Minsoo Kang (historian and writer)
Encyclopedia
Minsoo Kang is a historian
and writer. Currently, he is an assistant professor of European intellectual history in the Department of History at the University of Missouri–St. Louis
. Kang is also an expert on the history of automata in science and in fiction.
Kang has published numerous books and articles on European history. In 'Of Tales and Enigmas', a collection of his essays and short stories, Kang adopts the styles of Western genre fiction
to explore his personal vision of Korean history, which creates a marvelously surrealistic landscape where histories, ideas, and legends freely intermingle in a wonderful harmony.
, Austria
, New Zealand
, Iran
, Germany
, Brunei
, and other places for shorter periods. He is fluent in Korean and English, and can read in German and French.
Kang graduated from the University of Southern California
in 1988 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies of History, Philosophy, and Religion; he received his M.A.
and Ph.D.
degrees in European History from University of California, Los Angeles in 1991 and 2004, respectively.
. His book Sublime Dreams of Living Machines looks at automata in the European imagination throughout history. While covering a broad history of golems, talking heads, mechanical ducks
, and so forth, Kang pursues questions regarding how automata fit the historical periods that created them.
Kang is an assistant professor of Modern European history with a concentration in eighteenth and nineteenth century France, Britain, and Germany. His research focuses on intellectual
and cultural history, the history of science and technology, and global history pertaining to interactions between Europeans and East Asians in the early modern period. He has also written several essays on Korean history focusing on the transition from the late Goryeo dynasty to the early Joseon.
Kang's work often explores the relationship between history and fiction. His master's thesis, The Intrusion of History: The Novels of Milan Kundera in the Context of Czechoslovak History pursued the idea of using literature for the study of history. He also studies film, historical novels, and science fiction as history.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and writer. Currently, he is an assistant professor of European intellectual history in the Department of History at the University of Missouri–St. Louis
University of Missouri–St. Louis
The University of Missouri–St. Louis is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System. Established in 1963, it is the newest university in the UM System. , it is the largest university by enrollment in the St. Louis area with 16,548 students...
. Kang is also an expert on the history of automata in science and in fiction.
Kang has published numerous books and articles on European history. In 'Of Tales and Enigmas', a collection of his essays and short stories, Kang adopts the styles of Western genre fiction
Genre fiction
Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre....
to explore his personal vision of Korean history, which creates a marvelously surrealistic landscape where histories, ideas, and legends freely intermingle in a wonderful harmony.
Early life
Kang is of Korean ancestry, his father is a South Korean diplomat and his mother is a professor of French literature. In accordance with the international nature of his father's job, Kang grew up in KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, and other places for shorter periods. He is fluent in Korean and English, and can read in German and French.
Kang graduated from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in 1988 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies of History, Philosophy, and Religion; he received his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
degrees in European History from University of California, Los Angeles in 1991 and 2004, respectively.
Academic Work
Kang is an expert on the history of automataAutomaton
An automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.-Etymology:...
. His book Sublime Dreams of Living Machines looks at automata in the European imagination throughout history. While covering a broad history of golems, talking heads, mechanical ducks
Digesting Duck
The Canard Digérateur, or Digesting Duck, was an automaton in the form of a duck, created by Jacques de Vaucanson in 1739. The mechanical duck appeared to have the ability to eat kernels of grain, and to metabolize and defecate them...
, and so forth, Kang pursues questions regarding how automata fit the historical periods that created them.
Kang is an assistant professor of Modern European history with a concentration in eighteenth and nineteenth century France, Britain, and Germany. His research focuses on intellectual
Intellectual history
Note: this article concerns the discipline of intellectual history, and not its object, the whole span of human thought since the invention of writing. For clarifications about the latter topic, please consult the writings of the intellectual historians listed here and entries on individual...
and cultural history, the history of science and technology, and global history pertaining to interactions between Europeans and East Asians in the early modern period. He has also written several essays on Korean history focusing on the transition from the late Goryeo dynasty to the early Joseon.
Kang's work often explores the relationship between history and fiction. His master's thesis, The Intrusion of History: The Novels of Milan Kundera in the Context of Czechoslovak History pursued the idea of using literature for the study of history. He also studies film, historical novels, and science fiction as history.
Fiction and short stories
- Of Tales and Enigmas, Prime, 2006
- Three Stories: Lady Faraway, The Well of Dreams, The Dilemma of the King and the Beggar; Magazine: Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 22, 2002
- A Fearful Symmetry, in Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J Grant eds., The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007, St. Martins, New York, 2007
Nonfiction
- Visions of the Industrial Age, Ashgate, 2008
- Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination, Harvard University Press, 2011
Essays and articles
- De la Sagesse Inaboutie du Barbare: Un Erudit Confucéen Lit la vie de Saint Ignace, in Daniel S. Milo, Alain Boureau ed., Alter Histoire: Essais d’Histoire Expérimentale, Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 1991
- Review of Das Schreckliche Mädchen, in The American Historical Review 96, 4, 1991
- Review of Hard Times and Culture - Fin de Siécle Vienna, in The American Historical Review 97, 4, 1992
- The Moderns: Art, Forgery, and a Postmodern Narrative of Modernism, in Robert Rosenstone ed., Revisioning History, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1995
- How to Keep Heaven’s Mandate, The Times Literary Supplement, June 19, 1998
- Ten Short Essays on Korea, AZ 1, 1, 1999
- Gyungbok Palace: History, Controversy, Geomancy, Manoa 11, 1, 1999
- Reading Dutch, Rethinking History 4, 3, Winter 2000
- The Use of Dreaming for the Study of History, Rethinking History 5, 2, Summer 2001
- Review of John E. Wills Jr.’s 1688: A Global History, Rethinking History 5, 3, Winter 2001
- Wonders of Mathematical Magic: Lists of Automata in the Transition from Magic to Science, 1533–1662, Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 33, 2002
- Building the Sex Machine: the Subversive Fantasy of the Female Robot, Intertexts, 9, 2, 2006
- The Ambivalent Power of the Robot, Antenna: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, 9, March 21, 2009.
- Review of Walter L. Abramson’s Embattled Avant-Gardes: Modernism’s Resistance to Commodity Culture, Journal of World History, June 2009.
Honor
- The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 in Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J Grant eds (for short story: A Fearful Symmetry)