Between Tokyo and Gyeongseong, Choi Seung-hee’s Autobiography

This study examines two autobiographies by the dancer Choi Seung-hee, which have received limited scholarly attention, focusing on the “story of myself” as narrated by Choi. She published two distinct versions of her autobiography: one in Japanese in Tokyo in 1936 and the other in Korean in Gyeongseong (Seoul) in 1937. An analysis of these autobiographies reveals that Choi navigated the cultural forces of imperialism and nationalism under colonial rule, adopting different modes of autobiographical writing depending on the discursive contexts in which each work was produced. Written when Choi was 25 and 26 years old, these autobiographies are not retrospective memoirs composed later in life but rather attempts to reorganize and redefine her present self at the time. Having already achieved remarkable success as a dancer, Choi employed the autobiographical form not only to record her life but also to strategically address the “rumors” that surrounded her. Notably, the two texts differ in their approaches to exposing hidden truths and rebutting or clarifying rumors, as Choi tailored her narrative to two distinct audiences: Japanese and Korean readers. The “self” she constructed for each readership was thus markedly different. This study focuses not on uncovering the objective truths of Choi’s life but on analyzing how her subjective self-representations interacted with psychological motivations and socio-cultural contexts to shape the “truth” presented in the texts.