Perhaps the best academic book produced on the subject of Korean literature, film, and culture over the past twenty yearsHan Sang Kim has achieved a feat in the English language that no one outside Korea has yet to matchthat of telling a fascinating story about the intimate relationship between Korean socioeconomic phenomena (transportation) and media (screen) throughout the twentieth century. -- Kyung Hyun Kim * Seoul Journal of Korean Studies * [ Kim] offers critical interventions and counterpoints to established modes of understanding visuality, vision, and technology, underlining the necessity of distinguishing the post/colonial worlds historical experiences from that of the West. -- Keung Yoon Bae * Technology and Culture * Its breath of research is impressivefrom Korean, American, and Japanese original sources, the subject of the visual mobility of Korea during the past century is groundbreaking and innovative, and the overall historical narrative is brilliant and unique. I cant think of another book that takes this approach in understanding Korea during the twentieth century. I read it from the beginning to end in about two or three sittings, and each and every chapter read as if there were more truth to be told about the authors unorthodox approach at examining the history of Korean development. -- Kyung Hyun Kim, author of Hegemonic Mimicry: Korean Popular Culture of the Twenty-First Century Han Sang Kims wonderful new book offers a vivid exploration of South Koreas twentieth-century experience of modernity, focusing on technologies and representations of mobility within a political-economic framework. Admirably broad in scope, it covers trains, automobiles, and planes as they appear in feature films, documentaries, and TV shows. Kim fluidly combines a transnational perspective with deep dives into national history, and his exceptional knowledge of Korean visual culture enables him to trace continuities and ruptures across the colonial divide. Filled with nuanced textual interpretations, this book expands our understanding of Korean modernity immeasurably. A major contribution to the field of Korean studies. -- Christina Klein, author of Cold War Cosmopolitanism: Period Style in 1950s Korea Cinema
