Korea (World Bibliographical Series, 204)

Citation

Epstein, S.J. (1998), "Korea (World Bibliographical Series, 204)", Asian Libraries, Vol. 7 No. 11, pp. 353-355. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1998.7.11.353.3

In this volume of the World Bibliographical Series, the compilers offer 1,101 annotated entries related to Korea on topics that run the gamut from flora to folklore to foreign relations. In keeping with the aim of the series, the work attempts to provide, through “careful selectivity and critical assessment of the literature, an expression of the country...to guide the reader towards an understanding of its importance” (p. iii). To this end the compilers have concentrated on texts published recently (virtually all in English), but have not neglected older material where inclusion is warranted; the paragraph summaries, the book’s strongest feature, are thoughtful, judicious and concise.

The volume’s usefulness, however, is compromised by a structural flaw. As Hoare notes, “there is a particular problem with the bibliography on Korea because of the division of the peninsula since 1945” (p. xxiv), and he attempts to meet that difficulty through a tripartite categorisation of entries: first, a section entitled General Works on Korea that covers the first 200 pages of the volume, separated into 27 broad subjects with further subdivisions, and then much briefer sections on North Korea and South Korea respectively, with roughly similar subject listings. Although one can certainly sympathise with Hoare’s dilemma, his partitioning makes for an unwieldy compilation, and some arbitrariness in the deployment of entries has resulted. Casual users unfamiliar with Western scholarship’s overwhelming focus upon, and access to, South Korea are likely, I suspect, to experience difficulty and may well overlook items of importance in one section or another. Although the continued ghettoisation of studies on North Korea is regrettable, given the current political situation and the practice of Korean studies, the series’ audience may have been better served if the General Works on Korea and South Korea sections had been collapsed.

The listing entitled Theses and Dissertations on Korea, with which the bibliography begins, illustrates other faults. Criteria for selection here are not stated, and the choices prove rather baffling. This section almost does a disservice, in that its brevity and wide range of dates (1935‐1996) may mislead the unwary into surmising that it represents much of what is available. The compilers appear not to have consulted Dissertation Abstracts International; despite the stated intention to concentrate on recent items, none of the at least 24 dissertations related to Korea, completed in 1993 and 1994 that I found, appear here. Furthermore, some items that are included in Hoare’s listing must be regarded as peripheral indeed (for example, a dissertation on weathering and geotechnical characteristics of Korean granite). Incorporation of the theses listed into the general bibliography would perhaps have been more helpful.

The patchy coverage of Korean literature, the subdiscipline most well‐known to this reviewer, suggests additional shortcomings. Works by Hwang Sun‐wôn, for example, are entirely absent, despite his reputation in many quarters as Korea’s most accomplished author this century, and the fact that he has been far more widely translated into English than any other Korean literary figure. Also missing is Words of Farewell, Bruce and Ju‐chan Fulton’s collection of stories by female writers, one of the most highly regarded volumes of Korean literature in translation, and a frequently assigned text in university courses on the subject. Difficulties with the volume’s subdivisions also become readily apparent here: why, for example, is The Star and Other Stories listed in General Works on Korea? The eight short stories in this collection were written by South Koreans between 1977 and 1990, and reflect concern with the social realities of South Korea in this time, even if some stories contain flashbacks to the Korean War. Careful perusal in this section also turns up proofreading errors and inconsistencies (e.g. item 558 was published in 1996, not 1966; one noted literary scholar appears as Peter Hacksoo Lee, although the works cited in fact refer to him only as Peter H. Lee).

Despite the volume’s deficiencies, however, it indeed fills a void and can be recommended on this score. While it will not prove of great use to the specialist, it is the fullest and most up‐to‐date general bibliographic introduction to Korea currently available for public libraries and tertiary institutions.