Skip to Main Content

DMZ Crossing: Performing Emotional Citizenship Along the Korean Border

Online ISBN:
9780231537261
Print ISBN:
9780231164825
Publisher:
Columbia University Press
Book

DMZ Crossing: Performing Emotional Citizenship Along the Korean Border

Published:
18 March 2014
Online ISBN:
9780231537261
Print ISBN:
9780231164825
Publisher:
Columbia University Press

Abstract

This book focuses on a diverse selection of people who have crossed the border between North and South Korea and also assesses the citizenship they acquire based on emotional affiliation rather than constitutional delineation. It details how these individuals use their physical bodies and emotions as “optimal frontiers,” and shows how they resist the state's right to draw geopolitical borders and define their national identities. It highlights the fact that, although the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) is one of the most heavily guarded places on earth, it also provides passage for thousands of defectors, spies, political emissaries, war prisoners, activists, tourists and others testing the limits of Korean division. The book draws on sources that range from North Korean documentary films, museum exhibitions, and theatre productions. It also uses protester perspectives and interviews with South Korean officials and activists. In this way, it recasts the history of Korean division and draws a nuanced portrait of the region's Cold War legacies. The book ultimately helps readers conceive of the DMZ as a dynamic summation of personalized experiences rather than as a fixed site of historical significance.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close