HIEA 114
WEEK 1 INITIAL POST
Hello, my name is Julie (Jiyoon) Kim, and I am currently a second year at Eleanor Roosevelt College, studying Educational Sciences (EDS).
Cooke’s article astounded me as to how much I can relate and understand her statements. We all never expected to be experiencing a historical moment of a pandemic that will be written down in history, but now that we are living through it, we are able to understand more about how the people in the past who faced disease outbreaks and pandemics must have felt. Before this whole situation, I was able to understand objectively what had happened when an outbreak hit, but this situation helped me understand the subjective emotions and experiences that an individual endures during such a time. Cooke mentioned that new communities form in response, which I agree with, due to the pandemic because on personal level, it becomes much more urgent to look out for one another as neighbors and relatives. They form communities to look out for one another, becoming reliant on one another much more compared to before.
WEEK 2 DISCUSSION
After the war, there was a great food shortage, and the group that it hit the most was the commoners and the poor. There was such a great lack of food that finding enough food for one and their family to eat everyday was such a struggle for the common classes. Many individuals suffered from malnutrition, and it was not uncommon to see someone pass away due to lack of food. Food became something worthy to be sold on black market, and people resorted to crimes and splurging on money to obtain something that should be accessible to everyone for survival. However, the wealthier classes did not face such changes because they were prioritized by government officials.
WEEK 3 DISCUSSION
In a writing, no matter how one tries their best to avoid it, there is undoubtedly perspectives that conforms the writer’s take on writing down history that took place, and this shrouds the reader’s understanding of the history. In textbooks, for instance, one event in history could be written in so many different perspectives depending on which nation that writer is from, and what dispositions and ideas that the writer has. The written accounts of the dislocation in Japan might have been written in textbooks to avoid faulting their native country for huge crimes against individuals, which twists history, in a way. This is why storytelling is so important, as the storytellers ell what exactly happened from the perspectives of not just the ones who wish to cloud Japan’s faults into blackness, but it tells the perspectives of individuals who experienced the history who might not agree with the textbook definition of what had happened. However, this is commonly silenced because this would reveal the faults of the textbook writings on the accounts of the dislocation, which would discredit the book and make individuals question what really happened.
WEEK 4 DISCUSSION
We are able to see a community of Zainichi Koreans really bond with one another as they face discrimination. Even though the Zainichi Koreans have lived in Japan for a long period of time, they were still not able to enjoy rights and humanity that Japanese enjoyed in their home/native country. They wanted to enjoy individuality and autonomy that the Japanese enjoyed, and in order to strengthen their sense of individuality and abilities, they participated in activities that were beyond the knowledge of Japanese government, becoming known as the “black market”. These individuals found a common ground to stand on and converse with one another, as well as share similar feelings and emotions, which gave one another emotional support. In relation to Jiseul, we are able to see that from the perspectives of ordinary people, a true end to colonial rule would be to have their own sense of nationality and national autonomy without being suppressed by any other countries because even after the end of Japanese colonialism, it can be shown that there was not much change in their standard of living and the nationality that they were able to express because of the U.S intervention.
WEEK 5 DISCUSSION
In Kang’s story, we are able to see that he grew up with much help from his families, who gave him warmth and kindness despite the situation that they were in and the discrimination they faced as Zainichi koreans. In the article, it shows that the Zainichi Koreans no longer relied on the Japanese government for help, who, under the authority of the U.S., had different perspectives, which is a similarity that can be observed with the Japanese leftists. The government did not care for the goals that the two groups, the Zainichi Koreans and the Japanese Leftists, had in mind, and seeing the government’s lack of determination and the similar situations that each group was faced with, they joined forces for awhile, realizing that to achieve a greater goal, they need more help.
WEEK 7DISCUSSION
The university student activists were able to be connected to labor unionists in the 1950s and 60s because they were both against the idea of war. This period of time was not very long after the World War II, which caused individuals to be fairly sensitive towards such a topic. War had economic impact, as well as emotional impact on many individuals as their loved ones passed away for variety of reasons caused by the war. Therefore, the labor unionists and university student activists alike shared their dislike towards the idea of war breaking out, which pushed them towards each other. This spurred the idea that the university students and university student activists should have their autonomy, voicing out their thoughts without being restricted by the higher officials. It showed that individuals and the public could make a change, not just the government and the higher-ups that could decide every political decision.
