Irina (Ira) Lyan

2026: ImagiNation: Deconstructing South Korea's Modern Miracles. Global Korea Series edited by John Lie. Oakland: University of California Press.  

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In less than a century, South Korea has remarkably transformed its image from one of the world's poorest nations to a center of global influence. Not just one but a series of so-called modern miracles transformed the country into an exceptional case of national image-making and image-shifting. In contrast with the utilitarian focus of much existing scholarship on miracle secrets, best practices, and means of reproduction, Irina Lyan deconstructs the meaning of modern miracles and how they serve as catalysts of imagiNation—the process in which national images are constructed, resisted, reproduced, and projected. By retelling South Korea's modern miracles through Cinderella fairy-tale narratives, with their stark contrast between the unsatisfactory "before" and the idyllic "happily ever after," the book sheds light on the role modern miracles play in the process of imagining a nation.