Copyright by Soo-Young Lee 2007
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Copyright by Soo-Young Lee 2007 The Dissertation Committee for Soo-Young Lee Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: God’s Chosen People: Protestant Narratives of Korean Americans and American National Identity Committee: Mark C. Smith, Supervisor Elizabeth Engelhardt Shirley Thompson Nhi Lieu Robert Oppenheim God’s Chosen People: Protestant Narratives of Korean Americans and American National Identity by Soo-Young Lee, B.A.;M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December, 2007 Dedication To my husband Jin-Young, my son Yi-Chan, my parents and my in-laws. Acknowledgements First of all, my greatest thanks go to my supervisor Mark Smith. This dissertation could not have come to realization without his patience and understanding. Since I began my graduate study in America, he was always with me whenever I felt discouraged by difficult situations in my study and life. I still vividly remember what he said to me when I visited him in the hospital. He encouraged me saying: “To be a scholar is not to become a superstar. Keeping your consistency will bring you success someday.” Whenever I felt like giving up my study, this advice helped me up and led me to finish my final piece of work of my graduate year. In addition, sometimes, he gave me advice in life saying that he did so as a friend. I was so fortunate to have him as my supervisor. I would also like to thank all of my dissertation committee members, Dr. Elizabeth Engelhardt, Dr. Nhi Lieu, Dr. Shirley Thompson and Dr. Robert Oppenheim for giving me valuable advice and challenges in shaping my idea for my dissertation. They welcomed me when I came back to campus at last semester and encouraged me to finish this dissertation. I also owe deep gratitude to staff members at Youngnak Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles. Especially I am extremely thankful to Deacon Seong-Boo Kim who allowed me to use the church archives and to make copies of the v resources. I thank Rev. Hyeong-Cheon Lim, the senior pastor of Youngnak who gladly allowed me to use church materials and facilities. I am indebted to my aunt and Ga-Weon Jeong, one of my friends for gladly providing accommodations for me while I was staying in Los Angeles for research. I am also grateful Seok-Jin Kang from Christian Herald for providing me all the materials relating to the Centennial Celebration of the Korean American Churches including transcripts of messages and sermons and project documents and invitation letters. Even though I have not seen him in person, he understood the difficulties of collecting primary materials for the research and sent valuable information relating to the celebration and kindly answered all my questions. Thanks to his help, I was able to write the fifth chapter which is rich in resources. In addition, I thank Dr. Samuel Lee, a head editor of Christian Herald who allowed to me to look at the archives of the newspapers and manuscript of the photobook. In addition, as historian, Dr. Lee shared his knowledge of the immigrant history of Korean Americans and encouraged me by expressing enthusiasm toward my topic. I also owe special gratitude to my wonderful friend, James Fowler. He was patient to read and to proofread my entire manuscript of this dissertation. In addition, he was a counselor helping me to deal with all difficulties I had as a foreigner in America. Without his patience and kindness, this dissertation would have not been completed. My greatest appreciation is devoted to my family. My father who is a great scholar himself, has become my role model as a scholar and encouraged me to overcome difficulties in graduate school. My mother is my lifetime mentor. She has always guided me on to the right track and gave me emotional support that no one vi else could not have given to me. In addition, without their financial support throughout my study, this dissertation would not have been possible. I give my extreme thanks to my parents-in-law as well. I was able to concentrate on writing dissertation with their understanding and supports as well as their prayers. I am so fortunate to have them. Finally, my deepest gratitude is given to my husband, Jin-Young Joo. He was the person who revitalized me at the moment when I almost gave up on completing this dissertation. He encouraged me to return to America for completing this dissertation saying: “There is a huge difference of possibility of winning a lottery between those who have bought a lottery ticket and those who have not.” He never lost his confidence in me and his consistent encouragement enabled me to pour all of my energy into the final stage of my graduate years. Since I met him, he has been a friend, a critic, a mentor and a beloved husband. I cannot imagine completing this project without his love, patience and support. vii God’s Chosen People: Protestant Narratives of Korean Americans and American National Identity Publication No._____________ Soo-Young Lee, Ph. D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2007 Supervisor: Mark C. Smith This dissertation examines Protestant narratives of post-1965 Korean American Christians, with regard to the formation of what it means to be Korean Americans. The focus of this dissertation is to find out how Korean Americans have reinterpreted their ethnic backgrounds and immigrant experiences in America based on the concept of God’s chosen people in religious terms. They use this Christian identity for distinguishing themselves not only from Koreans but also from other minority groups in America. The chapter starts with an overview of the historical background of Korean Americans’ pre-immigrant perspectives of America. Throughout Korea’s history of despair under the colonization by Japan and the civil war followed by the national division, America has gained political, military and cultural hegemony over Korea, viii causing the emergence of so-called American fever, the idealization of American ways of life. This tendency motivated Korean Americans to leave their homeland for obtaining better social status and living conditions. These historical backgrounds have influenced the understanding of their post-immigrant lives in America. The following chapters discuss how Korean Americans make sense of their immigrant lives under the changing social contexts in both Korea and America. Pursuant to that goal, they investigate Protestant narratives in the sermons of influential Korean American pastors, testimonies and articles published in church magazines. In these narratives, the Christian symbols such as pilgrimage and Exodus sanctified their immigration by interpreting their transnational immigration as a sacred journey into God’s Promised Land which they believed was America. Furthermore, their identification with the American Puritans and their manifest destiny to revive Christianity in America demonstrate their racial attitudes toward non-Korean ethnic groups in America. The commemorative Centennial Celebration of the Korean American church held in November, 2003 in the last chapter also serves as a stage where people weave diverse factors together to establish their group identities. For post-1965 Korean immigrants, Protestant narratives have contributed to the maintenance of Korean American identity as God’s chosen people. They reflect the wish of Korean American to become a central group in mainstream American society as well as be part of American destiny as a global superpower, rather than to remain as a marginal group. ix Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................1 I. Scope and Materials ....................................................................................4 A. Scope................................................................................................4 B. Materials...........................................................................................7 II. Chapter Outlines ......................................................................................10 III. Main Goals. ............................................................................................12 A. Korean American Studies...............................................................12 B. Asian American Studies..................................................................16 C. Religious Narrative Studies ............................................................22 IV. Conclusion..............................................................................................24 CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND ........................................................................27 I. The Relationship with the West before American Missionaries...............29 A. Korean Situation and the National Opening...................................29 B. The Relationship with the West......................................................31 1.Contact with Roman Catholicism............................................32 2.The Attempt and Failures of Protestant Missionaries before 1882 ............................................................................................33 3.The Opening to America .........................................................35 C. Anti-Western Attitudes in Nineteenth Century Korea....................38 II. The Success of American Protestant Missionaries..................................42 A. Friendly Relationships