Comments on: A Little History Outside the Library

By: Muninn

Muninn — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 01:49:04 +0000

Thanks Kotaji! I’m ashamed to say I haven’t even been inside the library, past the main lobby – since my Korean is so bad, I didn’t see much point yet. However, I have “scouted it out” for future trips and I’m looking forward to being able to make use of it!

By: kotaji

kotaji — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 17:26:38 +0000

Great story. Funnily enough I could picture the scene almost exactly as I spent practically every day going to the National Library when I was in Seoul in 2003 doing ‘fieldwork’ (actually photocopying much like the gentleman here).

I spent the whole time in the ‘Old Documents Room’ (고문서운영실 if I remember correctly) with lots of old geezers researching their family histories. I don’t think I ever saw another person of my age (20s/30s) in there apart from the staff. Let alone another yangnom. I slightly regret that I studiously avoided catching the eyes of most of these men, or, god forbid, getting into conversation. I was always in such a rush and had so much to do and I knew a chat would probably not be short, but now it seems a bit of a waste.

Anyway, I wonder whether you won’t get a bit sick of ‘classic historiographical narratives’ rearing their heads after a while. Almost everyone you meet in Korea will roll out some of the exact same stories or tidbits of historical information. After a while it gets a bit uncanny and you become aware of the amazing power of the education system (I guess Japan is similar). The funny thing is that a lot of younger people I’ve spoken to will be consciously critical of these narratives, even though they’re just as able to repeat them (almost word for word) as the old man you met.

By: Muninn

Muninn — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 09:08:59 +0000

Hey Jai – I am getting more careful about this and even debated not posting the story at all. It turns out that oral historians (as opposed to people like me who just get approached by old men wanting to practice English or meet foreigners) have a very highly developed code of ethics about how they handle the information they get from those they interview.

http://www.oralhistory.org.uk/ethics/ethics.html

Legal documents have to get signed, they need to be told that what they say may be published or otherwise available for public viewing and that they have copyright over the content (even if it is not recorded by some electronic means!), and sometimes they will agree to keep the name or certain content completely secret for 10 or 20 or more years.

The question of how this all transmits into a world of instant web publishing and blogging is a big one and I think there are important issues to be resolved about privacy and how these kinds of concerns about copyright and privacy should extend into the web world.

Personally, I’m a radical when it comes to issues of copyright, favoring any legal system where these rights are minimal and promote fast and extensive exchange of information online which can in turn further stimulate debate, spread knowledge, and create culture.

On the other hand, I think some of the privacy issues are more complex and I simply haven’t really thought very carefully about them. How should the journalist and historian be similar in this regard? I just don’t have strong opinions on this yet and am open to considering different views.

By: Jai Kasturi

Jai Kasturi — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 08:33:28 +0000

fascinating. Almost as good as long talks with cab drivers.
as aside – Is it really so necessary to ‘protect his privacy’ by not revealing his name or where he’s from?
What, is he your ‘secret source’?
;)

By: Muninn

Muninn — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 07:05:42 +0000

Hwang! Sorry I had to ditch you for dinner at the last minute, but I think you now understand why. Let us get together next week instead eh?! As for my English – it really isn’t that good – my undergraduate English professor always gave me bad grades and at the bottom of every paper I wrote put a sad face and in big letters, the word “VERBOSE!”

By: Hwang

Hwang — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 06:33:08 +0000

yaki-imo = 군고구마

It was an amazingly interesting story. You should have gone to meet this man rather than to have dinner with me that day, am I right? You are a good listener, and a good interpreter. That means that you can be a perfect third-party spectator in Korea, as you understand both Korean and Japanese nationalism(and probably the difference between them). I enjoy your reports of daily conversation, and they really help me learn your smart English expressions, too.