Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

Weiss, David, The God Susanoo and Korea in Japan's Cultural Memory: Ancient Myths and Modern Empire. (Bloomsbury Shinto Studies) 256 pp. 2022:1 (Bloomsbury Academic, UK) <667-346>
ISBN 978-1-350-27118-0 hard ¥25,740.- (税込) GB￡ 90.00 *

This book discusses how ancient Japanese mythology was utilized during the colonial period to justify the annexation of Korea to Japan, with special focus on the god Susanoo. Described as an ambivalent figure and wanderer between the worlds, Susanoo served as a foil to set off the sun goddess, who played an important role in the modern construction of a Japanese national identity. Susanoo inhabited a sinister otherworld, which came to be associated with colonial Korea. Imperialist ideologues were able to build on these interpretations of the Susanoo myth to depict Korea as a dreary realm at the margin of the Japanese empire that made the imperial metropole shine all the more brightly. At the same time, Susanoo was identified as the ancestor of the Korean people. Thus, the colonial subjects were ideologically incorporated into the homogeneous Japanese "family state." The book situates Susanoo in Japan's cultural memory and shows how the deity, while being repeatedly transformed in order to meet the religious and ideological needs of the day, continued to symbolize the margin of Japan.

Ryu, Dae Young, A History of Protestantism in Korea. (Routledge Religion in Contemporary Asia Series) 336 pp. 2022:2 (Routledge, UK) * paper 2023 <667-325>
ISBN 978-1-032-20170-2 hard ¥41,470.- (税込) GB￡ 145.00 *
ISBN 978-1-032-20175-7 paper ¥12,008.- (税込) GB￡ 41.99 *

This book provides a comprehensive overview of Protestant Christianity in Korea. It outlines the development of Christianity in Korea before Protestantism, considers the introduction of Protestantism in the late nineteenth century and its widening and profound impact, and goes on to discuss the situation up to the present. Throughout the book emphasises the importance of Protestantism for Korean national life, highlights the key role Protestantism has played in Korea's social, political, and cultural development, including in North Korea whose first leader Kim Il Sung was the son of devout Protestant parents, and demonstrates how Protestantism continues to be a vital force for Korean society overall.

Bedeski, Robert E., Dynamics of the Korean State: From the Paleolithic Age to Candlelight Democracy. 272 pp. 2021:10 (World Scientific, SI) <667-1588>
ISBN 978-1-80061-057-6 hard ¥20,374.- (税込) US$ 98.00 *

One Korea or two?The persistence of North and South Korea since 1948 has been a source of one war and fears of new wars. Although they share centuries of common culture, society and politics, the two nations differ on fundamentals today: capitalist democracy in the south and totalitarian communism in the north. Dynamics of the Korean State provides a unique overview of how humans treasure their individual lives and how these dynamics intertwine with Korean history and state evolution.The book examines the development of the Korean state from ancient times and sees its roots in the Stone Age struggle for survival. The persistent theme has been to Prolong Life - Postpone Death. Hence, the origins of every state can be found in man's Will-to-Live, and this is demonstrated in the Will/action framework offered by the author. Human Will, not material determinism or divine plan, creates the state. This primary Will generates five other Wills, which motivate actions to culminate in the state and give it a fluidity over time. The six Wills/actions are as follows: Will-to-Live/production; Will-to-Freedom/innovation; Will-to-Power/organization; Will-to-Comply/enforcement; Will-to-Transcend/political vision & religion; and Will-to-Redirect/reform, usurpation, rebellion, revolution. These in combination influence and partially determine state configuration and fluidity, creating order, disorder, war, prosperity, and poverty along the way. This book reveals the undercurrents of Korean society, politics and history from a fresh perspective. Neither pure history nor descriptive politics, it is a significant contribution to a philosophical anthropology paradigm.

忘れられた戦争からK-POPまでの韓国
Pacheco Pardo, Ramon, Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop. 280 pp. 2022:5 (Hurst, UK) <667-1589>
ISBN 978-1-78738-704-1 hard ¥7,150.- (税込) GB￡ 25.00 *

Charts the incredible rise of South Korea, from colonisation and civil war to today's thriving nation. South Korea has a remarkable history. Born from the ashes of imperial domination, partition and a devastating war, back in the 1950s there were real doubts about its survival as an independent state. Yet South Korea endures: today it is a boisterous democracy, a vibrant market economy, a tech powerhouse, and home to the coolest of cultures. In just seventy years, this society has grown from a shrimp into a whale. What explains this extraordinary transformation? For some, it was individual South Koreans who fought to change their country, and still strive to shape it. For others, it was forward-looking political and business leaders with a vision. Either way, it's clear that this is the story of a people who dreamt big, and whose dreams came true. Shrimp to Whale is a lively history of South Korea, from its millennia-old roots, through the division of the Peninsula, dictatorship and economic growth, to today's global powerhouse.

Park, Eugene Y., Korea: A History. 408 pp. 2022:2 (Stanford U. Pr., US) <667-1590>
ISBN 978-1-5036-2946-2 hard ¥29,106.- (税込) US$ 140.00 *
ISBN 978-1-5036-2984-4 paper ¥7,276.- (税込) US$ 35.00 *

While popular trends, cuisine, and long-standing political tension have made Korea familiar in some ways to a vast English-speaking world, its recorded history of some two millennia remains unfamiliar to most. Korea: A History addresses general readers, providing an up-to-date, accessible overview of Korean history from antiquity to the present. Eugene Y. Park draws on original-language sources and the up-to-date synthesis of East Asian and Western-language scholarship to provide an insightful account. This book expands still-limited English-language discussions on pre-modern Korea, offering rigorous and compelling analyses of Korea's modernization while discussing daily life, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ history, and North Korean history not always included in Korea surveys. Overall, Park is able to break new ground on questions and debates that have been central to the field of Korean studies since its inception.