Presented by
DR. YOUNGJU RYU
University of Michigan
Moderated by Dr. Jae Won Edward Chung
“Abysmally ignorant” was how the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was described by its own men. Occupying the southern half of the Korean peninsula from 1945 to 1948 without much knowledge of the country’s language, culture, or history, USAMGIK quickly devolved to a government of, and by interpreters. This talk examines the figure of the translator/interpreter in the literature produced during the occluded years of the US occupation, both by major Korean writers and by American servicemen in Korea. Analyzed together, these works reveal the emergence of English in US-occupied Korea as an imperial language and as a mode of representation that functioned as a means of governance. In this sense, translation becomes a metaphor for the occupation itself and for the paradoxical presence of public intimations in an internal authority that was largely illegible to Koreans. The talk also considers the ways in which Korean writers turned the language of the US Occupation for the formation not only of the South Korean state but of its dominant ethos.
Brought to you by:
Asian Languages and Cultures
The Korean Program
SAS Global Asias
The Year of Languages
Contact