The Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa presents:
Book Talk -- Todd Heny, "Hallyu before Hallyu: Fashion Designer André Kim as Boundary / Gender Crosser in Post-Colonial and Hot War Worlds.
Speaker:
Todd A. Henry is Associate Professor of History at the University of California San Diego. He is the author of Assimilating Seoul: Japanese Rule and The Politics of Public Space in Colonial Korea, 1910-1945 (University of California Press, 2014) and Queer Korea (Duke University Press, 2020; Korean translation, 2023).
Abstracts:
The world today is awash in the Korean Wave (hallyu). This presentation, from my book Queer Korea, documents considerably earlier and perhaps more impressive instantiations during South Korea’s authoritarian period. I examine the life and career of André Kim (1935-2010), Korea’s first fashion designer to gain a worldwide reputation. By analyzing his visits to the mainland US and Hawai'i, I show how he exploited these First World markets, while advancing international understanding, post-colonial reconciliation, and social justice.
Center for Korean Studies events are free and open to all. For further information, including information regarding disability access, telephone
the Center for Korean Studies at 808-956-7041. This event is in part supported by the Academy of Korean Studies Strategic Research Institute Program (AKS-2020-SRI-2200001). The University of Hawai‘i is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.