The Concept of Minjok in 1905

                   In the movie YMCA Baseball Team, the concept of Minjok (nation) is well apparent, Henry Em states that the vocabulary of minjok was introduced to Koreans in the late nineteenth century, but the concept of the “collective-self” existed well before the vocabulary itself (Robinson 336). It is important to understand the historical context of the time setting in the film prior to the discussion of the minjok (nation). The film sets the time frame in the year of 1905 when the nominal Great Han Empire (대한제국) was there in the Korean peninsula. Korea lost her diplomatic rights. The Japanese Empire instituted Tonggambu which eventually became the Governor General’s office after 1910. In fact, Korea became a protectorate of Japan in 1905.

                     In the film, it is easily noticeable that some of the characters use the word “byunjulja” often in which can be directly translated into a traitor in English. When Min Jung Rim’s father commits suicide after the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, Min’s mother calls one of her guests to the funeral as a traitor. He is the pro-Japanese collaborator and indirectly responsible for signing the treaty with Japan. Also, when Oh Dae hyun tries to kill Gwang Tae’s father, apparently the same person who comes to the funeral due to his involvement of the unfair treaty with Japan, Oh calls him a traitor once again in the film. I will focus on use of the vocabulary traitor. As mentioned earlier, the concept of nation was introduced to Koreans in the late nineteenth century. However, if many of the Koreans in the early twentieth century were grieved due to the shameful treaty and loss of their sovereignty, I could assure the concept of nation (“minjok”) already existed well before the 1890s. Furthermore, Em refers Cho Tonggol’s book and Cho “applauds the pioneer of nationalist historiography, Sin Ch’aeho, not for creating a historical narrative based on a new construct called the minjok but for creating a historical narrative based on the discovery of the minjok—suggesting that prior to its discovery the minjok was already present” (Robinson 337).

                     In addition, the film highlights groups of Koreans and the cheering squad when the rematch with Japan happens at the end. This scene can also be interrelated with the concept of minjok because the crowd really wants the Korean YMCA baseball team to win the rematch. I could feel the atmosphere in the film that the people cheer very passionately not only for their pleasures of enjoying sports, but for their desires to win the Japanese and maintain their national identities. After the Korean YMCA baseball team wins, the Japanese soldiers are about to capture Oh Dae Hyun and Min Jung Rim. The crowd and the whole baseball team resist the violence of the Japanese soldiers so the two people can escape. Overall, this film shows that the Koreans in 1905 did not actually consolidate the concept of minjok clearly; however, they are unconsciously aware of what nation (minjok) means due to the series of unfair treaties with Japan.   

YMCA Baseball Team: Comedy as a Deflector

While watching the film YMCA Baseball Team I found its approach to the reiteration of an unpleasant time interesting. First of all the quick movements of the camera as it swerved through streets and alley ways of Seoul created a storybook feel. Perhaps, the childish, playful feel of the the movie was attributed to the fact that the story was being recalled by a child. The movement of the camera as well as the interesting characters in the film, such as the twins and the odd silent man, made the story feel like make-believe, with a slight fantastical feel. The film was filled with comedic moments, which allowed the film to glaze over the more serious moments. For example, when, i believe it was Min Jeong rim’s relative, committed suicide Ho-chang’s love letter lightened the mood . Also, when Lee Ho-chang was having a serious conversation with his father comedic relief was provided with the throwing of the beads at Ho-chang. The film itself reminded me slightly of slap stick comedy. The silly moments in the film allow the movie to come off light hearted, in spite of the slightly darker events that occurred during the time. 

The film itself is fairly nationalistic, displaying the triumph of Korea over Japan through the classic American pastime, baseball. in reality  the occupation of Korea by Japan had just begun, and Korea would have to submit for many years to come. In film, during the final game between the Japanese team and the Korean YMCA team, Oh Dae-hyeon potentially sacrifices his freedom for the hope of Korea. The Koreans in this film are very nationalistic, which is contrary to what is believed they actually were at the time. 

Korea at the time was heavily influenced by both the Japanese and the Westerners. In this film the villain are the Japanese who are determined to take Korea. The Americans on the other hand, even though they too are influencing Koreans to adapt their ways, are portrayed as a part of the “good guys.” An interesting quote that was uttered during the final baseball game was when the announcer said that “the Koreans are looking to the YMCA team to give them what the Korean government couldn’t.” The YMCA baseball team is very western made apparent by its name and the sport they play. Therefore, I found it interesting how Korea was defending their country with such an American activity. It all ironically didn't seem nationalistic. 

Minjok And Ho-Chang

The ideas about nationalism – that it wasn’t always there, that it may be as oppressive by using the same discourse as the oppressor as it is liberating – Henry Em brings up in his chapter “Minjok as a Construct” are intricate and well argued. There is always the need to look at concepts in relation to other political and social policies, assumptions and histories of that time, which Em attempts to do by outlining all that was happening before and during when forms of minjok started appearing in writings. If ideas are not critiqued and examined from a different perspective when its legitimacy is questionable, serves to further confuse and disguise the truth.

Ho-Chang’s trajectory seems to parallel the belief that nationalism didn’t exist before, as stated in the Em’s article. Its understandable to a certain extent why people weren’t about nationalism at first and more about their own areas and provinces – they didn’t have to care until influences and policies could be stretched far afield, which modernization and colonialization did. Ho-Chang shifts from only playing his games and figuring out how to deal with his father to becoming passively involved in the politics and outside world, finally ending up being an activist involved in the guerilla assassin group – the Anti-Eulsa 50, which I gather from the last scene of the movie where he wears the same mask worn by the assassin sent to kill Kwang tae’s father. Furthermore, outside influences and modernization wrought the changes for Ho-Chang’s direction. Nationalism was brought into his life through outside influences: first, a western influence, to bring him into contact with Jung-Lim and Dae-Hyun and second, his activist friends, who had lived abroad and were involved in fighting against Japan’s colonialism, who increasingly involved him in nationalistic activities. Kang Kyong-Ae seems to have been similar too in that she was introduced to nationalistic movements and then helped further by acquaintances as described in the introduction to Wonso Pond.

Ho-Chang was brought into direct conflict with Japanese control which helped fostered his feelings of nationalism and this too can be seen as similar to Kang Kyong-Ae’s life in that she became more and more involved the more she resisted against colonial powers. Having something to fight against brings people together and the national identity is one of the most useful identities in that it brings the whole nation together transcending provincial or district identities. That’s probably one of the reasons why Shin Ch’aeho tried to “subvert weak and limited conceptions of Koreas national space” (345); which, mirrors what Perry says about Kang Kyong-Ae in the introduction in that she was trying to expand the spheres of influence of women and bring their struggles and importance to the forefront. In any case, nationalism’s significance and wide spread influence can’t really be ignored which just makes all its possible facets and reasons for propagation that much more important.

The YMCA Baseball Team and the New Minjok

In Minjok as a Modern and Democratic Construct: Sin Ch’aeho’s Historiography, Henry Em argues that status distinctions between the yangban, chungin, commeners, and ch’onmin class had created “horizontal lines of cultural cleavage in which each status group had its own idiom, norms, and social role.” When a new generation of political activists and intellectuals rose to redefine Korea, they re-imagined Korea’s “collective identity in terms of a deep horizontal comradeship,” regardless of the actual divisions and inequalities that prevailed in Korean society.

During the movie YMCA Baseball Team (2002), there are many occurrences of these “horizontal cultural cleavage.” The most apparent status distinction was between two players in the team who previously had been yangban and ch’onmin. The ch’onmin used to serve the yangban family but as the yangban class has been abolished, we can see the ch’onmin calling the yangban by his name. The yangban cannot get used to be in an equal status as the ch’onmin and creates disputes within the team. 

[YMCA Baseball Team] Transition

In the film YMCA Baseball Team, the director wanted to point out about how baseball was first introduced in Korea by American missionaries and how the first Korean baseball team was formed under the political influence of Japan. What I found most interesting was the setting of the film that introduced many aspects of the transition that Choson Korea was undergoing with the arrival of Western modernity as well as Japanese imperial forces. It says in the reading that the transformation of peasants into Frenchmen became possible after the establishment of universal schooling, unification of customs and beliefs by inter-regional labor migration and military service and subordination of political and religious conflicts to an ideology of patriotism. In other words, it was only after the emergence of modern state structures that distinctive social, political, and linguistic practices became available. This was the case in Korea, too. In the Chosun Dynasty, there was a very rigid social hierarchy that the system of slavery was still in existence. However, as Korea got modernized, men from different social affiliations were turned into a unified team. YMCA baseball team was composed by those including Korean aristocrats, a pair of twins, a political son, a few workers, a mute and a servant, the servant and his ex-owner were now on the same level. In the servant’s perspective, this transition could have been viewed positively since it gave him “freedom” and equal rights that he became a normal citizen of Korea.

During the publicity activities in the film, a couple of children sing a song that briefly sums up some traditional aspects of Korea, “My father wants me to become the admirer my mother wants me to become a powerful man’s wife.” The director then shows how Korea became modernized. In the main character Hochang’s case, his father wants him to follow the path of him by becoming a scholar, the admirer. However, he prefers to play sports and ultimately decides to chases his dreams. This western modernity lighted up his dull life by introducing him a new world of sports, and he was assisted by a “new woman” named Min Chong-rim, who’s shown as a well-educated/brave woman unlike other traditional Korean women.  In the film, the YMCA team never loses a game of their very first season, but as the Japanese military force is invading Korea, the team gets into trouble and lose their training field. It was very important to notice the rivalry built between the YMCA team and the Japanese team formed by Japanese soldiers, since this match not only meant who were the best at baseball but also a cry for freedom from the Korean people. 

Beginning of the modernization and Eulsa Treaty

The background of the movie “YMCA Baseball team” is in 1905 when Eulsa treaty occurred in Korea. Eulsa treaty is one of the famous events in Korean history in which Japan took away a diplomatic rights from Korea. The catcher Ryu Kwang Tae’s father is a pro-Japanese who was attacked by the anti Eulsa-50. During this period, many people became anti-Eulsa for sure, if I was in that period, I would become an anti-Eulsa because I do not want to lose my country. Also, Kwang Tae’s father flattered to Japan General all the time. When Jeong-rim’s father died in the movie, I thought that Jeong-rim’s father was involved in Eulsa treaty because when the Japan General and Kwang Tae’s father came to his funeral, mourning people did not like him to be there. In my point of view, Ryu Kwang Tae’s father was traitor who threw out the “minjok ethic”. During Japanese colonialism, Koreans were emphasized “Minjok Sahak” which means “on the eve of being colonized by Japan, to achieve political independence and to reclaim dignity and “authentic” identity in reaction to colonialist discourses on Korea, nationalists such as Sin Ch’aeho sought to arouse, unite, and mobilize the entire Korean population”. (Pg 342 Henry H EM)

Moreover, I found some interesting facts. The setting of the movie was the period that starting modernization in Korea. I could see mixed of Western Culture and Korean traditional culture in this move. I thought that baseball was a symbol that Korea started to accept western culture and Jeong-rim was a new woman who brought a modernization to Korea by teaching baseball rules as a missionary. Also, when you look at the people’s clothes, some people wore Korean traditional clothes called “Hanbok” and other people wore suits that we are wearing these days. Even the rooms between Jeong-rim and Ho-Chang have a big difference. Jeong-rim’s like more modernized than Ho-Chang’s.

Overall, in this period Korea started to accept some western culture; however, Eulsa treaty was the event that starting to Japanese colonization and the word “Minjok” was emphasized to avoid Japanese unfair domination.

On the Field: Sports Nationalism in YMCA Baseball Team

The film YMCA Baseball Team is in many ways a classic underdog sports story. The Korean team, made up of a ragtag group of people from different socio-economic classes and parts of the city, each with a unique and slightly eccentric personality, must defeat the almost professional, well-oiled military Japanese team in a game of Baseball. It differs from similar stories, however, in that it is positioned against the backdrop of colonized Korea and imperialist Japan. With this in mind, it is clear that the film is telling a nationalist story of Korea’s small triumph against its oppressors.

This story is reminiscent of nationalist re-creations and re-imaginations of Korean history. Em says in reference to nationalist writers in Korea in the late 19^th century:

In place of loyalty to the king and attachments to the village,
clan, and family, and in place of hierarchic status distinctions

among yangban, commoners, and base people, nationalist
historiography endeavored to redirect the people’s loyalty
toward a new, all-embracing identity of Koreans as a unique
ethnic group. (342)

This can easily be applied to YMCA Baseball Team. The Korean team in the film is led by a Yangban scholar, made up mostly of middle- and lower-class men, and managed by an educated woman. They overcome class differences in order to form a unified team, and only once their individual “attachments to the village, clan, and family” are overcome are they able to defeat their military oppressors and prove their strength as a team--that is, as a microcosm of the Korean nation.

Baseball, specifically, is an interesting place to situate this struggle. The sport has a long history as a nationalist American sport, and after it was brought to Japan during the Meiji restoration, it became a symbol of Japanese modernity, nationalism and westernization as well. So why place the struggle for Korean national identity within the framework of a game that is fundamentally representative of colonial oppressors?

Perhaps it is simply an issue of defeating said powers at their own game. This brings up an interesting question: why play the game in the first place? By adhering to the rules of baseball--and to the very concept that winning at baseball gives the winning team power of some kind--there is an implicit acceptance of the structures of power that created the rules. Why does the film not focus on a nationalist Korean team that plays a Korean sport, or refuses to play baseball?

The film ends with the Korean team winning, then triumphantly being arrested by the Japanese military. By acknowledging the power structures of baseball, and by adhering to the underdog story framework itself, the film is acknowledging the power, and arguably even some degree of legitimacy, of colonizing, nationalistic forces. The film thus seems to agree with the concept of nationalism as “a rational attempt by the weak and poor peoples of the world to achieve autonomy and liberty” (Em 343). Thus, nationalism is the film isn’t so much about resisting and driving out Japanese military forces--it’s about “autonomy and liberty” on a personal level. The team achieves nationalism in a moment of subjugation by the Japanese military--they are able to understand themselves as Korean within, and because of, the framework of the baseball game.

In the final scene, Hochang’s great-grandson continues the family legacy of baseball, and thus the legacy of Korean nationalism. The film seems to thus continue to believe in nationalism as a solution to Korea’s problems and a positive influence. This viewpoint is echoed in Korean pop artist Psy’s music video “Korea,” created for the 2012 London Olympics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpYq1lSce1U). This “sports nationalism”, in which people understand and re-iterate nationalist narratives through sports competitions, is a recurring theme throughout the world and especially during the Olympics. It’s interesting that one of the most common ways we express and understand our national identities is through the embodied, visceral and physical medium of sports. Perhaps state narratives need to be viscerally linked to bodies in order to be understandable. In a post-human world where the nature of the body is constantly being re-examined, sports nationalism may become less relevant to national and personal identities; but given its positive examination in YMCA Baseball Team and in Psy’s “Korea,” it seems to remain as poignant in popular culture as ever.