Another Form of Orientalism: Koreans’ Consciousness of Southeast Asia during the Japanese Colonial Period

During the Japanese colonial rule of Korea, the term nambang ... (south), which traditionally simply referred to the cardinal direction, came in Korean minds to refer to Southeast Asia in particular. This change in meaning was associated with the political situation of that period. Nambang came to carry connotations of "undeveloped countries inhabited by indigenous peoples" and evoked a sense of superiority by those who used it. This was a manifestation of another form of Orientalism on the part of Koreans, who were themselves colonized people. Following the way Japan viewed Southeast Asia, the Korean people during the Japanese colonial period regarded the Southeast Asian region as the origin of life with a focus on its abundant natural resources. Unlike the brand of Orientalism of the Western romanticist, which focused on the harsh and violent barbarity of Asia, the image of the Southeast Asian regions as created by Japanese artists tended toward the idyllic and lyrical. Ironically, the people of Korea held imperialistic illusions about Southeast Asia without a tinge of sympathy, although they displayed an infinite sense of affinity toward India. This reveals Koreans' dual standard of Orientalism mixed with a sense of relative superiority and unease. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)