The Shadow Metropole: The Varieties of Anticolonialism in Ireland, 1937–68

Abstract

On 20 February 1938, Korean nationalist and composer Eak Tai Ahn conducted Ireland’s Radio Telefis Éireann Symphony Orchestra in a performance that included Beethoven’s Egmont and two of his own works. Eak Tai, described by the Irish Independent as ‘slight, youthful, [and] elegant’, was in Ireland as part of a larger global tour intended to educate audiences about the plight of Korea, under Japanese colonial occupation since 1910.¹ The tour included stops in Philadelphia and New York in the USA, and numerous European cities, including Paris, London, Vienna, and Budapest. The first of Eak Tai’s own compositions performed in Dublin was a fantasia entitled Korea, which had been a staple of the tour, incorporating Korean themes and instrumentation into Western musical frameworks. But the Dublin performance also featured a departure from his normal repertoire, as the composer led the orchestra in a new composition.² The brief tune was without title, but was referred to colloquially as an ‘Aegukga’—Korean for a patriotic song.³ Eak Tai had composed it in the hopes of rousing support amongst Korean exiles and gaining diplomatic support against the Empire of Japan.