The author has taken the side of Korea. Is it justifiable?

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prakritisingh
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Re: The author has taken the side of Korea. Is it justifiable?

Post by prakritisingh »

The author is of Korean descent. It is justifiable when the author takes the side of Korea because Korea was the victim one in the story. Japanese people may feel offended when their country is represented in such an evil manner. The author just wanted to plot a story to portray the situation of Koreans under the Japanese rule. Also, many instances portray Korea as a weak country driven by rigid customs and traditions which would violate the human rights if in today's world. It is not always that the author was on Korea's side.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Honest-reviewer wrote: 24 Jan 2021, 03:08 I think it is totally justifiable. Only the people who are in the shackles of a strong ruling country will know how hard it is to survive. Moreover, the author is talking about her own country. So her taking side of Korea makes sense.
People who were ruled by a foreign ruler understand how difficult the life in such a situation. I agree. That is why the author has portrayed the hardships of the Koreans under the Japanese rule. But to mention those hardships, it is not mandatory to vilify the Japanese soldiers up to the extent that she has gone in this book, as per my opinion. So, what I say is, it is understandable why the author has taken the side of Korea, but I don't think that it is justifiable to vilify Japan
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

ciecheesemeister wrote: 24 Jan 2021, 14:15 Absolutely, why shouldn't she? She was writing about historical events, not demonizing modern Japan. In the past, the Japanese government also committed atrocities against the Chinese as well. It would not be demonizing modern Japan to write about these events. The U.S. government committed atrocities against the people who were enslaved and against indigenous Americans. It is not demonizing modern Americans to reveal this truth. I don't think that the author was trying to demonize Japan as a country but to educate readers about the past struggles between Japan and Korea.
I too don't think that the author had any intention to demonize the modern Japan. But had the world had totally recovered from their hatred against the German for what Nazis did years ago? Have Vietnamese forgotten what Americans did to them? So the hatred is targeted towards a country, though the ones who really deserves it are long gone from the world. I believe that this fact is true when it comes to Japan and Korea as well. That is why I say that it is not a good thing to vilify a nation for what they did in the past
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

car-mbz wrote: 24 Jan 2021, 15:30 I think the author being Korean plays a huge role on how Japan is potrayed. Since the book is based on fiction, I think the author should have been non-partisan and told the story without taking sides.
I am glad to find someone who thinks alike. But I don't say that it is wrong for the author to represent Korea since she is a Korean. But she could have written this book without vilifying Japan to the extent that she has gone to
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Serenity2010 wrote: 24 Jan 2021, 17:32 I think the author was giving the reader an overall description of Korea at the time based on the storyline. The story is fiction so if the author decided to put Embon in another time period of Korean history then the villain might be another country or another entity altogether so that the reader can have the accurate context of the character's journey. Accuracy in a historic fiction novel like this grounds the reader to the real world with accurate historic context. Japan's atrocities towards Korea of the time period made Japan the villain. However, that does not make Japan a bad country overall. The author was justified.
The author has chosen a period and developed some fictional characters in it, as it always happen in any other fiction. And since this is a historical fiction, she has chosen the era of Korean freedom struggle. There she has described the villainous acts that were done by the Japanese towards the Koreans. If her sole idea was development of the characters, she could have remained for less background details. But by providing such details, maybe unintentionally, she has vilified Japan. It is true that it doesn't make Japan a bad country overall. But ultimately it is according to the reader's opinion, isn't it?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Lucille27 wrote: 25 Jan 2021, 00:07 I think, particularly with Korea, this event is still very recent. So, it is understandable that they are still dealing with representations in which Japan appears as the enemy. Even in everyday life they still hold them responsible for a lot of damage to their nation. I think this is understandable. Imperialism is a big issue. However, I do not feel that all Japanese people are portrayed as evil. That's why we have the Japanese love-interest portrayed as someone unreachable. She does not seem to be bad. She is just something impossible. But there relies something very subtle. We are not doomed by our nation, but by our actions and how we take part on them.
Since the Japanese imperialism of Korea is not very far in the history, it is acceptable for the Koreans to have a noxious feeling towards the Japanese. But rest of the world doesn't have such first hand experience and they don't have to feel same regarding the Japanese. But as we all know, when we read a story, we take that story into our hearts and we tend to take sides with the characters. So, when the reader see the demonic nature of the Japanese soldiers, there is a tendency to develop hatred against the Japanese, which in my opinion is not justified
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

ankushavhad wrote: 27 Jan 2021, 02:27 The corrupted natured elements in Japanese force is not the entire call to tag Japan a villain.
Yes, the story needed that. Though fictional, the theme is based on the fact that it was as a time when the Japanese were ruling Korea. The author is Korean, she naturally empathically sees in a soft corner to own country vanishing culture due to the rulings imposed by the Japanese.
It is okay for the author to have a soft corner towards her country. But the Korean culture was not entirely destroyed by the Japanese invasion. We see that there were some traditional elements in the Korean culture which were despised by the young generation. So it is not a reason to vilify the Japanese and it is not justifiable
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Josephe-Anne wrote: 27 Jan 2021, 10:00 Well, the author is Korean, so it's expected that she would write the story from that perspective. When foreigners invade and occupy a country, it's normal for the native people to have feelings of resentment toward the outsiders.

Also, I don't think she made Japan "a complete villain" in the story. The main character himself became attracted to a Japanese woman. People can form their own opinions, so I don't believe she is driving anyone against the country.
Love is universal and it is blind. So the main character fell in love with a woman regardless that she is a Japanese, which is the nation that invaded his country.

When we keep that aside, rest of the events that are described as per the actions of the Japanese army makes Japan a demon. For their actions, it is okay for the Koreans to feel the resentment, but is it justifiable to convey their feelings to the readers and give them a chance to hate Japan?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Shieldmaiden88 wrote: 28 Jan 2021, 18:03 It is entirely justifiable to express the feelings of a people as they were or are. As for presenting Japan as a complete villain, that isn't realistic. A group of people in a country may be predominantly corrupt and evil, but to characterize an entire nation as such is obviously inaccurate. If the author's intent is to express how the Korean people generally felt about Japan, that's fine. That sets the scene for the story as it was historically at the time. Often when there is a serious conflict, people characterize an entire nation as an enemy and characterize them in their opinions based on the few they know.
That is true for the Koreans. They saw only the Japanese who came into their country. So it is inevitable for them to attribute the qualities of those few to the whole nation of Japanese.

But when such a Korean write a historical fiction including those feelings in her book, like what has happened here, the reader can take the story into the heart and he/she might also think about the Japanese like the Koreans. In my opinion, that is not justifiable to happen due to a historical fiction
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

prakritisingh wrote: 29 Jan 2021, 04:09 The author is of Korean descent. It is justifiable when the author takes the side of Korea because Korea was the victim one in the story. Japanese people may feel offended when their country is represented in such an evil manner. The author just wanted to plot a story to portray the situation of Koreans under the Japanese rule. Also, many instances portray Korea as a weak country driven by rigid customs and traditions which would violate the human rights if in today's world. It is not always that the author was on Korea's side.
I feel like that the author has tried to portray the true picture. When you say the truth always, you can't actually be on one side. But there are harmful aspects of telling truth as well, like here the author showing the true nature that few of the Japanese soldiers who invaded Korea. My point is that, by emphasising on that fact, the author has vilified Japan and that is not justifiable. What do you think?
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Post by BellAJoEb »

I believe the author to be justifiable in his stand. It is all about perspective here. He was clearly stating his perspective. He has so many reasons to make that stand one of which is, he is most likely a citizen of Korea, gbthence he felt every bit of the oppression or the aftermath . It is also appropriate for the author to express his opinion in a friction. He is not responsible for how the readers take it though.
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Post by prakritisingh »

Sushan wrote: 30 Jan 2021, 02:06
prakritisingh wrote: 29 Jan 2021, 04:09 The author is of Korean descent. It is justifiable when the author takes the side of Korea because Korea was the victim one in the story. Japanese people may feel offended when their country is represented in such an evil manner. The author just wanted to plot a story to portray the situation of Koreans under the Japanese rule. Also, many instances portray Korea as a weak country driven by rigid customs and traditions which would violate the human rights if in today's world. It is not always that the author was on Korea's side.
I feel like that the author has tried to portray the true picture. When you say the truth always, you can't actually be on one side. But there are harmful aspects of telling truth as well, like here the author showing the true nature that few of the Japanese soldiers who invaded Korea. My point is that, by emphasizing on that fact, the author has vilified Japan and that is not justifiable. What do you think?
Well! Yes I do agree with you. The Japanese may deny any such events that may have occurred. They simply don't want to show the world that they were cruel and harsh to the Koreans and their tyranny made the people suffer. But the thing is, no one knows the actual history. Also there are many perspectives to the same situation. What is right for one may be wrong for the other. When it comes to the author, maybe the author just portrayed what she saw or felt. She wanted to put the picture from the author's side. And I don't think it should create controversies. Its just the author's way of way of telling their story. By this I don't mean that the Japanese were cruel or something but it just that it an individua way of presenting views and emotions.
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Post by Carina Jordaan »

Each story has it's villain and is written from a perspective. I think if the reader changes their opinion about a country based on a novel without doing proper research that are based on facts, they are foolish. Every war has two sides and every fight has a motive.
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Post by Claudia DCD »

Sushan wrote: 03 Jan 2021, 03:38
cristinaro wrote: 02 Jan 2021, 06:10 The novel elaborates on the Koreans' perspective regarding the Japanese occupation. In other words, the vilification is expected and justifiable. As for me, the novel did not turn me against Japan. It practically made me curious to read more on the state of international affairs at the time of the story. Besides, the Koreans are not portrayed all in white either. The author often emphasizes the flaws and weaknesses of Korean society.
The author has shown the inadequacies of Korea as well. Yet he has vilified Japan and its soldiers, and some of the actions of Japanese soldiers and officials that are described in this story can turn the reader against Japan. Those things might have been true, but the author could have taken a lighter approach
I was actually surprised by how light an approach she took to Japan. Granted, I sided with Korea during the reading. It just seems simple, imperialism is wrong. We know that now, even though it was rampant by many countries at the time. But it was and is wrong and harmful, we just have that as a popular idea now. But honestly, it was war and atrocities were worse than depicted in the story. No descriptions of comfort women, no emphasis on how far they would enforce the speaking only in Japanese rules, how bad the torture could have been. We got off light as a reader, seeing the interrogation of a high class citizen that was eventually released because of his station, focusing on men who were taking part in the fight rather than innocent bystanders.

But let me ask you, what was harsh in your eyes? Maybe I missed it?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

BellAJoEb wrote: 30 Jan 2021, 06:21 I believe the author to be justifiable in his stand. It is all about perspective here. He was clearly stating his perspective. He has so many reasons to make that stand one of which is, he is most likely a citizen of Korea, gbthence he felt every bit of the oppression or the aftermath . It is also appropriate for the author to express his opinion in a friction. He is not responsible for how the readers take it though.
Yes, we can't hold an author responsible to what the reader thinks after reading a book. Yet, I am thinking here about justification of that. The author clearly knows that the reader will definitely be empathized and take the side of the victim, Korea, and will think bad about Japan. I think that the author could have still empathize her country without vilifying Japan
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