Kim Talsu’s Self-Censorship Conundrum:Early Postwar Zainichi Literature CaughtBetween GHQ Censorship and ResidentKorean Community Politics

<b>The Parameters of “Self-Censorship”</b> Many studies have focused on censorship during the occupation period in Japan, and while several of those studies have stressed the importance of self-censorship, there are still many problems left to be explored. “Self-censorship” occurs when writers and other artists avoid, omit, or change expressions within their works that could be considered problematic by the censoring body, or by a society still under the influence of a past censorship regime. This same concept is sometimes referred to as “self-regulation” or “restraint.” However, such matters are not the concern of writers alone, but also those involved in the production of literary works and other print media, such as editors and publishers, and may even implicate the general tendencies within society as a whole. While recognizing the larger structures of regulation that exist within each society, I use the term “self-censorship” to signify a focus on cases in which literary figures censored their own work during the occupation period in Japan.