The Meaning of the Title

Use this forum to discuss the January 2021 Book of the month, "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley
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Re: The Meaning of the Title

Post by Cassie_Megan »

I completely agree with number 1. The title, to me, refers mostly to the fact that Korea's culture, traditions, etc slowly fade in order to be "accepted" by Japan.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

One interpretation of the title could be that the author was referring to the slow disappearance of the Korean culture and peoples due to the colonization by the Japanese.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

cristinaro wrote: 07 Jan 2021, 05:40 Pejay Bradley's novel has a beautiful metaphorical title. For me, "The Vanished" might refer to the following:
1) the gradual disappearance of the traditional Korean way of life under Japanese occupation and dominance;
2) the marginalized (servants, women) whose voices cannot be heard in a society where aristocracy and men have all the influence;
3) resistance heroes who sacrificed their lives and never gave up their fight for independence.
Which of these three best works to explain the title? Do you have any other ideas?
I agree with opinion 1 and 2 but I'm not so sure about 3. I feel 1 and 2 perfectly describe and captures the essence of the title and the book itself whereas 3 while a noble thought, isn't really what the book is about.
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Post by Sophia10 »

In addition to yours suggestions, yes their glory vanished under Japanese rule. It is exactly the title of the book I think. Since everything transpired was Japanese rein the Koreans.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Bertha Jackson wrote: 07 Jan 2021, 18:47 I think it is about the vanishing of Korea's values and culture in a country dominated by Japan. They have to conform to survive Japan's rule.
I agree that Korea's cultural values vanished under the Japanese rule, and that might be the reason for the author to name her book in that name.

But at the same time, the author shows that though the older generations wanted to hold on to their culture, the younger ones expected changes in it. So, did all Koreans feel like loosing something under the rule of the Japanese? I feel like it was vanished for some but it was not for some as well
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Mtibza eM wrote: 08 Jan 2021, 12:17 I agree with your number 1 & number 2 not three because all those who sacrificed their lives were documented by fellow struggle heroes so they don't get erased in history.
In any war there are unsung heroes. This one cannot be a different one. So definitely there should have been the activists in the movement who actually got erased. And also, only the ones who gave their lives will be celebrated as heroes. But when we look into this story, we see that many contributed to the struggle in their own ways and some might have lost everything other than their lives because they raised against Japan, but no body would have noticed them. So such people are actually being erased from the history without any mentioning as heroes. So this third point is also valid in my opinion.

In addition, are all the soldiers of a war are remembered or only the leaders are praised and remembered while the regular soldiers are being simply forgotten in the history?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

ReaderAisha2020 wrote: 11 Jan 2021, 15:48 I thought that the vanished was referring to Embon but now I can see it was probably referring to elements of the culture, history or society of Korea
I too agree with that. Embon was just a character and he was used to show the reader a bigger picture regarding Japanese invasion of Korea and the Korean freedom struggle. In this struggle, Korea and Koreans lost many things including their lives, their values, their culture and many more. So, though this seems as the Embon's story, it is about how Korean culture and its people have been vanished in the sands of history as a result of the Japanese invasion and the Korean resistance.

And the word vanished emphasises that those lost things are gone forever without leaving any trace. So, it is a meaningful as well as a strong title
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Kirsi_78 wrote: 12 Jan 2021, 02:34
Book Lover Jack wrote: 10 Jan 2021, 16:02 I believe the author wrote the book to remind us of the forgotten Korean Upper class (yangban). In this book's case, the elite young men in society that died for their country. Generally, however, I believe its the forgotten Korean upper class whose story has vanished from history along with its heroes
I agree with you on this. It is sad what happened to Korean upper class but such things have happened (and are still happening) throughout human history.

I would also vote for the number 1 in @cristinaro ’s list. Maybe there’s a bit of both, somehow they go hand in hand. Whatever the case is, this is a clever title!
I too agree with you for naming it as a clever title. There are no numerous occasions that we look at the title of a book and think of it in various ways regarding how or why this title is given to the book. In many books, though we think about the title before reading it, after reading the book we merely see the actual meaning of the title. But here, even after reading the book, the title still remains with something for us to think about and go over it again and again. That is why I agree with you as this is a clever title
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Nickolas Farmakis wrote: 12 Jan 2021, 09:14 I think that the first and second meanings you wrote resonate best with me, as I felt that the author was giving a voice through the book to the Korean people and the minorities of the time, showing their emotions and their hardships.
I too agree with you. Though we learn about history, I actually had no big recollection regarding a Japanese invasion of Korea. And when I look at how Korea is today, I can't even imagine that there was an era that Korea was under the boot of Japan and its people suffered a lot. Seemingly that whole history has been vanished maybe because there were no one left to pass it along at the end. So, that history have simply been vanished. The author has resurfaced that history along with the hardships and emotions of the Korean people of that era
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

ankushavhad wrote: 15 Jan 2021, 01:06 I tried to make relevance to the title while writing about the lines while the book was nominated BOTD, on 1st Jan. I feel the story is all about old Korea emerged into a new country. Then the traditional culture had seen fading away as the Japanese ruled their land. So the relevance I can make for the title is to the gradual disappearance of the traditional Korean.
A gradual disappearance could have left some of the older values of the culture. What we have to keep in mind is that even without the invasion of Japan, the younger generations of Korea were expecting a change in their outdated cultural practices. So the invasion of the Japanese was a boost for this transformation. So the ones who despised Korean traditions quickly shed their old values and took the new things that they saw in and got from the Japanese.

That is why I appreciate the use of word Vanished in the title. It strongly emphasises regarding sudden disappearance of Korean values, leaving no trace
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Annette M wrote: 16 Jan 2021, 14:25 I think the titles talks about the falls heroes like King Gojong, Mr.Cho, General yoon, gain and yangwoo among others.
They are the few who got recognized in this struggle, at least in this historical fiction. But how many could have been vanished with no trace in this struggle. Some could have been actual heroes who got no mentioning about. But they silently did their job to protect their country and its values, but ultimately succumbed to death along with the death of Korean culture and traditions. I think that the title mostly refers to such unsung, unmentioned heroes who actually got vanished in the history
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Post by Brownbrit »

@cristi@cristinaro, your options for the meaning of the title are very astute. I appreciate your insight. I was keeping it basic and assuming it meant the individuals killed and hidden like all of the revolutionaries who were arrested and tortured only to have their bodies scattered in the woods. There were at least 5 references to Koreans killed only to be buried without mention or grave markings. But, option 1 is very fitting.
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Post by Arite Seki »

lavkathleen wrote: 29 Jan 2021, 02:20
Arite Seki wrote: 18 Jan 2021, 17:18 I think the title relates best with 1 and 3. My first impression was that it was in reference to the heroes who fought against the Japanese whose stories won't get to be told. Often in history only the major events and characters are remembered, but often the smaller voices who contributed and fought for freedom are remembered only in memory, if even at all
May I ask why not number 2? As you've said, the "small" voices are rarely recognized. You're talking about the people who fought for the country's freedom, and although we didn't read about the servants who decided to join the independence movement, I think the title refers to them, too. The story didn't only tell us about the oppression caused by the foreigners, but also by the Koreans themselves against their own countrymen.
I do agree that they were part of the story, and they were silenced and oppressed by their fellow countrymen. But the title itself doesn't seem to, for me, relate to their plight. If it were something along the lines of 'The Silenced' it would make more sense but they didn't vanish in any way, they were always in the background and that didn't change.
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Post by Dimi1 »

It's about the lost Korean culture I think. Values and tradition vanished due to the Japanese occupation.
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Post by Book Lover Jack »

lavkathleen wrote: 29 Jan 2021, 02:03
Book Lover Jack wrote: 21 Jan 2021, 16:01
lavkathleen wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 02:25 It's not just the upper class, though, but the Korean culture as a whole. Whether a person is from the upper or lower class, they each had a reason to leave their traditions behind. I believe it's not only the yangbans who made a sacrifice, although the story focuses on them.
In a sense yes, but I believe the author is specifically referring to the the upper class because many know of the poor Koreans that lived at that time, but little is known of the upper class or the yangban as a subgroup within that class.
I don't think that's accurate. We had people from different levels of society in the story. We had Lady Sougyon, who was a daughter of a prince—a royalty. We had Mr. Seoh, who was a yangban. And although we didn't see the story from their perspective, we also had the servants. There's also the kings and queens, the sons of merchants, and the ones who joined the rebellion. We all had a piece of their stories.
Yes, the novel included people from various socioeconomic groups. However, this book's focus was more on the elite of that time that modern people don't realise actually existed.
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