Unheimlichkeit: Recollections of the Gaze

Abstract

In this chapter, Yun describes a phenomenological experience of Unheimlichkeit (uncanniness) in visiting the Korea Room at the British Museum. The experience involves a double-edged distancing, even a repeated doubling of distance. In this experience, Yun recalls marginalized aspects of Korean history in relation to both British colonialism and her personal history. The temporal distance between the past and present of Korea that is objectified in the Korea Room also marginalizes her sense of self in relation to the represented nation of Korea. Yun asks herself: As a Korean, female, studying in London, having a working-class family background, what do I see in the Korea Room? And in any case, how far does the string of epithets in the previous sentence help to explain the experience?