One of the largest political protests in contemporary Korean history, the May 1980 Kwangju Uprising still exerts a profound, often contested, influence in Korean society. Through a deft combination of personal reflections and academic analysis, Contentious Kwangju offers a comprehensive examination of the multiple, shifting meanings of this seminal event and explains how the memory of Kwangju has affected Korean life from politics to culture. In keeping with the book's title, the essays offer competing interpretations of the Kwangju Uprising, yet together provide the most thorough English-language treatment to date of the multifaceted, sweeping significance of this seminal event.

Introduction 1 Contentious Kwangju Part I 2 Origins and Development Chapter 1 3 The Formation of an Absolute Community Chapter 2 4 Simin'gun: Citizens' Army during Kwangju Uprising Chapter 3 5 An American Missionary's View Chapter 4 6 Has Kwangju Been Realized? Part II 7 Legacy and Representation Chapter 5 8 From Heroic Victims to Disabled Survivors: The 5.18 Injured after Twenty Years Chapter 6 9 The Kwangju Uprising as a Vehicle of Democratization: A Comparative Perspective Chapter 7 10 Victims and Heroes: Competing Visions of May 18 Chapter 8 11 Re-inventing the Region: The Cultural Politics of Place in Kwangju City and South Cholla Province Afterword 12 The Historical Watershed

Edited by Gi-Wook Shin and Kyung Moon Hwang - Contributions by Jong-Chul Ahn; Don Baker; Juna Byun; Jung-Kwan Cho; Jung-Woon Choi; Kyung-Moon Hwang; Keun-Sik Jung; Linda S. Lewis; Jean W. Underwood and Sallie Yea