Diasporic Object Lessons
Material Identity and the Korean Diaspora in the Work of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4520021 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alison Fraser (0000-0003-1681-698X), Alison J Fraser (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 31-47 |
| Publication date | 2019-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Women's studies quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0732-1562 • E-ISSN: 1934-1520 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/wsq.2019.0009 |
| OpenAlex | W2939303443 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 5 |
Within a context where Korean identity is continually suppressed, the minutiae of material life—family photographs, diary entries, letters, official government documents—gain significance where they might otherwise be overlooked. Poet and visual artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha regathers these materials to redefine boundaries in the diaspora. Against a backdrop of exile and separation from Korea, her mother tongue, and extended family, Cha interrogates the role materiality plays in shaping identity, memory, and the past and future, by using mundane cultural artifacts and (re)production techniques, especially photocopying (or xerography), to create documents that subvert or expand their original function. In the two-tonal medium of xerography, Cha literally challenges black-and-white notions about Korean identity, creating sites of self-possession from which she contends with exile, history, and materiality
Aesthetics · Art · Diaspora · Linguistics · Sociology · Visual arts · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Gender Studies · History · Japanese History and Culture · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |