Kindle
$49.46
Hardcover
$58.99
Suffering and Smiling: Daily Life in North Korea (Asian Voices) Kindle Edition
by Byung-Ho Chung (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Suffering and Smiling: Daily Life in North Korea, is a field report of North Korean culture based on two decades of the author’s personal observation and contact with people. The dichotomy of suffering and smiling becomes a lens through which the author observes the transformation and resilience of North Korean life. The book delves into historical struggles, such as the Arduous March against Imperial Japan and the 1990s famine, juxtaposed with the persistent theme of smiling propagated by the regime.
The author also weaves in the experiences of North Koreans, highlighting their ability to find humor and maintain humanity despite oppressive conditions. Anecdotes, such as spontaneous comments from refugees, showcase the resilience and subversive humor ingrained in North Korean culture. Despite its isolation and nuclear ambitions, the country is undergoing rapid social changes with informal connections to the global capitalist system.
The book provides readers with empathetic glasses to view North Korea while considering its historical trauma and the enduring impact of Korean War. It promises a rich exploration of North Korean life, offering readers a compelling narrative that combines personal experiences, political insights, and cultural analysis. It sets the stage for a comprehensive understanding of a nation often shrouded in mystery and misunderstood by the outside world.
Read less
Print length
237 pages
Product description
Review
Anthropologist, educator, humanitarian and activist, Byung-Ho Chung has written a book distilling decades of close observation of, and deep empathy for, the evident suffering and the enigmatic smiles of the North Korean people. Suffering and Smiling: Daily Life in North Korea examines the lives of North Korean refugees in China, those who have resettled in South Korea, and those inside the still isolated country, bearing witness to their protracted march through hardship and famine and their powerful will to survive and draw pleasure where they can find it. In a divided world and across the divided Koreas, Byung-Ho Chung's book seeks to build a bridge of understanding.--W. Courtland Robinson, Johns Hopkins
This remarkable, insightful and intimate account of North Korea breaks through the stereotypes to reveal the complexity and contradictions of North Korean life. Byung-Ho Chung's sensitive analysis of North Korea's cultural politics is a poignant reminder of the continuing tragedy of the division of Korea along Cold War lines, and is essential reading for anyone who seeks to make sense of that tragedy.
--Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Australian National University --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Byung-Ho Chung is professor of cultural anthropology and director of the Institute for Globalization and Multicultural Studies at Hanyang University, South Korea. He has visited North Korea as well as China's borders with North Korea on numerous occasions for humanitarian purposes. He also has conducted research into issues and concerns relating to the educational and social integration of North Korean refugees in South Korea. He is the co-author of North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics, R&L, 2012. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Product details
ASIN : B0D956W3KG
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (1 October 2024)
Language : English
File size : 13426 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 237 pages
====
No comments:
Post a Comment