Play: A Doll's House

The Norwegian play "A Doll's House" which premiered in Denmark in December 1879 is a play much like William Russell's "Educating Rita", first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in June 1980 in London, nearly a century later. Both plays have been selected in the last few months to be acted out in The Probationary Theater, and
both plays depict the growing awareness of a woman who was curbed by the social confines of her era, her social class and the men in her lives. Both plays deal with an awakening to self-awareness, self-development and the need for self-pride, not the kind that is cast off from the man she is attached to but deserving by her own existence and state of contribution to society. Institutional marriages become the object of discussion, not acceptance, the male-female hierarchy totters, and the women seek to explore what it is to be a woman beyond the confines they have hitherto not questioned.

While "Educating Rita", set a century later, was more about a woman fighting the mental confines of her low social class, "A Doll's House" was about a woman objectified into being a beautiful little doll, purposeless, functionless except as an armpiece and for the social setting, and sadly, voiceless. The "doll" in the house is told how to decorate, how to dress, how even to greet her squelchingly condescending husband upon his return every evening. The "doll" becomes a little bird that flutters and makes half-hearted attempts to be seen for what she is beyond being a "doll" without life of her own, until at the end of the play, the "doll" becomes animated with action, and flings herself against the gilded bars of her household cage and she flies out to discover ... herself. The play closed with the soon-to-be tasted freedom. The audience seemed hesitant at first before clapping at such a hint of the future, but not being given the satisfaction of knowing it.


When Ibsen wrote his play, this was such a magnificent ending for no one would know where the escape from the traditional male-dominated home could lead, so what a climax! UNESCO recognized in Ibsen's play quality of such value that the autographed manuscripts of "A Doll's House" were inscribed on the Memory of the World's Registry in 2001, in recognition of its historical value. I recognize it as a great play, especially as it invoked in me the rising frustration and anger that the "doll" was starting to feel. While she awakened to awareness of what her husband had made of her, I felt anger (perhaps the more modern emotion triggered by the obvious inequality of the relationship) for the husband's cloyness amplified as his repeatedly tried to soothe and coddle his wife as if she were a toy, a little doll. The last twenty minutes of the play were so cloying with his condescending tones, his meaningless but controlling sweet-nothings while she struggled to assert herself and rise above the blankets of sappy codependent-power obsession that my fists were clenched, and wow was I proud when she swung on her coat, stated clearly why she was leaving and walked, head held majestically high, out the door!

Decision on War in Korea: Revelations from Russian Archives

Dr. Kathryn Weathersby, a Professorial Lecturer in Korean Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University, Adjunct Professor at Korea University and Visiting Professor at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul, holds a PhD in modern Russian history from Indiana University (1990) with a second field in modern East Asian history. She taught Russian and East Asian History at Florida State University before founding and directing the Korea Initiative of the Cold War International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. She has published widely on the Korean War, North Korean history, and the Cold War in Asia, and has consulted for several documentary films on the Korean War.

Kathryn presented on the politicosocial factors that determined the initiation of the Korean War. The write-up by the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) on the lecture gives a clear overview of how the war started and how scholars now know that "secret" knowledge. The RAS writes:

"The decision to launch a full-scale assault on the Republic of Korea in June 1950 brought incalculable suffering to Korea and its allies and continues to shape the life of the peninsula. Yet it was not until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 that records of this fateful decision became available to scholars. Dr. Weathersby, the first Western historian to examine Soviet documents on Korea, will discuss what Russian archives reveal about when and why Kim Il Sung, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong decided to use military force to bring all of Korea under communist control. She will conclude with thoughts about how knowledge of this history can inform our approach to inter-Korean relations today."  

The Lecture

Kathryn received a research grant to go to Moscow right after finishing her PhD. She got to Moscow two weeks after the collapse of the Soviet Union and would continue to do sporadic research in Moscow from 1991-1995. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin, desperately needing money for Russia and good relations with South Korea, thought to offer South Korea invaluable archived historical records, of course for a price.

These records include correspondences with Pyeongyang, the location of Japanese industries before the arrival of the Russians, the minute details of the establishment of the DPRK (North Korea), in fact, EVERYTHING, as Russia had control mittens on the total relations of the DPRK and therefore, reflecting the detail work common to Russian communism, systematically documented all Russian-North Korean interactions and correspondences. The records show that North Korea was extremely dependent on Russia for all development (as it was within Russian control), that is, for permissions to travel, for Russian military defense, for educators to seek approval and assistance to study such topics as metallurgy in Moscow, to name a few. Decision were not made in the Korean homeland but through contact and with approval from their Russian overseers.

The Cold War International History Project in the Wilson Center is a digital online library that was started by Kathryn Weathersby and posts records, research and scholarly discussion, etc. on any country involved in the Cold War. Kathryn discussed her research "Soviet Aims in Korea and the Origins of the Korean War, 1945-1950: New Evidence from Russian Archives" and demonstrated how to locate resources digitalized from the Russian archives.

Among the resources, Kathryn pointed out dates and content and gave brief summaries of the content, mostly correspondences from North Korea to Moscow, while explaining the political and social unrest affecting decisions made concerning the correspondences. She started with an entry in 1949 when Stalin visited the DPRK as Kim Il Sung asked for military assistance from Russia. In this meeting Kim Il Sung raised the question of military invasion of South Korea, but Stalin said, "No, there are still Americans stationed there." A few months later in September Kim Il Sung contacted Stalin and said they could have a military strike anywhere to the south of them. This suggested military strike was not only limited to South Korea.

In the following two months, discussions initiated by Kim Il Sung for a military invasion and takeover of the south was never a question as being wrong from within their country or from Russia. Bolsheviks had taken power by invasion and that had worked out. The question was about timing, but there was consideration of an immediate attack because by this time the Americans had pulled out of South Korea. There remained questions about how to take over rapidly in order to win large territories so that the Americans principally couldn't fight to win it back.

January 1950, China had accomplished their liberation (with Mao), and Kim Il Sung then felt his situation was intolerable! Kim Il Sung requested permission to go to Moscow to discuss an invasion with Stalin. Stalin's overwhelming fear was the risk of causing financial problems to Russia, a financially unstable country, and the risk of war (and losing) with the Americans. By the end of January, Stalin was willing to discuss because the international relations had changed. That is, the internal struggle had been resolved with China so Russia could then focus its attention on helping North Korea, especially as China had signed a treaty in January 1950 with the Soviet Union so would be in alliance with DPRK and Russia against the Americans to forever expulse those Americans from Asia. (BTW, the American military wasn't large in the Pacific as it is now.)

Russia considered the priorities of the U.S. in Asia, principally there were two:

1. Japan - Japan was strategically located for accessing the inner parts of Asia, was viewed as valuable for the American economy, among other reasons.
2. The Philippines - The Philippines was American territory and had been an American colony and still remained a great site for an American naval base.

Russia also considered that the areas further west of Japan and the Philippines (all of mainland Asia and Taiwan) could be taken relatively easily. Americans had limited resources, so these places were thought of as 'outside the American defense parameters'. Stalin looked at the dynamics and thought the time was right, not only to attack South Korea but to gain control of all of Asia. Stalin's ultimate aim was also to occupy and take over Japan. (Japan had controlled much of Siberia barbarously, and was of primary location for maintaining control of all of Asia.) So, the Soviet Union made the decision to support DPRK and in the spring of 1950 moved massive amounts of machinery to North Korea, but Stalin did specify that supplies and weapons would be supplied by the Soviet Union but under no circumstances was Russia supplying troops; troops would have to be supplied by China, and this was approved by Mao.

Kim Il Sung and Mao weren't totally happy with this decision delineated and approved by Stalin to attack on the peninsula first. Kim and Mao wanted to attack Taiwan to get control of the perimeter first, but were forced to follow Stalin's lead. The fear about this was that Americans would return to South Korea.



Both of these pictures are Russian T-34 tanks, the kind of tanks employed during the North Korean invasion of South Korea. These picts, however, are not of the invasion (I couldn't find a picture of it, but then whoever took that kind of pictures probably wouldn't live to show it.) Picture source is Wikipedia.

So, when the DPRK attacked South Korea and wave upon wave of Soviet tanks crossed the DMZ, the world (Americans, French, Turks ...) were stunned and were reminded of the Nazis pouring tanks into Europe, so Americans galvanized as well as Europeans to prevent the communists from spreading across the Korean peninsula and ultimately across all of East Asia. In outcome, the US and 15 United Nations countries rushed to defend the South Koreans and contain communism from spreading.

Q&A with additional information by some participants

Russia finally did consent to provide troops but only because the Chinese absolutely refused to send their troops across the many unprotected bridges. And because the Chinese had not a single plane or pilot (no air force or even money of any kind, but they were great as guerrilla fighters), Russia did consent to send planes and pilots, but on conditions.

Through the course of the Korean War, 17,000 Russian troops participated in the war, but Stalin, not wanting to be militarily "involved" in the war made stipulations that Russian planes were to be painted as DPRK planes and marked with DPRK symbols, the Russian pilots were to dress in DPRK uniforms and not carry any identification of any kind, and, the Russians were to speak Korean so that the Americans would not know the Russians were involved in the war. (The Americans did know but kept the knowledge quiet so as not to start World War III.) The Russian pilots were told under no circumstances were they to be caught. They were not to fly within 60 miles or kilometers of the DMZ, and if they were going to crash and be captured, they were to commit suicide by blowing off their faces so as to be unrecognizable. None are known to be captured.

Just an aside: the 17,000 Russian troops fighting the Americans was the largest military interaction to date between Russia and the US.

Pooja, a Nepalese Restaurant

In the Dongmyo station vicinity there are many middle-eastern-Asian types of restaurants. Coming out exit 8 of Dongmyo station and directly above the exit on the third floor is the Himalayan Restaurant. This is perhaps my favorite of them all; it's cozy, rustic and nostalgic, and has pretty decent seating meaning wood and not plastic, which I hate in ethnic restaurants. Out of all the restaurants in this area, they also have the best palak paneer, my favorite, so course they would be my favorite restaurant! Also out exit 8 and a few minutes walk crossing one road is the Pooja restaurant, which several of my friends and I when to tonight. I understand there is an Everest restaurant out the same exit; I haven't been there yet, and then Naamasa (spelling - oops!) is out another exit and a quick 4 minute walk from the station.

 

Anyway, one of my friends is engaged to a Nepalese and insisted on trying this restaurant and sampling their interpretation of their ethnic food. She was able to explain why we were served in metal bowls, an act giving great honor to the customers and used only in ceremonies in their country, and she introduced special foods, sometimes giving a little cultural snippet about its origins and variations. And because of her use of some Nepalese and having visited some of the same villages the owners were from, we got special service which included lassis for everyone! Yum!

 

I ordered polau, a delightful Indian basmati rice, peas, carrots, red pepper and cashew stir-fry, and sampled the less spicy curries brought to the others. The curries we ordered tonight were palak paneer (green - spinach with "cottage cheese-like curds"), paneer butter masala (orange-red - spicy "cottage cheese-like curds" with butter, onions, tomato and red pepper), dal makhani (yellowish-brown - black beans with cream and herbs), and chicken makhani (bright red). Even though a couple of my friends had said 'cut the heat', then seriously wondered if they had been misunderstood and heat had actually been added. In any regard, the food (except for the palak paneer by unanimous vote) was very good! I'm still partial to the Himalayan restaurant but this was definitely a nice treat, especially because of our culture-guide friend who raised awareness of some of the culture mixed in with the food.

"Note-taking" : The Modern Day Students

The modern-day students have deplorable hand-writing. The students we're now getting as freshmen in our university classes have been exposed to computers from perhaps elementary school, and so instead of being taught penmanship classes - which was very important to the Confucian scholarly education system that placed great emphasis on control of mind and body through proper penmanship and Chinese calligraphy - some of our students now have the handwriting of kindergarten students ... large, unshapen and scrawlly.

 

Another detriment to the students' lack of proper penmanship is their present-day note-taking methods ... by cell phone! Few students actually take notes anymore. The formerly auditory society that had few or limited books now has become a visual society that has plentiful books, unlimited writing materials, computers, a wide variety of recording devices, both visual and auditory, so students are tasked in writing. Here are some of my students employing their modern note-taking "skills". At the end of every class I write the homework on the board, often specifying certain points that are important for the learning process, and do the students write their assignments in their notebooks? No! They often don't even have notebooks. At the end of class they whip out their phones in unison, snap a shot of the board and then shoot out the door. Wow ... modern students!