Korean Diaspora by Charles Armstrong Book Report

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Families are often conflicted about the degree to which they should socialize the child in the culture of their homeland, particularly if they are not of that child's origin. This conflict is often seen in adoptions of Korean children. Eleana Kim has argued that such attempts by parents are often futile, and simply confuse the child with static, folkloric representations of the home nation that bear little resemblance to Korea when the child actually pays a visit. However, Kim does not dismiss the value of trying to return to Korea, so long as it is not an act of false nostalgia. Instead, "adoptees who may have returned to Korea with fantasies of national or familial reintegration discover an adoptee expatriate community that supplements or even replaces other, essentialized or biologically-defined forms of relatedness" (Kim 497). The new connections with adoptees that have similar experiences become the most authentic forms of kinship between these returning Koreans.

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After a long period in which the South Korean government actively encouraged adoption of children by foreigners, it has now encouraged a reverse migration of these children back to the mainland, allowing them long-term work visas and encouraging them to get in touch with their culture. The state has taken an apologetic tone to adoptees, and encouraged them to see themselves as Korean as much as Americans (or Canadian, Australians, etcetera). However, the actual experience of adoptees once they have returned is very different from what they expect to find and the idealized representations of the Korean government. There is a stark contrast between their Korean appearance and the extent to which they feel marginalized by the dominant culture of Korea. That is why often the cultural ties they feel are strongest amongst….....

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