Book Review: Lee, Namhee. 2022. Memory Construction and the Politics of Time in Neoliberal South Korea. Durham: Duke University Press.

Abstract

Research on memory has gained much of importance over the years, particularly since the end of the Cold War and the establishment of a number of networks and institutions that eventually led to the foundation of the Memory Studies Association in 2016. The growing number of publications on a broad range of Korea-related topics bears witness to the popularity and relevance that this research gained within the Korean Studies over the past roughly twenty years. While few authors deal with aspects of collective memory construction in Korea’s past, most publications focus on developments of the long 20th century present, notably the period after the division of the peninsula in 1945. Lee Namhee’s latest book Memory Construction and the Politics of Time in Neoliberal South Korea connects to a range of different topics on this South Korea-related memory research. At the same time, it continues and deepens further her longstanding work on Korea’s democracy and minjung.