[ks-open] Re: Why honor Elizabeth "Kim" Chambers?

[brian myers]

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Dear Kushibo,

I have a 20 page list of the book's holes; let me know if you want it. But 
here are the excerpts you asked for:

[Killing women to expunge a family’s shame] was a long-accepted practice. 
Such deaths were not murder, they were honor killings and therefore 
sanctified by tradition. (31)
Chambers did no research into this claim, any more than she researched the 
Korean War (which she told a Canadian reporter ended in "1954 or 1955").

gusty December wind…in the rice field…We were working quickly, trying to 
keep ourselves as warm as possible. I straightened up …Omma stood up, 
rubbing her tired back…(7)
Bear in mind that Chambers was three years old when farming this miraculous 
winter rice!

Our tiny home had packed-mud walls, a thatched roof, and a neatly swept 
earth floor…It was one room – a peasant’s home. (22)
Chambers goes on to claim that the earth floor was heated by ondol, which 
she defines as "a heating pit"!

the basic necessities of life such as coal for the heating pits and tea and 
medicinal herbs (16)
There are many references to tea; like a lot of Americans, she seems to 
think that Koreans are as hooked on the stuff as the Chinese are.

Omma placed the bowl in both hands and bowed to me. ...She would wait 
courteously for me to take the first bite. (19)
Again, this is a three year old child Omma is bowing to.

Again, anyone who wants my entire list of holes and absurdities, please let 
me know. I would appreciate it if Korea scholars in Europe would keep an eye 
out for translations - apparently the ghastly thing is due to come out in 11 
foreign languages.
Brian Myers

>From: "T.N. Park" <tnpark@mac.com>
>Reply-To: ks-open@iic.edu
>To: <ks-open@iic.edu>
>Subject: Re: Why honor Elizabeth "Kim" Chambers?
>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 11:18:25 +0900
>
>REPLY sends your message to the whole list
>__________________________________________
>
>brian myers wrote:
> > According to Bay Area media, the IIC and Korean Center are
> > planning to honor Elizabeth "Kim" Chambers, author of "Ten Thousand
> > Sorrows", at an award ceremony in San Francisco on December 30. In other
> > words, two organizations devoted to improving American understanding of
> > Korean culture are honoring a woman who has gone around the world, 
>including
> > universities (last week: Colorado College), spreading misinformation 
>about
> > Korea - in particular the canard that Korea has a "sanctified" tradition 
>of
> > men murdering their adult sisters and daughters.
>
>Many Korean-American leaders, in my opinion, occasionally demonstrate the
>distasteful habit of jumping on the bandwagon for what seems *any* Korean 
>or
>Korean-American in the public eye.
>
>Thus, they initially gave overwhelming support to former US Representative
>Jay Kim's run for Congress, even though he was in support of his party's
>policies that were in opposition to most Korean-Americans' interests. Also
>thus, no one calls into question the casual dismissals of obnoxious 
>behavior
>of some Korean-Americans toward Blacks by would-be community leader Angela
>Oh at the height of Los Angeles riots. Also thus, (if your characterization
>is true) Elizabeth Kim Chambers gets honored by the KA community despite 
>the
>dubious descriptions made in her book.
>
>At times it seems there's no discrimination at all regarding whom to stand
>behind: defending one Korean's reputation is seen as defending all of
>Korea's reputation.
>
>Actually, though, I would like to scrutinize these claims of 
>misinformation.
>I have only heard *of* the misinformation, but I haven't had a chance to
>read them, not having yet seen the book in any local bookstore. Could you
>cite some passages that are suspect? I would be most grateful, as it would
>give me a clearer picture of whether or not your claim is valid.
>
> > Less offensively, but just as absurdly, Ms Chambers also teaches that
> > Koreans live on heated earth floors, regard tea as a basic necessity of
> > life, bow down to their toddlers, and farm rice in December.
>
>Again, please cite the passages where she makes these claims.
>
>TNP (aka kushibo)
>

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