Abstract

and proposed the foundation of a scientific nationalism (Jeong Chang-ryeol 1992:142-43). Despite Sons advocacy of science, it is ironic that his theo-ry was also criticized as unscientific and abstract as were other theories ofnationalism due to his suggestion that nation is a transhistorical entity. Over Contested Terrain: Currents and Issues of Korean Studies 17117. Bourgeois nationalism, so to speak, established during the nation-state formation process inthe West, hailed social evolutionary theory as proposed by Herbert Spencer. According to thistheorys winner takes all and survival of the fittest principles, imperial invasion and colo-nial conquest is fully justified, and therefore there is no space for the necessity of colonial lib-eration movements in small and weak nations (Bak Chan-seung 1994:87).Despite significant differences, studies of history from a nationalist perspec-tive generally tended to be abstract and ideologically designed to resist Japaneseimperialism. Furthermore, much as theories of embryonic capitalism wereaimed to confirm western notions of modernity by examining Korean moderni-ty, these nationalist theories were fundamentally limited due to their common