Product Description
In this volume, an international group of contributors provides a multi-layered analysis of the emerging East Asian media culture, using the Korean TV drama as its analytic vehicle. By closely examining the political economy of TV industry, audiences of the regional media flows in terms of gender subjectivity constructions, perceptions of colonial-postcolonial relationships, and nationalist responses to trans-national media culture exchanges, contributors highlight the multiple connectivities and implications of popular cultural flows and exchanges in East Asia.

In spite of the obvious flows and exchanges that constitute pan-East Asian Pop Culture as a relatively coherent unit, the academic research community is far behind the cultural industry producers who have long factored the regional consumer market into their production and marketing. This volume is motivated by the need to find both the conceptual and institutional site(s) for the constitution of an East Asian Pop Culture. The resulting discoveries demonstrate that this culture co-exists with US domination in global media industry, and offers new empirical and conceptual insights into cultural globalization which cannot be ascertained in existing US-centric analyses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

good book for East Asian popular culture
It's a very good book to learn about the East Asian pop culture and the Korean Wave phenomenone. ... Read more

Product Description
For the past decade, the Korean film industry has enjoyed a renaissance. With innovative storytelling and visceral effects, Korean films not only have been commercially viable in the domestic and regional markets but also have appealed to cinephiles everywhere on the international festival circuit. This book provides both an industrial and an aesthetic account of how the Korean film industry managed to turn an economic crisis--triggered in part by globalizing processes in the world film industry--into a fiscal and cultural boom. Jinhee Choi examines the ways in which Korean film production companies, backed by affluent corporations and venture capitalists, concocted a variety of winning production trends. Through close analyses of key films, Choi demonstrates how contemporary Korean cinema portrays issues immediate to its own Korean audiences while incorporating the transnational aesthetics of Hollywood and other national cinemas such as Hong Kong and Japan. Appendices include data on box office rankings, numbers of films produced and released, market shares, and film festival showings. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1987 South Korea began a democratic transition after almost three decades of significant economic development under authoritarian rule. Increased civil unrest caused by dissatisfaction resulted in the regime agreeing to constitutional changes in the summer of 1987. By 1992 the first president without a military background was elected and during his tenure a further deepening of democracy took place. These reforms were instrumental in making it possible that in 1997 for the first time in South Korean history an opposition candidate was elected president. This book examines the initial transition and later attempts at consolidating democracy in South Korea, and argues that although significant progress had been made and a power alternation achieved by late 1997, South Korea could not, by the end of that decade (1987-97), be considered a consolidated democracy. ... Read more

Product Description
On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts in South Korea face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts to South Korea? How important is South Korea compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts vary from one country of origin to another in South Korea? On the supply side, South Korea also exports human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts. Which countries receive the most exports from South Korea? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers?

This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts in South Korea. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts for those countries serving South Korea via exports, or supplying from South Korea via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models.

In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting, but problematic
This book was just added to the collection of our public library.As I reviewed the reading level and content to make sure we gave it the appropriate classification, I noticed couple problems. Wish we knew about this before we made this purchase.

First, there was a section which described the Korean Jindo dog "as a wild dog from Jindo Island". The last paragraph describes the animal as a "smart, loyal dog" who "loves its owner".Okay, is the dog wild or a pet?The article makes no mention of the domestication of this dog.

Second, author states that the North Korean "government does not allow religion", but allows "some religious groups to make it look like there is religious freedom".What evidence does the author base this statement on?Or is this just her opinion?We should know one way or the other.Later, in a section about schooling there is mention of religious school.Is that just for show as well?

Third, there is also a statement that "few North Koreans have computers".The author explains that this is because government doen't want the "people to get information about the outside world through the internet".Is this really why they don't have computers, or is that perhaps why they don't have internet access?Perhaps they don't have computers because most people don't have any money to spare. Or perhaps the shortage of electricity means that people don't see much point to getting computer.

As with any book, whether intended for research or just informational purposes, the author and publisher have an obligation to be clear as to what is fact and what is not.If it is fact make that clear by siting a source. ... Read more

Product Description
Hong-Key Yoon's book explores the nature of geomantic principles (fengshui) and the culture of practicing them in Korean cultural contexts. He clearly analyzes the nature and historical background of geomancy, the principles for selecting auspicious sites, and provides an extensive interpretation of geomantic principles as practiced in Korea. The impacts of geomancy on traditional cartography, religion, urban development, and finally iconographical warfare are all discussed in great detail. ... Read more

Product Description
More and more American professional women are traveling to the new industrial powerhouses of East Asia, but the region's traditional attitudes about "a woman's place" pose special problems.This practical guide helps counteract these attitudes to bolster the visiting businesswoman's authority and effectiveness.Extensive checklists summarize key points of etiquette and winning strategies for working effectively.Amazon.com Review
Asia has the fastest growing economy on the globe, so it's no surprise that professional women are traveling there with greater frequency. But doing business in Asia is a delicate balancing act for a woman, since the region's traditional attitudes about a "woman's place" can pose special problems. In Asia for Women on Business, authors Tracey Wilen and Patricia Wilen try to give their readers some sound practical advice on cracking the culture barrier. The focus of this book is on "the Four Tigers": Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea; the first three chapters give overviews of the four countries in terms of culture shock, doing business, and after-hours entertainment. Chapter 4 presents strategies for handling discrimination and sexual harassment, while chapter 5 discusses the importance of dining, a huge part of doing business in Asia.

The rest of the book is divided into chapters that deal with the Four Tigers individually. Each of these chapters contains anecdotes from women who have conducted business in the country, general rules of etiquette that cover business, dining, and gift-giving, and a list of recommended hotels, restaurants, and nightspots. There's also information about safety, transportation, and sightseeing. So before you head out on that next business trip to Asia, pick up a copy of Asia for Women on Business. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Business women in Asia
Book covers aspects of travel for women in business that are neglected elsewhere.I found it right on in most instances and extremely helpful.Even, as a male.My wives and colleagues agree wholeheartedly.

Very Useful for frequent or first time traveler to Asia.
I studied this book for 2 weeks before my first trip to Korea and Hong Kong. Wow! Very informative with lots of basic but important details about meeting rituals, business card etiquette and tons more! My Boss who hasbeen traveling to Asia for 16 years wants a copy of this fabulous book!

A must read for women traveling to the "Four Tigers".
Our consulting staff recommends this book to all business women travelling to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. For each country, it covers rules of business and social etiquette, gift-giving, how to handle what westerners consider to be sexual harassment, a list of recommended hotels, restaurants and "in" nightspots, and helpful suggestions on how to conduct business successfully in the local culture. Truly a bargain at this price. John R. Jagoe, Director, Export Institute. ... Read more

Product Description
Korean Culture Series #3 In "Palaces of Korea", Kim Dong-uk, a renowned historian of Korean architecture, guides readers on a journey through the history of palaces in Korea, daily life and ceremonial events, and palace architecture. However, the author also writes extensively about the similarities and differences between palaces across East Asia, namely Japan and China. The book includes a glossary of all terms transliterated into English with their Chinese counterparts. ... Read more

Product Description
Examining the theoretical, historical, and contemporary impact of South Korea’s Golden Age of cinema. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Insightful Essays on Korean Gender in Film
Collecting a series of essays on gender and nationalism as presented in the golden age of Korean melodrama, this book offers unique insights into this formative period of South Korean film.The contributors are experts in their subjects.Though at times critical, they are never belittling.The tone overall is one of respect and love for the genre, despite its flaws.The authors offer useful observations about the nature of gender as presented in these early works.South Korean melodramas during the 1950s and 1960s were targeted at a predominately middle-aged, married female audience, as noted in an essay by film scholar Soyoung Kim: 'The melodramatic genre was considered an outlet for women to release their han (pent-up grief) over their experiences relating to repressive neo-Confucian patriarchy.' (p. 190)Kim's essay focuses on the intense emotive quality of Kim Ki-young's The Housemaid, which was designed specifically to appeal to these viewers.It is interesting to note that these same themes continue to appeal to modern audiences--Im Sang-soo's remake of The Housemaid was well-received at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.The insights offered in this book remain relevant.

D. Bannon is a professional translator.He has subtitled many popular Korean dramas, most recently Dong Yi, The Great Queen Seondeok Vol. 1 and Time Between Dog and Wolf.He discusses subtitle translation in The Elements of Subtitles, Revised and Expanded Edition: A Practical Guide to the Art of Dialogue, Character, Context, Tone and Style in Subtitling ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3941 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Internet Companies of South Korea, Daum, Seoulpodcast, Palbee, South Korean Web Culture, Naver, Ohmynews, Musicshake, .Kr, Korean Progressive Network, Nhn, Ohmynews International, Empas, Nate, National Internet Development Agency of Korea, Internet Auction Co.. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 55. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: SeoulPodcast is a podcast by three ESL teachers living in and around Seoul, South Korea. This weekly show is sponsored by the Korea Herald.. The show gives listeners who are intent on teaching ESL in Korea advice on how to land a good job, be a successful ESL teacher, and generally succeed as an expatriate in South Korea. It is hosted by Joe McPherson (native of Alabama, USA), Jennifer Young (native of Louisiana, USA) and Stafford Lumsden (native of Auckland, New Zealand). Most shows feature a guest, usually a notable personality in the Korean blogging community. Joe McPherson is a food writer for the Korea Herald daily newspaper and a judge for the Miele Guide. McPherson is also the publisher of the Zenkimchi blog which was mentioned in the New York Times. McPherson lives in the Seoul satellite city of Anyang. Jennifer Young is vice president of Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KOTESOL) Seoul Chapter. Young is also a graduate of the US military's Defense Language Institute, where she learned the Korean language. Young lives in the Seoul satellite city of Bundang. She has been teaching in Korea since 1998 and survived the Korean IMF crisis. Stafford Lumsden is an Elementary School teacher in Gangnam, Seoul and has had a number of articles published including in The East, a London based community paper for East Asian ex-pats living in the United Kingdom. The show began March 28, 2008 and remains an active weekly podcast....More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18461128 ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Australian Journal of Education, published by Australian Council for Educational Research on April 1, 2005. The length of the article is 6992 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Internationalisation of higher education in South Korea: reality, rhetoric, and disparity in academic culture and identities.
Author: Terri Kim
Publication: Australian Journal of Education (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2005
Publisher: Australian Council for Educational Research
Volume: 49Issue: 1Page: 89(15)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
In this sweeping intellectual and cultural history of the minjung ("common people's") movement in South Korea, Namhee Lee shows how the movement arose in the 1970s and 1980s in response to the repressive authoritarian regime and grew out of a widespread sense that the nation's "failed history" left Korean identity profoundly incomplete. The Making of Minjung captures the movement in its many dimensions, presenting its intellectual trajectory as a discourse, its impact as a political movement, as well as raising questions about how intellectuals represented the minjung. Lee's portrait is based on a wide range of sources: underground pamphlets, diaries, court documents, contemporary newspaper reports, and interviews with participants.

Thousands of students and intellectuals left universities during this period and became factory workers, forging an intellectual-labor alliance perhaps unique in world history. At the same time, minjung cultural activists reinvigorated traditional folk theater, created a new "minjung literature," and impacted religious practices and academic disciplines. In its transformative scope, the minjung phenomenon is comparable to better-known contemporaneous movements in South Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Understanding the minjung movement is essential to understanding South Korea's recent resistance to U.S. influence. Along with its well-known economic transformation, South Korea has also had a profound social and political transformation. The minjung movement drove this transformation and this book tells its story comprehensively and critically. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers a penetrating view of the morals and values that shape the Korean business personality; cultural "keys" that turn Koreans on and off, and how best to communicate with them.
Korean Business Etiquette will show what really makes Korean workers tick-and how to do business the Korean way. With its authoritative scholarship, practical insights, and guidelines for foreign workers, this book is truly a "must read" for anyone doing business in Korea now or in the future.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great for an Untapped Market
As an individual who works in many different Asian countries, I am always on the lookout for books that help explain business culture in foreign countries to help with my own understanding of living and working in another country.This is exactly what Korean Business Etiquette seeks to accomplish.

The book is broken down to the T about many different facets of Korean business culture, including an essential brief history of Korea's past*.The author does a wonderful job not only identifying important characteristics but also explaining the reasons behind them.Though it is mainly aimed for foreign workers in higher positions, employees working for Korean companies can also find use in the information presented.

On a personal note, I am currently working for a Korean company and had some very large misunderstandings about the management here.Though not completely cleared up, the cultural differences are at least translucent and much more understandable than before.

I truly do feel like the author made a great effort to exhaustively cover every major issue related to working as a foreign manager in Korea.

With these positive aspects, I would like to take a moment to issue a few constructively critical comments:
-*By far the biggest error I have seen is the author's brief history of the Korean war.Unfortunately, he made a grave error in his timeline which appears at the beginning of the book.Due to this serious error, it was difficult for me to take the rest of the book seriously.I would like to advise the author to carefully rewrite the chain of events in the Korean war section.

-One aspect I feel that is missing from this great book is a more personal approach.In one book I have read about working culture in Thailand, the author includes many personal anecdotes related to the topics being covered.With his close AMCHAM connections, I would have liked to have seen brief accounts written by some of these CEOs (who could remain anonymous) related to the topics covered in different sections.These personal accounts could explain their mistake in a situation and more importantly, how they took the authors advice to rectify the situation.

In the end, I definitely recommend this book to anyone living and working in Korea, whether they are a senior level exec. or entry level worker.

Good tool
I haven't finished the book yet, but so far I can tell it is well written, consistent, reliable and interesting.Good tool for business people trying to understand potential customers and suppliers in Korea.There is a significant presence of Korean companies in Latin America, this is why I chose to buy this book and learn more about their culture, the Dos and DON'Ts.

Great book
My company has recently begun to do business in Korea.This book was so helpful we bought multiple copies for all to read.

Useful not just for business
Not bad at all. Chapters are broken up into sizeable chunks that are insightful and easy to read. My biggest complaint stems from the fact that despite the author's extensive knowledge of the Korean language, he refrains from using any Hangul in the book - only romanization or transliteration of key terms. This makes for a sloppy glossary.

Don't let this questionable editing mistake steer you away from this book - not only does it contain nugget after nugget of valuable information, it also contains a fantastic summary of ancient and modern Korea wrapped up in about 12 pages.

The author does well to tie in his knowledge of Japanese culture and business as it plays a big role in Korea. However, I would have liked more taboos and "do-not-do-this-you-impatient-foreign-businessperson" tidbits - although the book has plenty. I suppose the best feature of the book is it's instant pick-up-and-read aspect however, if the proper context isn't taken into account, I'm afraid that some of this book might be forgettable - which is a shame.

Perhaps it goes without saying that this book is applicable to anyone living in Korea and has thousands of applications outside the business world. A great read

Great primer and reference for business in Korea
This is a "must read" for Westerners unfamiliar with Korean business culture.It is well written in short, easily absorbed chapters. Mr. De Mente does a great job introducing Korean culture, and explaining how that culture is manifest in the workplace. There is an emphasis on recommendations for Westerners living and working long term in Korea.It also works well for Sales and Procurement professionals. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Review of a review
I actually fact-checked for a scholarly book review on this book, and in doing so read the book as well.As someone with only vague knowledge of the history of the two Koreas, it was an informative book on the history of the divide and the various policies the countries have faced, including the somewhat intrusive role of the U.S.I read this book just as North Korea tested its first nuclear weapons in October of 2006.I highly recommend this book not only to those interested in North Korea or East Asian politics, but to everyone.According to the book, the situation is not one that will easily be resolved. ... Read more

Product Description

How Confucian traditions have shaped styles of being modern in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore presents a particular challenge to the intellectual community. Explorations of Confucian network capitalism, meritocratic democracy, and liberal education have practical implications for a sense of self, community, economy, and polity.

Seventeen scholars, of varying fields of study, here bring their differing perspectives to a consideration of the Confucian role in industrial East Asia. Confucian concerns such as self-cultivation, regulation of the family, social civility, moral education, well-being of the people, governance of the state, and universal peace provide a general framework for the study. The Confucian Problematik--how a fiduciary community can come into being through exemplary teaching and moral transformation--underlies much of the discussion. The contributors question all unexamined assumptions about the rise of industrial East Asia, at the same time exploring the ideas, norms, and values that underlie the moral fabric of East Asian societies.

Is Confucian ethics a common discourse in industrial East Asia? The answer varies according to academic discipline, regional specialization, and personal judgment. Although there are conflicting interpretations and diverging perspectives, this study represents the current thinking of some of the most sophisticated minds on this vital and intriguing subject.

Customer Reviews (2)

Confuciunism works!?
Some questions we cannot explain by "Confucian Traditions"

Q1.Given that Confuciunism is not a modern invent and a culture of long duree, then why "Confucian Traditions" didnt work out in late Ch'in dynasty(that is why people initiated May Fourh movement) and only worked out after WWII?

Q2. this book cannot explain why north Korea is poor while south rich; China is poor while Taiwan, Hong kong is rich.are koreans in north and in south share DIFFERENT culture? Are Chinese in mainland china and in Taiwan, HK share different culture?

this book is sort of self-narcissism of Confuciansm and reverse-orientalism. Confuciansm contributes, but not as much as Tu and other scholars praise. (and we must not forget what his profession is).

Review
A good book dealing with the question of to what extent the Confucian cultural traditions of the societies of the East Asian developmental states affected their growth paths. The economic successes of East Asia can no longer be attributed merely to neoliberal economic policies, and there is a growing recognition to acknowldge the part played by the cultural background from which growth emerged. ... Read more

Product Description
Packed with proven, real-world information, this practical knowledge bridges the cultural gap that obstructs successful business relationships.

The modern international business environment demands increased cultural awareness. Everyday, talented businessmen lose money, time, and miss valuable business opportunities because they can't work effectively with their Korean counterparts. The frustration that develops, and the money often lost, is too frequently the result of cultural ineffectiveness. Whether Westerners are on their first trip to Korea or they've visited here for years, chances are they've found working in this wonderful country, at times, as puzzling as it is intriguing. The book is intended to provide background of Korea, and answers to many of those questions, that may have stirred inside foreigners, about working and living in Korea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good general guide for the rookie foreign business person
This is an excellent book for business people who have no knowledge of Korea. About half of the book covers important cultural and business-related information, while the rest discusses basic geographic/demographic info, history, housing, transportation, and language. It's 1994 publication still makes it a fairly accurate source, and the topics are presented quite well. This book may be a tad superfluous for the old Korea hand who is interested solely in studying the business culture, however, and the cost appears seems somewhat high considering that it is only 187 pages in length. But, for a subject with very limited related material out there it is definitely at the top of the pile in terms of quality. ... Read more

Product Description
n one of the first English-language studies of Korean cinema to date, Kyung Hyun Kim shows how the New Korean Cinema of the past quarter century has used the trope of masculinity to mirror the profound sociopolitical changes in the country. Since 1980, South Korea has transformed from an insular, authoritarian culture into a democratic and cosmopolitan society. The transition has fueled anxiety about male identity, and amid this tension, empowerment has been imagined as remasculinization. Kim argues that the brutality and violence ubiquitous in many Korean films is symptomatic of Korea’s on-going quest for modernity and a post-authoritarian identity.

Kim offers in-depth examinations of more than a dozen of the most representative films produced in Korea since 1980. In the process, he draws on the theories of Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, Gilles Deleuze, Rey Chow, and Kaja Silverman to follow the historical trajectory of screen representations of Korean men from self-loathing beings who desire to be controlled to subjects who are not only self-sufficient but also capable of destroying others. He discusses a range of movies from art-house films including To the Starry Island (1993) and The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996) to higher-grossing, popular films like Whale Hunting (1984) and Shiri (1999). He considers the work of several Korean auteurs—Park Kwang-su, Jang Sun-woo, and Hong Sang-su. Kim argues that Korean cinema must begin to imagine gender relations that defy the contradictions of sexual repression in order to move beyond such binary struggles as those between the traditional and the modern, or the traumatic and the post-traumatic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Testosterone Plaza!
After the testosterone-fueled rebirth of (South) Korean cinema in the '80s and '90s, only in the last few years have serious, critically rigorous books on the subject begun to appear in English in dribs and drabs. Kim Kyung-hyun's The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema is the most theoretically sophisticated to appear so far, and is must reading for all crit-theory heads wondering what the hell has been going on in South Korean society in the past few decades--especially on the big screen, which has been dominated by brooding, raging men for quite some time now.

Kim's focus is on the works of directors of the New Korean Cinema such as Park Kwang-su, Jang Sun-woo, Hong Sang-soo, Lee Chang-dong and Im Kwon-taek. The book's central argument is that the "master narrative" of the New Korean Cinema as it evolved from the start of the 1980s to the new millennium has been to trace a shift from portrayals of ineffectual males defined by phallic lack and a penchant for masochism to "post-traumatic males" struggling to recuperate a resplendent, emerging subjectivity who are often violent and sadistic. In layman's terms, I guess this means that if you're a Kim Ki-dok protagonist, beating the crap out of your woman is a way of finding or own inner Iron John, or whatever.

Overall, I liked this book and found it provocative. It is something of a cliche by now to complain about the misogyny of Korean cinema; it's almost like complaining that the sky is blue. This book offers a close and quite sympathetic examination of WHY so many of these men are misogynistic in the first place, which is a productive, positive approach to a very unproductive, negative problem.

Kim often deploys psychoanalytic theory and concepts in tackling these issues, which I have no problem with, except to say that I wonder if the Western concepts developed by Freud, Lacan et al are so universal, and so neatly applied to Eastern societies; this is not a question that Kim cares to ask, nor one that I can answer myself, either.

My problem with Kim's approach is that the use of psychoanalytic terms and concepts is often rushed and cursory. Too many times, statements like "this is an example of fetishistic disavowal" or "this is an instance of a desire for a return to the preoedipal stage" are made, without saying more clearly WHY or HOW it is an example of fetishistic disavowal, etc. One wants more lucid clarification and application of the theory, lest the text begin to appear gratuitous in its use of jargon and complex terminology. Not everyone reading this book will have completed graduate seminars on Lacan, and even if they have there is no excuse for laziness here.

I also have to question Kim's overly selective approach in presenting and analyzing the "master narrative" of the New Korean Cinema. It often seems that films were left out that might undermine the overarching thesis. According to Kim, there is no space in New Korean Cinema for female subjectivity to explore and represent itself outside of a subsidiary relation to males, but this is just not true. A film like Girls' Night Out (1999), for instance, explores the sexual subjectivity of three modern Korean women from their own perspectives. I also found a certain high-brow disdain for popular or overly commercial films in the book, which is also limiting. A film like My Wife is a Gangster (2001), while indeed "crassly commercial," offered a fresh, original way of presenting one modern, independent woman's struggle to balance life in the public world of work with the demands of the private world of home. Indeed, most of the films discussed in this book are art-house auterurist works; a more complex analysis of the state of Korean film in the '80s and '90s might have been less condescending towards and dismissive of such "low-brow" fare.

Then there are the more curious omissions, like the films of Kim Ki-dok or Jang Sun-woo's Lies, which offer rich material for the subject at hand. On closer reflection, though, Jang's Lies perhaps undermines Kim's overall argument. After all, if the male protagonist in the film displays overt masochistic tendencies, is this a regression to the male masochism of the early '80s that supposedly had been overcome by the late '90s, or is Jang offering an alternate view: liberating the male protagonist from his own domineering male subjectivity entirely--at the hands of an 18-year-old woman, no less?

The exclusion of the films of Kim Ki-dok and others is explained by the fact that they were made too recently to be included. How can crucial films made in 1999 or 2001 not be included in a book published in 2004? Is academia really that slow? I might also note that a book that complains about the lack of female directors in South Korea has no right to do so when it ignores a film like Yim Soon-rye's Three Friends (1996), an early notable exception to the rule of male directors in the New Korean Cinema. But again, a closer look at Three Friends may have undermined the book's argument further, since the three male protagonists are also quite ineffectual and reminiscent of the "weak" male characters of the early '80s. Yet in Three Friends, this is viewed as positive and liberating, rather than a denial of full male subjectivity; indeed, one of the characters enters a gay relationship at the end, which offers a subversive contrast to the dominant (and male-dominated) heterosexuality of the extremely patriarchal New Korean Cinema.

In others words, this is a heady book that falls just short by complaining of a lack of sexual and gendered diversity in Korean cinema, yet is guilty of suppressing such diversity somewhat itself. Even now, Korean cinema is undergoing profound, radical changes in its representations of gender and sexuality. I look forward to a sequel to The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema that examines all these current diverse changes as provocatively and intensely as it has done here. ... Read more

Product Description
This book argues that the college choices of ethnic Chinese in Korea changed in relation to their political and legal status within Korean society and examines the reasons behind the changing educational trends. ... Read more