Fictional International Relations: Gender, Pain and Truth PDF
Preview Fictional International Relations: Gender, Pain and Truth
Fictional International Relations may sound like an oxymoron, but it isn’t. Reading Sungju Park- Kang’s innovative case study of the mysterious cold war downing of flight KAL 858 makes me realise anew how much we all try to make sense of politics amidst uncertainty, how much we employ imagination to make that sense, and how much a feminist curiosity aids us in that daunting effort. I recommend Fictional International Relations to all readers who are candid enough to admit that international politics is riddled with uncertainties. Cynthia Enloe, Clark University, USA This(cid:2)page(cid:2)intentionally(cid:2)left(cid:2)blank Fictional International Relations This book puts forward the idea of fictional International Relations (IR) and engages with feminist IR by contextualising the case of a woman spy in Korea in the Cold War. Fictional imagination and feminist IR encourage one to go beyond conven- tional or standard ways of thinking; it reshapes taken- for-granted interpretations and assumptions. It takes the view that a dominant narrative of events might be reconstructed as a different kind of story once events are placed within a wider temporal approach. The case of the woman Korean secret agent – who report- edly bombed a South Korean plane (Korean Airlines (KAL) Flight 858) follow- ing instructions from the North Korean leadership to disrupt the Seoul Olympic Games – is chosen to serve as an effective example of fictional IR and feminist IR scholarship, which can be investigated through the research puzzles concern- ing gender, pain and truth. Fictional International Relations has three main objectives. First, it investi- gates the way in which fiction-w riting can become a method for dealing with data problems and contingency in IR. Second, the book examines how gender, pain and truth operate or interact in the case of the Korean spy and how this observation can strengthen feminist IR in terms of intersectionality. Finally, the author goes on to explore why this case has been so difficult to study openly and thoroughly. The aim of the book is not to refute the official findings; the point is to unpack the complex dynamics surrounding truth – more specifically how the official account has been executed as the truth – based on a feminist-i nformed investigation. This book will be of interest to students of IR theory, critical security studies, Cold War studies, gender studies and Asian studies. Sungju Park- Kang is a guest researcher at the School of Global Studies, Uni- versity of Gothenburg, Sweden. Series: War, Politics and Experience Series Editor: Christine Sylvester Experiencing War Edited by Christine Sylvester The Political Psychology of War Rape Studies from Bosnia and Herzegovina Inger Skjelsbæk Gender, Agency and War The maternalized body in US foreign policy Tina Managhan War as Experience Contributions from international relations and feminist analysis Christine Sylvester War and the Body Militarisation, practice and experience Edited by Kevin McSorley The Politics of Protest and US Foreign Policy Performative construction of the war on terror Cami Rowe Joy and International Relations A new methodology Elina Penttinen Women and Militant Wars The politics of injury Swati Parashar Fictional International Relations Gender, pain and truth Sungju Park- Kang Fictional International Relations Gender, pain and truth Sungju Park- Kang OR Routledge GDELTU Taylor & Francis Group E LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 Sungju Park- Kang The right of Sungju Park-K ang to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Park-Kang, Sungju, 1977– Fictional international relations : gender, pain and truth / Sungju Park- Kang. pages cm – (War, politics and experience) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. International relations. 2. International relations–Philosophy. 3. Feminism–Methodology. 4. Feminist theory. 5. Political fiction I. Title. JZ1253.2.P37 2014 327.101–dc23 2013042472 ISBN13: 978-0-415-71861-5 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-1-315-86971-1 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear To ghosts of KAL 858 This(cid:2)page(cid:2)intentionally(cid:2)left(cid:2)blank Contents Foreword x A letter of survival xi 1 A mysteriously sorry story 1 2 The (too hot to be) cold war and KAL 858 17 3 Fictional International Relations 34 4 Fiction: Sister, I am sorry 45 5 Feminist IR towards intersectional politics 52 6 The gender bomb-s hell in KAL 858 70 7 The pain mosaic in KAL 858 88 8 The truth trouble in KAL 858 108 9 Becoming an IR detective 129 10 Fiction as another conclusion 145 Bibliography 151 Index 167
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