DMZ Crossing

In this beautifully written and richly documented study, Suk-Young Kim draws on a broad range of sources including memoirs, literature, films, personal interviews, and stage plays, astutely blending ethnography with performance studies and offering fascinating insights into the complex makeup of border crossers, ranging from defectors to tourists, prisoners of war, and politicians. DMZ Crossing is a pathbreaking work whose lively narrative and stunning originality makes it a valuable text for anyone interested in contemporary Korea. -- Jun Yoo, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Brilliantly examining how political divisions inform the emotional tenor of everyday life, Suk-Young Kim's analysis of the DMZ has implications far beyond Korean studies. Expertly braiding testimony from witnesses on both sides of the Korean border, Kim reminds us that political and ideological divisions are often no match for the intensity and duration of emotional ties. This book is an important contribution to performance studies, postcolonial theory, and affect theory. It should be read by all scholars interested in Korean life and culture on both sides of the DMZ. -- Peggy Phelan, Stanford University DMZ Crossing offers much-needed contemplation upon the DMZ and its multiple significations, making an important contribution to the field. -- Suzy Kim American Historical Review Suk-young Kim is rapidly becoming one of the most innovative and insightful scholars writing about North Korea... This is a superb book. Journal of Asian Studies An original contribution to the study of the Korean border, and also has significance for scholarship on affect, citizenship, museums, tourism, media, and theatre and performance history in general. -- Kyounghye Kwon Theatre Survey

Suk-Young Kim is a professor of theater and East Asian studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her book Illusive Utopia addresses North Korean state propaganda and rituals, and she is the coauthor of Long Road Home, which documents the oral history of a North Korean labor camp survivor.

Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Introduction: Contesting the Border 1. Imagined Border Crossers on Stage 2. Divided Screen, Divided Paths 3. Twice Crossing and the Price of Emotional Citizenship 4. Borders on Display: Museum Exhibitions 5. Nation and Nature Beyond the Borderland Notes Works Cited Index