Reference
Review by NCTA teacher Reed Miller
High School History (Modern Asia and World Civ)
Sewickley Academy (Pittsburgh)
Lost Names by Richard Kim is a wonderful, readable, and useable account of growing up in colonized Korea from 1932 through the end of World War II that would be perfect for a high school class room (but would probably work for an upper level middle school class as well). The book as a whole tells a continuous story, but it is broken down into different chapters, each of which tells its own story. Because of this format, a teacher could just as easily use one chapter in isolation as the book as a whole.
The content touches on many different aspects of history and culture. It could obviously be used to teach about Japanese imperialism and World War II, but it allows the reader to see these events from a perspective not often considered by Westerners: that of Asians living within the colonial network. The Korean populace had to endure ever-increasing Japanese oppression. The psychological domination, from demanding that Japan be referred to as the “mainland” to the “taking” of Korean names allows an insight into the mental brutality of the Japanese during this era. This book could be extremely effective as a tool to teach the beginnings of World War II in Asia, a subject often glossed over in comparison to the events in Europe at the time.
At the same time, the book gives personal insight into East Asian, and especially Korean culture. The deep cultural importance of Confucianism is portrayed repeatedly, between the main character and his parents, grandparents, teachers, and friends. While the philosophies of Confucianism are never discussed, the story continually illustrates the day to day manifestations of this world view. Along with Confucianism, traditional religious beliefs and practices such as ancestor worship/reverence are examined. The title of the book revolves around this issue, with the Korean people being forced to take Japanese surnames and thus disgracing their ancestors.
An accessible and enjoyable read, Lost Names would allow a teacher to intertwine a number of different cultural, religious, and historical concepts into one unit. It is certainly a book that I would recommend for a variety of different social studies courses.
