About the Haboush Archive
The JaHyun Kim Haboush Bibliographical Archive represents the state of JaHyun Kim Haboush’s research on the history and literature of Chosŏn Korea when she passed away in 2011. It contains primary sources collected from various archives and libraries over decades of research. In addition, a number of scholarly publications accompanying these materials, organized by subject matter, are also included in the archive.
The collection reflects Haboush’s wide-ranging interests. In her final years, she was conducting research for a new monograph, titled The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation that examines the formation of Korean national identity in the wake of the Imjin War of 1592–1597. The monograph was still a work in progress. Completed portions were published in 2016 by Columbia University Press, but a significant body of her research remains incomplete. The archive is intended to represent what still needs to be done.
Among the materials collected are copies of Korean vernacular literature, especially dream narratives, in various editions, miscellany writings from the Chosŏn, documents and records from the Imjin War, boudoir guidebooks, and Korean, Japanese, and Chinese language scholarship on these sources. The collection includes both what she accumulated for her work in progress and materials from past projects. It not only offers a retrospective view on her life’s work but also provides a resource for future scholars to make new contributions to the field.
The bibliography represents the files and documents stored at Columbia University's C.V. Starr East Asia Library . Digitized primary materials, listed with file names, are available for view on-site.
The website is a result of a collaborative effort by her former students and her husband and literary executor, William J. Haboush.
For inquiries, please use the contact form.
The database and webpage was created through the efforts of William Haboush, Hwisang Cho, Hee-Sok Shin, Chelsea Wang, and Sixiang Wang