Heesang Yoon

I am currently researching the interplay between the operations of the imperial-colonial regime during the Asia-Pacific War and the formation of the colonized populace within the former Japanese Empire. My academic background includes residing in both Korea and Japan, earning a dual bachelor's degree in Japanese literature and philosophy from Korea University, and obtaining a master’s degree from the same institution. My dissertation, "Construction and Literary Testimony of Colonized Bodies in Wartime Period: Focusing on Cases of Addiction, Disability, and Defilement", argues that such literary representations could be the testimony of the subaltern exposing the power of crisis and anticipation. My primary interests lie in a methodology for apprehending the potential dynamics of the ungovernable and unpredictable ‘alive being’. This includes exploring representations of failure and discord, senses of extermination and catastrophe, and how the concepts of “health” and “illness” can be read or written inside and outside of doctrines such as “growth” and “achievement” as integrated into neoliberalism. In this regard, my research pursues two objectives. First, I will analyze the categorization of “overseas territories” within the Total Mobilization system in relation to culturalism and racism, exploring the potential for contextualizing colonialism in East Asia. Second, I will investigate the genealogy of armed resistance movements in East Asia up to the 1980s to develop a framework that questions the legitimacy of mourning imposed by state power. This study aims to explore the circumstances under which the writings of “subversive” entities, which disrupt hegemonic representation, can emerge as valid utterance.