@article{ART003337132},
author={Jung-duk Woo},
title={The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy},
journal={Journal of Manchurian Studies},
issn={1738-3668},
year={2026},
number={41},
pages={47-69}
TY - JOUR
AU - Jung-duk Woo
TI - The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy
JO - Journal of Manchurian Studies
PY - 2026
VL - null
IS - 41
PB - The Manchurian Studies Association
SP - 47
EP - 69
SN - 1738-3668
AB - This study examines how Yuasa Katsue’s novel Yalu River (鴨綠江) represents both colonialism and developmentalism while simultaneously revealing their internal contradictions. To this end, it focuses on the Sup’ung Dam, which symbolically illustrates the developmentalist expansion of colonialism within the work.
First, the study demonstrates that the Sup’ung Dam was constructed under an imperial vision aimed at political, cultural, military, and economic integration. In line with imperial ideologies such as naisen ittai (Japan-Korea unity) and gozuku kyōwa (Five Races Under One Union), the dam was represented in colonial Korea as a monument to national achievement. It further analyzes how the protagonist internalizes national subject formation after encountering the dam and how this process served as an inevitable strategy for securing social recognition in the society of that time.
Through the concept of the “inverted sublime” presented in the novel, the study explains the protagonist’s process of national subject formation while showing that this ideological framework comes into tension with the narrative structure and character plausibility, thereby exposing the contradictions inherent in colonialism and developmentalism.
While this study contributes to the limited scholarship on Yalu River by shedding light on the characteristics of late colonial literature through this novel, a more comprehensive analysis of the broader transformations in Yuasa Katsue’s works during this period is still needed.
KW - Yalu River (鴨綠江);national subject formation;representations of Manchuria;Sup’ung Dam;colonialism;naisen ittai;gozoku kyōwa
DO -
UR -
ER -
Jung-duk Woo. (2026). The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy. Journal of Manchurian Studies, 41, 47-69.
Jung-duk Woo. 2026, "The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy", Journal of Manchurian Studies, no.41, pp.47-69.
Jung-duk Woo "The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy" Journal of Manchurian Studies 41 pp.47-69 (2026) : 47.
Jung-duk Woo. The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy. 2026; 41 : 47-69.
Jung-duk Woo. "The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy" Journal of Manchurian Studies no.41(2026) : 47-69.
Jung-duk Woo. The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy. Journal of Manchurian Studies, 41, 47-69.
Jung-duk Woo. The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy. Journal of Manchurian Studies. 2026; 41 47-69.
Jung-duk Woo. The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy. 2026; 41 : 47-69.
Jung-duk Woo. "The Dual Significance of the Colonial Development Narrative in the Yuasa Katsue’s Yalu River : The Inverted Sublime and Conditional Autonomy" Journal of Manchurian Studies no.41(2026) : 47-69.
