans who lived under Japanese rule, Hildi Kang shows us an interesting and mostly unknown picture of daily life in a neglected colony."--Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago

"Under the Black Umbrella is a pioneering collection of oral histories of Koreans who lived through the turbulent years of Japanese rule.  It has many rich, vivid, and moving stories that reveal diversity and complexity of colonial life.  No doubt this book will be a valuable addition to the growing body of works on colonial Korea in the West."--Gi-Wook Shin, University of California, Los Angeles

About the Author
Hildi Kang is an educator and writer living in Livermore, California. She is the author of several books.

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Customer Reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
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4.0 out of 5 starsContrasting Takes on Japanese Colonial Rule in Korea
ByMax Becker-Poson January 26, 2002
Format: Hardcover
I think a lot of Western youth are by and large unfamiliar with Modern East Asian history. Many might be surprised to learn about Imperial Japan's colonial ambitions. For instance, Japan ruled the Korean peninsula for four decades: de facto as a protectorate from 1905-1910, and de jure as a colony from 1910-1945.
Even today, many Koreans, both young and old, continue to bear a grudge towards Japan for its subjugation of their ancestral land. Rightly or wrongly, they continue to vilify Japan for the crimes and cruelty perpetrated in the name of Emperor Hirohito and the Land of the Rising Sun. Other nations which fell victim to Japanese imperialism--China, Guam, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, to name only some--arguably suffered less than Korea, but the people and governments of these lands are generally much less antagonistic towards Japan today. We can see this dichotomy clearly in Koreans' nationalistic, vituperative demonstrations against Japan that continue into the third millenium--demonstrations that are toned down or absent in other former victim nations.
It is in this context in which Hildi Kang's "Under the Black Umbrella" makes for a much-needed book. Kang's series of interviews with survivors of the colonial period, who come from all walks of life, casts a refreshing light on the topic of life under the Japanese. Her interviewees do not all espouse the hardline, nationalistic anti-Japanese view--far from it. Of course some interviewees still seethe with bad memories of Japanese cruelties. But many of the now aged or deceased men and women speak of the mundane routines of daily life under the Japanese: growing up, going to school, getting married and raising a family, finding employment. Others are ambivalent: there were both unpleasant and rewarding aspects of colonial life. For instance, the Japanese restricted freedoms, but they also improved infrastructure (railroads, roads, dams, bridges, ports, power grids) and introduced new technologies. Still others tell of how they profited under colonialism, by growing richer and more powerful.
A note of caution, however: that some tales are not bitter or critical of the Japanese should not encourage readers to think that the Japanese colonial rule in Korea was in any way justified, or in any way laudable. We should also be careful of being swayed by the words of infamous (in Koreans' eyes) Japanese nationalists like Kubota Kanichiro, a high-ranking official who claimed in 1953 that Japanese colonialism in Korea was positive and benefical. On the other hand, we should come out of this book with an ability not to succumb to Korean nationalistic fervor. The colonial period was not a time of unmitigated, unequivocal evil. As we learn, it was terrible for some, but not for everyone. It was bad for many, but tolerable for others, and even beneficial for a small minority.
Kang could have improved the book in a couple of ways. First, I think she ought to have made it a little longer. For whatever reason, she appears to have excluded a number of tales whose inclusion might have enriched the book, or at least made it more appealing to enthusiasts of historical anecdote. Second, the interviewees' tales were mainly limited to descriptions of their life under the Japanese and the events that stuck in their memories. Perhaps the interviewer could have prodded the subjects to analyze their experiences more; for instance, it would have been interesting to hear more subjects talk about their overall impression of Japanese imperialism, or what were their personal feelings towards the Japanese.
Overall, however, Kang has performed a terrific job in writing this book. The author has done Koreans, history, and humanity in general a great service by recording and thus preserving these oral histories, which have been at risk of vanishing forever. What the Japanese did in Korea merits no praise. But it demands a balanced perspective, and requires observers and historians to tread between the nationalistic propanganda of which both right-wing Koreans and Japanese are guilty.
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4.0 out of 5 starsAn Enlightening Account
ByKindle Customeron August 24, 2002
Format: Hardcover
"Under the Black Umbrella" is a fascinating and enlightening account told by the Korean people that survived the humilation and in many cases the horror of Japanese rule for many years. It should remind Americans of the blessings and precious freedoms we enjoy. Mrs. Kang has done us all a service in writing this book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsRecollections by elderly Koreans
ByA customeron August 20, 2002
Format: Hardcover
Hildi Kang is very knowledgeable about life both in America and Korea. Her format allows elderly Koreans to recount - in touching and moving narrative - their life story. She provides a framework within which many fascinating tales unfold. Her commentary is not intrusive, but very helpful. A great book. As a highschool history teacher, I see this book as a resource which can personalize historical events - making them more accessible to teens!
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4.0 out of 5 starsOppression always fails in the end.
ByPete Boggon January 7, 2017
Format: Paperback
Having lived in Korea for almost seven years in the 1970s-80s, I was familiar with the outlines of this historical period, but to hear this experience in the words of those who lived through it was especially meaningful. The book is a series of reminiscences, recorded in the 1980s and 90s, by elderly Koreans (mostly in the S.F. Bay area) who lived under the Japanese occupation from 1910 to the end of World War II. For those unfamiliar with modern Korean history, it tells of the harshness of Japanese rule, the omnipresent police, and how their policies were aimed at obliterating Korean identity by absorbing Koreans into Japanese culture - forbidding their language, taking over the public schools, enforcing public attendance at Shinto religious shrines, and finally pushing Koreans to take Japanese names by withholding employment, ration cards, and other forms of coercion. It shows clearly the variety of experience - from torture and various forms of oppression to near-normal life in remote areas and small villages. It also shows how humanity is never extinguished, and that compassion survives in the oppressors as well as the oppressed. The most affecting part for me was reading of the kindness and friendships that passed between Koreans and Japanese despite the brutality of the Japanese occupation.