In the work “Specters of East Asia: Okinawa, Taiwan, and Korea”, Choi Jinseok offers the concept of multiplicity to describe how individuals could overcome the challenges of being labeled minorities. Such a term refers to a process of way of being whereby one pursues a new magnitude or the other. Specifically, an individual will focus on the best approaches to exhibit the “other” that he or she internalizes (Jinseok 7). The term is describable as a form of shadow a person encounters when he or she tries to dismantle the “inner self”. Those who achieve such a position will be able to become invisible and avoid any attribute that could disappear. This approach will result in greatness and self-determination.
When relying on this term, more people will start to view the history of racism and colonialism from a different perspective. Although riddled with cases of injustice and uncertainty, more people will find a reason to pursue a new way of being and consider how they can dwell among those who have already died (Jinseok 12). However, the term changes the thoughts about such developments by encouraging individuals to remain determined and focus on the best ways to attain the “other”. Additionally, the meaning complicates the historical injustices associated with colonialism and racism in East Asia in various ways.
For instance, affected individuals find it hard to come into terms with such unfairness while trying to pursue internalized aspects. The focus on multiplicity becomes unattainable when such historical injustices and histories of colonialism and racism continue to cast their long shadows (Knapman 37). Nonetheless, individuals need to remain committed and embrace the notion of multiplicity and consider how they can re-pattern their past experiences.
Works Cited
Jinseok, Choi. “Specters of East Asia: Okinawa, Taiwan, and Korea.” The Asia-Pacific Journal, vol. 15, no. 18, 2016, pp. 1-25.
Knapman, Gareth. Race and British Colonialism in Southeast Asia, 1770-1870: John Crawfurd and the Politics of Equality. Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.