Leiden University Student Repository

Wong, Bryan (2017)

Representations of Zainichi Identity in Cinema

Bachelor thesis | Koreastudies (BA)

After WWII, between 500,000 and 600,000 Koreans remained in Japan because of social, economical or political reasons. The Koreans who remained in Japan became known as zainichi, which literally means “residing in Japan.” In this thesis, I argue that the representation of the zainichi identity of adolescents in cinema helps us appreciate the complexities of zainichi identity. Through film, we are able to see how the characters change throughout the story and how they interact with their social environment. , I discuss scholarship on the formation of zainichi identity, how zainichi were able to secure the legal recognition of their existence in Japan and how different social and legal changes caused a change in zainichi identity.

zainichi

identity

cinema

representation

discrimination

film

diaspora

homeland

Author

Wong, Bryan

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Koreastudies

Supervisors

Park, Saeyoung

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en