Haeseong Park | Francis Marion University (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Haeseong Park
Education About Asia Vol.4, No.1 , 2020
Christianity and Modern Women in East Asia, 2018
This chapter examines the life of Esther Park, the first Korean female doctor of Western medicine... more This chapter examines the life of Esther Park, the first Korean female doctor of Western medicine. After studying at the recently established Ewha School, she went on to study medicine in the United States and then returned to Korea as a medical missionary.
Throughout her life, from her education to her marriage to her career, Esther Park relied upon Christian faith, people, and institutions to set her path and to walk it. These elements played ambiguous roles in her life, however, limiting her in important ways and empowering her in others. They also greatly informed her definition of modernity and her cultural identity. In the end, it was this body of tools that permitted her to achieve so many firsts before women’s subjectivity, national identity, education, and professions were considered possible in Korea. Understanding the emergence of Korean New Women and Christian New Women requires insights about the relationship between women and modernity that this study can at least begin to provide.
Journal of the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, 2015
Modernization during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was like a double-edged sword. ... more Modernization during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was like a double-edged sword. It sometimes meant improvement and freedom, while at other times suppression and deprivation. Since Korea was forced into an imperial world order by a Japanese gunboat in 1876, Korea was earnest in its endeavor to modernize itself. However, various perspectives and interests both of Korea and of foreign powers forced Korea to meander through its modernization process; it finally fell into Japan's hands in 1910. In some sense, Japan's annexation focused Korea's path to modernization under one purpose: Korea served the Japanese Empire. Japan's tight grip on Korea left Koreans little control over their own material domains, but Koreans could find some leeway in spiritual domains. Education was a unique institution, a mixture of materiality and spirituality. Education became one of the few places where Koreans were able to attempt to redirect the modernization process on their own terms. Yim Youngsin (Louise Yim) was a Korean woman who plunged into women's education in order to improve herself, Korean women, and Korea by freeing them from Confucian patriarchy and Japanese imperialism. Yim is considered one of the New Women, the first generation of the women's liberation movement, which tried to solve women's questions. New Women in colonies, however, had to consider both women's questions and national issues at the same time. Korea's special situation as a colony made Yim's life an example of "New Women" in the context of colonialism rather than of feminism. New Women in colonies regarded education as a perfect medium between the women's liberation movement and the independence movement. Many of the educated New Women in colonies became educators who made efforts to educate their sisters, extend women's public sphere, and improve their nations as a whole. This paper will explore how Yim balanced her national identity with her feminist identity in the colonial context. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, the New Women appeared not only in the United States and Europe but also in the cities of Asia. These women walked the streets of Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Delhi. All these New Women presented their own societies with a new way to be women, but many obstacles were in their way. In particular, New Women in colonies were more limited in resources and in their scope of activities because of national exigencies. Their efforts to carve out new places for women in society have often been dismissed as failures or as only limited achievements. To date, most discussions of the Korean New Women have emphasized their failure or tragedy. For instance, Kenneth M. Wells, who studied Korean women's organizations during the colonial period, argued that the liberal feminism of the Korean New Women of the 1920s was eclipsed by or surrendered to Korean
History Research, 2012
This article explains how modern European travelers, particularly European women adventurers, des... more This article explains how modern European travelers, particularly European women adventurers, described East Asia. Travel writings that are expected to be truthful are not free from travelers' own personal, cultural, social, and political experiences and perceptions. At the turn of the 19th century, Europe was dominated by colonial discourse based on Western-centered textualized or imaginary knowledge of-the Orient‖ 1. The imaginary texts affected European travelers. In turn, their travel writings helped substantiate and reinforce the texts. European women travelers, who were in a relatively disadvantageous situation at home, enjoyed going beyond the sexual boundaries imposed on them at home by using their assumed racial superiority in the Orient. However, their marginal position in Western society helped them ponder their own understanding of other peoples and cultures, of themselves, and of their home societies. This article traces not only the surface discourse of travelogues on East Asia, particularly on Korea, but also travel writers' inner worlds, focusing on differences between men and women.
History Research, 2012
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "New Woman" was an international phenomenon. Although ... more In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "New Woman" was an international phenomenon. Although various national contexts contributed many different shades of meaning to the concept of "New Woman" in each country, New Women across the world shared common ground. In the 1920s, when American New Women experimented with their new identity, New Women in Korea also discovered a new sense of selfhood and confidence to make inroads into public spheres. Under Japan's colonial rule (1910-1945), Korean women, valued as a national hidden reservoir, gained access to education and made attempts to remove traditional constraints. Despite different situations surrounding Korean and American New Women, their recognition, pursuit, and places in history echoed one another's. The bold and innovative nature of Korean New Women has attracted much academic as well as public attention. Most of the rich body of scholarship on this topic focuses on famous figures whose flamboyant defiance met a tragic end or on the sacrifices and failures of New Women's pursuit in confronting nationalism. The nation is an important and useful framework in history, but additional factors should be considered for a better understanding of New Women. Not only does this paper consider national context, it also pays much needed attention to an international connection in women's history.
Appeared in Peace in the East: An Chunggŭn’s Vision for Asia in the Age of Japanese Imperialism, ... more Appeared in Peace in the East: An Chunggŭn’s Vision for Asia in the Age of Japanese Imperialism, edited by Yi Tae-Jin, Eugene Park, and Kirk Larsen, 161–76. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017.
Book Review by Haeseong Park
Education About Asia Vol.4, No.1 , 2020
Christianity and Modern Women in East Asia, 2018
This chapter examines the life of Esther Park, the first Korean female doctor of Western medicine... more This chapter examines the life of Esther Park, the first Korean female doctor of Western medicine. After studying at the recently established Ewha School, she went on to study medicine in the United States and then returned to Korea as a medical missionary.
Throughout her life, from her education to her marriage to her career, Esther Park relied upon Christian faith, people, and institutions to set her path and to walk it. These elements played ambiguous roles in her life, however, limiting her in important ways and empowering her in others. They also greatly informed her definition of modernity and her cultural identity. In the end, it was this body of tools that permitted her to achieve so many firsts before women’s subjectivity, national identity, education, and professions were considered possible in Korea. Understanding the emergence of Korean New Women and Christian New Women requires insights about the relationship between women and modernity that this study can at least begin to provide.
Journal of the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, 2015
Modernization during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was like a double-edged sword. ... more Modernization during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was like a double-edged sword. It sometimes meant improvement and freedom, while at other times suppression and deprivation. Since Korea was forced into an imperial world order by a Japanese gunboat in 1876, Korea was earnest in its endeavor to modernize itself. However, various perspectives and interests both of Korea and of foreign powers forced Korea to meander through its modernization process; it finally fell into Japan's hands in 1910. In some sense, Japan's annexation focused Korea's path to modernization under one purpose: Korea served the Japanese Empire. Japan's tight grip on Korea left Koreans little control over their own material domains, but Koreans could find some leeway in spiritual domains. Education was a unique institution, a mixture of materiality and spirituality. Education became one of the few places where Koreans were able to attempt to redirect the modernization process on their own terms. Yim Youngsin (Louise Yim) was a Korean woman who plunged into women's education in order to improve herself, Korean women, and Korea by freeing them from Confucian patriarchy and Japanese imperialism. Yim is considered one of the New Women, the first generation of the women's liberation movement, which tried to solve women's questions. New Women in colonies, however, had to consider both women's questions and national issues at the same time. Korea's special situation as a colony made Yim's life an example of "New Women" in the context of colonialism rather than of feminism. New Women in colonies regarded education as a perfect medium between the women's liberation movement and the independence movement. Many of the educated New Women in colonies became educators who made efforts to educate their sisters, extend women's public sphere, and improve their nations as a whole. This paper will explore how Yim balanced her national identity with her feminist identity in the colonial context. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, the New Women appeared not only in the United States and Europe but also in the cities of Asia. These women walked the streets of Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Delhi. All these New Women presented their own societies with a new way to be women, but many obstacles were in their way. In particular, New Women in colonies were more limited in resources and in their scope of activities because of national exigencies. Their efforts to carve out new places for women in society have often been dismissed as failures or as only limited achievements. To date, most discussions of the Korean New Women have emphasized their failure or tragedy. For instance, Kenneth M. Wells, who studied Korean women's organizations during the colonial period, argued that the liberal feminism of the Korean New Women of the 1920s was eclipsed by or surrendered to Korean
History Research, 2012
This article explains how modern European travelers, particularly European women adventurers, des... more This article explains how modern European travelers, particularly European women adventurers, described East Asia. Travel writings that are expected to be truthful are not free from travelers' own personal, cultural, social, and political experiences and perceptions. At the turn of the 19th century, Europe was dominated by colonial discourse based on Western-centered textualized or imaginary knowledge of-the Orient‖ 1. The imaginary texts affected European travelers. In turn, their travel writings helped substantiate and reinforce the texts. European women travelers, who were in a relatively disadvantageous situation at home, enjoyed going beyond the sexual boundaries imposed on them at home by using their assumed racial superiority in the Orient. However, their marginal position in Western society helped them ponder their own understanding of other peoples and cultures, of themselves, and of their home societies. This article traces not only the surface discourse of travelogues on East Asia, particularly on Korea, but also travel writers' inner worlds, focusing on differences between men and women.
History Research, 2012
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "New Woman" was an international phenomenon. Although ... more In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "New Woman" was an international phenomenon. Although various national contexts contributed many different shades of meaning to the concept of "New Woman" in each country, New Women across the world shared common ground. In the 1920s, when American New Women experimented with their new identity, New Women in Korea also discovered a new sense of selfhood and confidence to make inroads into public spheres. Under Japan's colonial rule (1910-1945), Korean women, valued as a national hidden reservoir, gained access to education and made attempts to remove traditional constraints. Despite different situations surrounding Korean and American New Women, their recognition, pursuit, and places in history echoed one another's. The bold and innovative nature of Korean New Women has attracted much academic as well as public attention. Most of the rich body of scholarship on this topic focuses on famous figures whose flamboyant defiance met a tragic end or on the sacrifices and failures of New Women's pursuit in confronting nationalism. The nation is an important and useful framework in history, but additional factors should be considered for a better understanding of New Women. Not only does this paper consider national context, it also pays much needed attention to an international connection in women's history.
Appeared in Peace in the East: An Chunggŭn’s Vision for Asia in the Age of Japanese Imperialism, ... more Appeared in Peace in the East: An Chunggŭn’s Vision for Asia in the Age of Japanese Imperialism, edited by Yi Tae-Jin, Eugene Park, and Kirk Larsen, 161–76. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017.