Presentation Schedule
Representation of Modern Korean History in Pearl S. Buck’s Living Reed (83848)
Session Chair: Kin Pong James Au
Thursday, 31 October 2024 14:15
Session: Session 3
Room: Room 106
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
This presentation explores how Nobel Laureate in Literature Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973), a writer of historical fiction, represented modern Korean history in her 1964 historical novel The Living Reed. Even though this book has been translated into Korean and Japanese, it has long been disregarded. The focus of the study is on how the diplomatic interactions between the US and Korea are portrayed in the novel and how such interactions affect Korea's destiny as a nation. The Living Reed covers the years 1881–1947, two years after the end of World War II and thirteen years before the First Sino-Japanese War. This essay mainly examines the years 1881–1918, concentrating on a few American diplomats, particularly former U.S. The book includes quotes from President Woodrow Wilson's speeches and statements. This presentation makes the case that the narrator uses fiction as a vehicle for narrating the history of American-Korean relations, including the US breaking its commitment under the U.S.-Korea Amity and Trade Treaty and how Wilson gives Korean Americans hope again through a comparative analysis of the novel and historical sources. The study evaluates Buck's narrative strategies, rhetorical devices, and plot structures as well. Of particular, it looks at how the author's narrative aims are revealed and the diplomatic history is conveyed through the discussions between historical figures.
Authors:
Kin Pong James Au, Tama Art University, Japan
About the Presenter(s)
Mr Kin Pong James Au is a University Postgraduate Student at Tokyo University in Japan
See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule
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