Via H-Japan

Heritage Management in Korea and Japan: The Politics of Antiquity and Identity

Hyung Il-Pai

December 2013

298 pp.
ISBN: 9780295993058
Paperback $30.00
ISBN: 9780295993041
Hardcover $70.00

Publisher’s blurb, from University of Washington Press:

Imperial tombs, Buddhist architecture, palaces, and art treasures in Korea and Japan have attracted scholars, collectors, and conservators—and millions of tourists. As iconic markers of racial and cultural identity at home and abroad, they are embraced as tangible sources of immense national pride and popular “must-see” destinations.

This book provides the first sustained account to highlight how the forces of modernity, nationalism, colonialism, and globalization have contributed to the birth of museums, field disciplines, tourist industries, and heritage management policies. Its chapters trace the history of explorations, preservations, and reconstructions of archaeological monuments from an interregional East Asian comparative perspective in the past century.

Hyung Il Pai is professor of East Asian languages and cultural studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Constructing “Korean” Origins [Harvard University Press, 2000].