The 1923 Kanto Massacre, the Gibeonites in 2 Samuel 21, and Reinscribing Homo Sacer through a Hermeneutics of Mnemonic Solidarity.

This essay examines the 1923 Kanto Massacre of Koreans in Japan alongside the biblical narrative of the Gibeonites through a hermeneutics of "mnemonic solidarity" informed by postcolonial studies. Both narratives of catastrophe, though separated by time and tradition, reveal how sovereign powers con...

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Published in:Journal of Ecumenical Studies Vol. 60; no. 4; pp. 518 - 537
Main Author: Jang, Ki-Eun
Format: Article
Published: University of Pennsylvania Press Fall2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: The 1923 Kanto Massacre, the Gibeonites in 2 Samuel 21, and Reinscribing Homo Sacer through a Hermeneutics of Mnemonic Solidarity.
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        au: Jang, Ki-Eun
      su:
        Massacres
        Bible stories
        Collective memory
        Sovereignty
        Postcolonialism
        Hermeneutics
        Martial law
        Japan
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          Japan
          Massacres
          Bible stories
          Collective memory
          Sovereignty
          Postcolonialism
          Hermeneutics
          Martial law
      keyword:
        2 Samuel 21
        Great Kanto earthquake
        Joshua 9
        Korean diaspora in Japan
        martial law
        solidarity of remembrance
      ab: This essay examines the 1923 Kanto Massacre of Koreans in Japan alongside the biblical narrative of the Gibeonites through a hermeneutics of "mnemonic solidarity" informed by postcolonial studies. Both narratives of catastrophe, though separated by time and tradition, reveal how sovereign powers construct the Other, enabling violence under states of exception—whether through martial law or divine command. Drawing on Hee-Jin Jeong's critique of linear, progress-oriented historiography, this study frames catastrophe not as a one-time event to be resolved by political actors but as a site of memory work that disrupts dominant temporalities and foregrounds silenced voices. Ultimately, it argues that the inclusion of the Gibeonites' story in the canonized scripture calls for an unfinished interpretation attentive to a "temporality of anticipation," one that reimagines overlapping suffering between text and life.
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