Protestantisme, nationalisme en anti-kolonialisme in koloniaal Korea

Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of the relationship between Protestantism and nationalism in Korea under Japanese rule from 1910 until 1945. Brubakers (2012) idea’s for useful research of nationalism and religion are used to research whether Protestantism was positively or negatively related to nationalism and anticolonialism and to what extent it can explain the existence, growth and power of Korean nationalism. This thesis distinguishes different groups in the Protestant landscape of religious Korea: the missionaries, the Korean Protestants, the Protestant intellectuals and the overseas Korean intellectuals. Findings include a complex entanglement of Protestantism and nationalism in which different stances towards nationalism and anticolonialism can be found for every group. Where the missionaries mainly tried to be apolitical but got associated with nationalism, the Korean Protestants actively participated in nationalist and anticolonial movements. The Protestant intellectuals had ideas that could be nationalistic but were not always anticolonial. The international Korean intellectuals were more actively involved in the independence movement and some of their Protestant ideas legitimized Korean nationalism. This thesis thoroughly analyses the stances of these groups towards Korean nationalism and anticolonialism by discussing the reactions of Protestant Korea to the Japanese colonizers, the protestant influences in the March First Movement and the effect of Protestantism in international Korean communities and their nationalistic ideas and activities.