Understanding modern Korea through oral testimonies
Abstract
The story of a people’s lives can be read as the
story of the place in which they live. In April 2012 I
conducted research in the cities of Seoul, Gwangju, Mohyeon and surrounding areas in South Korea. I
collected personal narratives from the residents of these areas in an effort to understand how Korea
has
been and is ruled, and the social ordering of the South Korean society. This paper argues that oral
testimonies are an invaluable source of information on a society and that the collective autobiograp
hies
of a people can be translated into the biograp
hy of their nation. I show that the narratives of the people of
South Korea offer insightful reading into the development of the nation over the years and are an
important archive of the social history of this society
Citation
Muchiri J. "Understanding Modern Korea through Oral Testimonies." HEKIMA journal of the humanities and social sciences. 2014;VI(1):66-85Publisher
University of Nairobi