Amazon.com: Japan's Colonization of Korea: Discourse and Power (Peoples of Hawai'i, the Pacific, & Asia) (9780824831394): Alexis Dudden: Books
From its creation in the early twentieth century, policymakers used the discourse of international law to legitimate Japan’s empire. Although the Japanese state aggrandizers’ reliance on this discourse did not create the imperial nation Japan would become, their fluent use of its terms inscribed Japan’s claims as legal practice within Japan and abroad. Focusing on Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910, Alexis Dudden gives long-needed attention to the intellectual history of the empire and brings to light presumptions of the twentieth century’s so-called international system by describing its most powerful―and most often overlooked―member’s engagement with that system.
Early chapters describe the global atmosphere that declared Japan the legal ruler of Korea and frame the significance of the discourse of early twentieth-century international law and how its terms became Japanese. Dudden then brings together these discussions in her analysis of how Meiji leaders embedded this discourse into legal precedent for Japan, particularly in its relations with Korea. Remaining chapters explore the limits of these ‘universal’ ideas and consider how the international arena measured Japan’s use of its terms. Dudden squares her examination of the legality of Japan’s imperialist designs by discussing the place of colonial policy studies in Japan at the time, demonstrating how this new discipline further created a common sense that Japan’s empire accorded to knowledgeable practice.
This landmark study greatly enhances our understanding of the intellectual underpinnings of Japan’s imperial aspirations. In this carefully researched and cogently argued work, Dudden makes clear that, even before Japan annexed Korea, it had embarked on a legal and often legislating mission to make its colonization legitimate in the eyes of the world.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Excellent-- "Korean Quarterly"
A skillful narrative-- "Japan Times"
Students of Japan's history, domestic politics, and international relations will find this text extremely valuable, as will readers of theorists such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Gayatri Spivak.... Essential. All levels/libraries.-- "CHOICE"
A welcome and important addition ... It casts the entire imperialist enterprise--with Japan as an integral part of that enterprise--in a fresh light-- "American Historical Review"
Review
Excellent (Korean Quarterly)
A skillful narrative (Japan Times)
Students of Japan’s history, domestic politics, and international relations will find this text extremely valuable, as will readers of theorists such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Gayatri Spivak.... Essential. All levels/libraries. (CHOICE)
A welcome and important addition ... It casts the entire imperialist enterprise―with Japan as an integral part of that enterprise―in a fresh light (American Historical Review)
Review
This will take its place as a major book in Japanese and Korean history, prompting a reexamination of Japan’s controversial annexation of Korea. Dudden’s fascinating analysis rests on the sort of transnational research that scholars often talk about, but rarely undertake. Japan’s rise as an imperialist power should not be seen as exceptional, she argues, but rather was embedded in the global discourses of the time. She tells the remarkable and unsettling story of how Japanese leaders quickly mastered Western international law in the late nineteenth century, and how they used the new legal norms to legitimize themselves and their colonial project in the eyes of the Western powers. (Sheldon Garon, Princeton University)
In Japan’s Colonization of Korea, Alexis Dudden gives us a very compelling look at how Itô Hirobumi and other Japanese leaders viewed geo-political relationships at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth. In particular, she shows that Euro-American concepts of international law both provided a motive for imperialism in general and supplied an intellectual framework to legitimate Japan’s imposition of hegemony over its continental neighbor. Drawing on Korean, Japanese, and Western-language sources, Dudden adds enormously to our understanding of the intellectual foundations of Japanese imperialism, and her work surely will be compared favorably with other landmark studies on Japanese colonialism by Hilroy Conroy, Mark Peattie, and Peter Duus. (James L. McClain, Brown University)
Japan’s Colonization of Korea makes a powerful case that every step Japan took to erase Korea’s sovereignty was ‘legal’ in the prevailing terms of international conduct at the start of the twentieth century―and that taking Korea as a protectorate was a strategic step in Japan’s own efforts to achieve diplomatic parity with the Great Powers of the West. Alexis Dudden deftly dissects colonial rhetoric and practice from Sapporo to Seoul, interweaving biographical with textual analysis and showing a keen attentiveness throughout to Korean as well as Japanese voices. Drawing on legal history, colonial studies, and translation theory, the book is impressive in both heft and range. A compelling addition to the growing field of comparative imperial history. (Karen Wigen, Stanford University)
Read more
About the Author
Alexis Dudden is Sue and Eugene Mercy Assistant Professor of History at Connecticut College.Return to Product Overview
Product details
Series: Peoples of Hawai'i, the Pacific, & Asia
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (December 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 082483139X
ISBN-13: 978-0824831394
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews
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David Quigley
3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting, yet not an easy, enjoyable readApril 25, 2006
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
Dr. Dudden presents her argument that Japan mastered, and sometimes misused, western terms for international law. Using their mastery, they made their annexation of Korea "legal" by international terms. In doing so, Japan won the support of much of the west (excluding Russia) and situated itself as a legal colonizer of Korea.
Although the topic is interesting, the book is not one that is easily read. It is often out of chronological order and sometimes goes off on tangents that take the reader's attention away from the topic at hand. Dr. Dudden presents her points using words that I am convinced she searched through a thesaurus for, as the terms are often very obscure. Although she obviously knows the subject extremely well, it sometimes seemed as if she was going around in circles when explaining an idea.
I wish she would have gone more into Japan's actions when in Korea. The book is mainly about the "discourse" used in international law and how Japan came around in mastering these terms and even translating them into their own language. It is at times very boring to read, but Dr. Dudden does make her points clearly in each chapter.
I would suggest this book for anyone interested in Japanese and/or Korean history as it shows how a country can legally be taken control of just by the usage of language. It is a concept foreign to most people today, but was an important historical moment for Japan when they made the annexation of Korea legal.
Read less
8 people found this helpful
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Nerdus Maximus
5.0 out of 5 starsAn angle at this piece of history most historians and observers ignoreSeptember 25, 2012
Format: Paperback
Alexis Dudden tackles the Japanese annexation of Korea from the perspective of the legal framework which Japan used to take Korea into its sphere. She explains and details how Japan, far earlier and ahead of both China and Korea, mastered the western empires' usage and definition of international law to legitimize and defend their own takeover of other countries and adopted the westerners' own "game" to become an international power player, and hence, avoid the fates of those nations colonized by the west.
A short, yet rich book, filled with interesting and relevant facts. Merits at least two readings.
3 people found this helpful
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Excellent-- "Korean Quarterly"
A skillful narrative-- "Japan Times"
Students of Japan's history, domestic politics, and international relations will find this text extremely valuable, as will readers of theorists such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Gayatri Spivak.... Essential. All levels/libraries.-- "CHOICE"
A welcome and important addition ... It casts the entire imperialist enterprise--with Japan as an integral part of that enterprise--in a fresh light-- "American Historical Review"
Review
Excellent (Korean Quarterly)
A skillful narrative (Japan Times)
Students of Japan’s history, domestic politics, and international relations will find this text extremely valuable, as will readers of theorists such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Gayatri Spivak.... Essential. All levels/libraries. (CHOICE)
A welcome and important addition ... It casts the entire imperialist enterprise―with Japan as an integral part of that enterprise―in a fresh light (American Historical Review)
Review
This will take its place as a major book in Japanese and Korean history, prompting a reexamination of Japan’s controversial annexation of Korea. Dudden’s fascinating analysis rests on the sort of transnational research that scholars often talk about, but rarely undertake. Japan’s rise as an imperialist power should not be seen as exceptional, she argues, but rather was embedded in the global discourses of the time. She tells the remarkable and unsettling story of how Japanese leaders quickly mastered Western international law in the late nineteenth century, and how they used the new legal norms to legitimize themselves and their colonial project in the eyes of the Western powers. (Sheldon Garon, Princeton University)
In Japan’s Colonization of Korea, Alexis Dudden gives us a very compelling look at how Itô Hirobumi and other Japanese leaders viewed geo-political relationships at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth. In particular, she shows that Euro-American concepts of international law both provided a motive for imperialism in general and supplied an intellectual framework to legitimate Japan’s imposition of hegemony over its continental neighbor. Drawing on Korean, Japanese, and Western-language sources, Dudden adds enormously to our understanding of the intellectual foundations of Japanese imperialism, and her work surely will be compared favorably with other landmark studies on Japanese colonialism by Hilroy Conroy, Mark Peattie, and Peter Duus. (James L. McClain, Brown University)
Japan’s Colonization of Korea makes a powerful case that every step Japan took to erase Korea’s sovereignty was ‘legal’ in the prevailing terms of international conduct at the start of the twentieth century―and that taking Korea as a protectorate was a strategic step in Japan’s own efforts to achieve diplomatic parity with the Great Powers of the West. Alexis Dudden deftly dissects colonial rhetoric and practice from Sapporo to Seoul, interweaving biographical with textual analysis and showing a keen attentiveness throughout to Korean as well as Japanese voices. Drawing on legal history, colonial studies, and translation theory, the book is impressive in both heft and range. A compelling addition to the growing field of comparative imperial history. (Karen Wigen, Stanford University)
Read more
About the Author
Alexis Dudden is Sue and Eugene Mercy Assistant Professor of History at Connecticut College.Return to Product Overview
Product details
Series: Peoples of Hawai'i, the Pacific, & Asia
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (December 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 082483139X
ISBN-13: 978-0824831394
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews
Customer reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
2
4.1 out of 5 stars
5 star 50%
4 star4 star (0%)
0%
3 star 50%
2 star2 star (0%)
0%
1 star1 star (0%)
0%
Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer reviewSee all 2 customer reviews
Top customer reviews
David Quigley
3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting, yet not an easy, enjoyable readApril 25, 2006
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
Dr. Dudden presents her argument that Japan mastered, and sometimes misused, western terms for international law. Using their mastery, they made their annexation of Korea "legal" by international terms. In doing so, Japan won the support of much of the west (excluding Russia) and situated itself as a legal colonizer of Korea.
Although the topic is interesting, the book is not one that is easily read. It is often out of chronological order and sometimes goes off on tangents that take the reader's attention away from the topic at hand. Dr. Dudden presents her points using words that I am convinced she searched through a thesaurus for, as the terms are often very obscure. Although she obviously knows the subject extremely well, it sometimes seemed as if she was going around in circles when explaining an idea.
I wish she would have gone more into Japan's actions when in Korea. The book is mainly about the "discourse" used in international law and how Japan came around in mastering these terms and even translating them into their own language. It is at times very boring to read, but Dr. Dudden does make her points clearly in each chapter.
I would suggest this book for anyone interested in Japanese and/or Korean history as it shows how a country can legally be taken control of just by the usage of language. It is a concept foreign to most people today, but was an important historical moment for Japan when they made the annexation of Korea legal.
Read less
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
Not Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
Nerdus Maximus
5.0 out of 5 starsAn angle at this piece of history most historians and observers ignoreSeptember 25, 2012
Format: Paperback
Alexis Dudden tackles the Japanese annexation of Korea from the perspective of the legal framework which Japan used to take Korea into its sphere. She explains and details how Japan, far earlier and ahead of both China and Korea, mastered the western empires' usage and definition of international law to legitimize and defend their own takeover of other countries and adopted the westerners' own "game" to become an international power player, and hence, avoid the fates of those nations colonized by the west.
A short, yet rich book, filled with interesting and relevant facts. Merits at least two readings.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
Not Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
See both reviews
Write a customer review
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