Japan’s Colonization of Korea: Discourse and Power (Peoples of Hawai’i, the Pacific, & Asia)

Product Description

From its creation in the early twentieth century, policymakers used the discourse of international law to legitimate Japan’s empire. Although the Japanese state aggrandizers’ reliance on this discourse did not create the imperial nation Japan would become, their fluent use of its terms inscribed Japan’s claims as legal practice within Japan and abroad. Focusing on Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910, Alexis Dudden gives long-needed attention to the intellectual history of the empire and brings to light presumptions of the twentieth century’s so-called international system by describing its most powerful―and most often overlooked―member’s engagement with that system.Early chapters describe the global atmosphere that declared Japan the legal ruler of Korea and frame the significance of the discourse of early twentieth-century international law and how its terms became Japanese. Dudden then brings together these discussions in her analysis of how Meiji leaders embedded this discourse into legal precedent for Japan, particularly in its relations with Korea. Remaining chapters explore the limits of these ‘universal’ ideas and consider how the international arena measured Japan’s use of its terms. Dudden squares her examination of the legality of Japan’s imperialist designs by discussing the place of colonial policy studies in Japan at the time, demonstrating how this new discipline further created a common sense that Japan’s empire accorded to knowledgeable practice. This landmark study greatly enhances our understanding of the intellectual underpinnings of Japan’s imperial aspirations. In this carefully researched and cogently argued work, Dudden makes clear that, even before Japan annexed Korea, it had embarked on a legal and often legislating mission to make its colonization legitimate in the eyes of the world.

Review

Excellent ―
Korean Quarterly

A skillful narrative ―
Japan Times

Students of Japan’s history, domestic politics, and international relations will find this text extremely valuable, as will readers of theorists such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Gayatri Spivak…. Essential. All levels/libraries. ―
CHOICE

A welcome and important addition … It casts the entire imperialist enterprise―with Japan as an integral part of that enterprise―in a fresh light ―
American Historical Review

Review

Japan’s Colonization of Korea makes a powerful case that every step Japan took to erase Korea’s sovereignty was ‘legal’ in the prevailing terms of international conduct at the start of the twentieth century―and that taking Korea as a protectorate was a strategic step in Japan’s own efforts to achieve diplomatic parity with the Great Powers of the West. Alexis Dudden deftly dissects colonial rhetoric and practice from Sapporo to Seoul, interweaving biographical with textual analysis and showing a keen attentiveness throughout to Korean as well as Japanese voices. Drawing on legal history, colonial studies, and translation theory, the book is impressive in both heft and range. A compelling addition to the growing field of comparative imperial history. —
Karen Wigen, Stanford University

About the Author

Alexis Dudden is Sue and Eugene Mercy Assistant Professor of History at Connecticut College.