The Making of Minjung: Democracy and the Politics of Representation in South Korea (review)

132The Journal ofKorean Studies 3. 1 say this not having checked the two supplements to the statutes compiled in 1744 and 1865. The 1963 index to the 48 volumes ofthe Chosön wangjo sillok, published by the Kuksa p'yönch'an wiwönhoe, lists 23 references to "yangban" from 1392 through 1864. The period 1392-1449 has 15 references, and the period 1541-1605 has 6. Only 2 references are found for the later centuries that are the more immediate focus ofBeyond Birth, in 1798 and 1811. Ofthe 15 earliest references, the majority (9) concerncangimi women. By comparison, there are 287 references to sa-derived terms. Reviewed by Gari Ledyard Columbia University (retired) The Making ofMinjung: Democracy and the Politics ofRepresentation in South Korea by Namhee Lee. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007. 349 pp. $39.95 (cloth) The Making ofMinjung explores the fascinating and important story of how a group of activists, largely hailing from university campuses, reimagined their history and their identity and sought to shape the future of Korea. Laboring under extremely difficult conditions, the South Korean undongkwön (a term that literally means "movement sphere" but might be reasonably glossed as "student activists") dealt with the challenges ofan oppressive government, the contradictions ofcapitalism, and the added burden of their own "failed history." A key strategy of the undongkwön was to emphasize the Korean minjung (common people) as the proper subject of their attention and as the "motor of history." A m//y'H/jg-centered reimagination brought to the fore new conceptions of history with reinterpretations of important events that ranged from the Tonghak Peasant Uprising (1894) through the Korean War (1950-53) to the Kwangju Uprising (1980). It also prompted a reassessment of the role of the United States in Korean affairs, as well as a marked increase in interest in North Korean ideologies and institutions, particularly the doctrine of self-reliance (chuch'e). Minjung-oriented undongkwön created a "counterpublic sphere" in opposition to state-sanctioned orthodoxy by participating in campus activism and demonstrations, by putting traditional folk dance and drama to new uses, and by leaving the confines of the college campus to labor in factories in an attempt to achieve a "Gramscian organic fusion" with workers. The emphasis on the minjung meant not only opposing the military dictatorships and striving for political liberalization, but also imagining new forms ofsocial and economic relationships free from the alienation ofcapitalism. Namhee Lee's exploration ofthese issues (and a host ofothers) is noteworthy and welcome for a number ofreasons. First is the dazzling array ofsource materials she weaves into her work. She ably complements her use ofthe voluminous published records and reminiscences ofstudent activists with numerous personal interviews, a facet of her work that consistently illuminates and illustrates her larger themes Book Reviews133 and arguments. What emerges is a richly textured portrait heretofore largely unavailable, particularly to the English-language reader. Second is the ambitiously broad scope of inquiry of 77;e Making ofMinjung. The work's introductions of and insights into the history ofsocial movements, public demonstrations, campus organizations and activities, labor movements, state ideology and suppression, and changes in w/'rt/Mwg-inspired historiography will be of interest to a readership much wider than those interested in the presumably narrower topic of student activists. Lee deftly describes a wide range ofkey events in some detail, from the "Reunification Revolutionary Party Incident" of1968 to the Daewoo Auto Strike of 1984, in a way that invariably sheds light on larger trends in South Korean history. She also provides two fascinating and revealing chapters that focus on traditional folk drama (madanggük) and labor literature. Third, while Lee properly salutes the "indomitable spirit and selfless devotion" of the undongkwön (p. 294), The Making ofMinjung is far from activist hagiography. Lee consistently and incisively engages with the undongkwön in all oftheir foibles, inconsistencies, and failures, as well as their triumphs and successes. She notes that "the student movement was highly nationalistic and its subculture—even as it opposed militarism in South Korean society—militaristic" (p. 91), and that the undongkwön often ended up "replicating the power structure they were fighting to overcome" (p...