• Archives of design research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.169-176
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• 2004

It is incontestable that the essence of the current fever of well-being is pseudo-ideology, which is the commercialized well-being. Nevertheless, the potential value as the cultural contests of Korean Design, reaching the philosophy of well-being, must not be overlooked. Being more than its dictionary meaning of 'happiness' and 'welfare', well-being aims peace of mind and richness in mentality, thus supports the life style of 'Body-Mind Monism'. As a trend that has taken a ride on the consumerism, it is inevitable to excavate the benign cultural value that an ordinary sign of well-being lacks in order to create a peculiar model of Korea's design contents by sublimating the commodity aesthetic of well-being into an alternative argument possessing the cultural identity of Korea. Well-being, not much different form an attitude of following the 'ways of nature', is a typical model of non-dualistic thinking of East Asia. By tracing back to the indication of well-being that already existed in the non-dualistic thought and design of East Asia, the genealogy connecting the current phenomena of well-being to the Body-Mind Monism can be found in the cultural traditions of as close as Korea and as far as East Asia. In the case of adopting the monistic way of East Asian thinking that sees body and mind as one not two as the theoretical background of well-being imported fro the West, it is expected to provide a solution for the design discourse of Korea to be out of colonialism. Well-being contributes to the monistic awareness in the period of self-reflected modernization, which needs to search new values based on the reconsideration of dualistic paradigm centered on the Western culture, thus it is worth putting anticipation on the potential significance well-being would have in the field of national as well as international design world.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.117-130
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• 2019

After Marx, the issues regarding human labour have been the alienation towards production means and the distributive justice. Fourth industrial revolution and development of AI(Artificial Intelligence) opened the possibility of a independent production and economy system absolutely excluding against human nature and labour. Using robots and AI will deepen demarcation between living things and one not having life, separating the intelligence from the consciousness. At present, so called pre-stage of post human, seeking interests for life, new social relationship and new community will be increased as well. We can understand that interests for small community, self-sufficiency, dailiness, food and body in this context is increasing too. Representative trend towards this cultural phenomena is called as the 'Kinfolk culture.' Work-life balance, 'Aucalme', 'Hygge', 'So-Hwak-Haeng'(a small but reliable happiness) are the similar culture trends as. Vital capitalism, presented by O-Yong Lee, seeks focusing onto living things principles, e.g. 'topophilia', 'neophilia', and 'biophilia' as the dynamics looking for the history substructure, not class struggle and conflicts. He also argues the 'Vital Capitalism' be regarded as a new methodology to anticipate a social system after post human era. G. Deleuze said "arts is another expression method for existential philosophy. It gives a vitality onto philosophy and gives a role to letting abstract concept into definite image." We can find a lot cases arts' imagination overcomes critical point of scientific prediction power in the future prediction. This paper reviews ideas and issues of 'vital capitalism' in detail and explorers imaginating initial ideas of vital capitalism in the film 'Little Forest.'

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.71
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• pp.33-51
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• 2015

In South Korea, the community building projects and so-called 'community businesses' are recently regarded as one of the popular issues for the local people and social activists. The project seems to be a miracle resolution for various social matters such as the deteriorating welfare, health care, security system and the worsening income problem, etc. But these promising social discourses and practices which encourage to build communities are not only constructing 'good governance' for the sound cooperation between the state and civil society, but also allowing government technologies to manage and regulate civil society and citizens. This irony of building community is not yet thoroughly considered. The aim of this article is to ask 'Is building community good for all of people?'; 'How does community guarantee the freedom of people who participate in?'. The reflection for community in South Korean Society has related to The May 18-community in Gwangju. The May 18-community is a keystone for understanding the ethos and pathos of community. This study tries to unravel the relation between the May Uprising and the idea of community throughout affects and hearts of participants. The lived experience and testimony of the people of Gwangju in May, 1980, reveals that community should not be in an order and an notion of security. Examining hearts of members of 'whatever community' in the May Uprising is essential to imagine a new form of community which incorporates liberation and freedom as its base.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.129-147
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• 2008

Since the beginning of her dramatic career, Suzan-Lori Parks has considered digging up and restoring African-American history buried under the dominant white Anglo-Saxon history as her mission as a playwright. In Red Letter Plays, she attempts what Deborah Geis called "canon-critique" by taking canonical work by Nathaniel Hawthorne and casting an African-American character as the main character and describing her oppression as an African-American female. This paper argues that Suzan-Lori Parks accuses the oppressive social system by restoring and representing the history of sexual, economic, and racial exploitation that African-American females had to suffer through the dominant image of body and blood. Parks had to rewrite the history of black female characters on their bodies and in the blood because their bodies have been the ultimate object of revulsion and attraction in the perspective of white male. While abhorring and despising Hester La Negrita's abject body, male characters in In the Blood nonetheless not only exploit her sexually and economically but also impregnate her. Hester resorts to her only means of revolting against this oppressive system; she kills her most beloved son and writes "A" on the floor with his blood. Likewise, Hester Smith in Fucking A, who wears "A" on her bosom like Hester Prynne, which in this case means "abortionist," "saves" her son from the hunters by slitting his throat. Abundant graphic and sensational images written on black female body and in the blood are Parks's dramatic strategy to rewrite the forgotten and hidden history of black women's history.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.823-835
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• 2018

The body is an important object of costume expression, and the reflection of the aesthetics of the body according to age, culture, individual or group determines the form of the costume. In particular, British artist Leigh Bowery provided many designers and celebrities with original design ideas. Leigh Bowery's costumes are related to the carnival concept. Thus, this study analyzed Leigh Bowery's life and works, and examined Michael Bakhtin's grotesque carnivalesque theory. Based on Bakhtin's carnival theory around 100 works by Leigh Bowery, in the form of YouTube videos and DVD clips were analyzed in this study. The results of the analysis Leigh Bowery's body and costume research are as follows. First, this study can define fetishism as a characteristic of costumes such as body suits, harnesses, high-heeled boots, and stockings, that stress the body. Second, the character of the body is not expressed as that of an idealized body, but the fat and ugly aspect are revealed. Third, Leigh Bowery's costumes are characterized by ambiguity. The costumes blur the boundaries between women and men. Fourth, common sense, combined with normal and bizarre, brings out a strong sense of carnival humor with ridiculousness arising from the gap between reality and reality. His performance has had a significant impact on victims of discrimination or unequal treatment in sexual, racial, and age-related situations. This study should inspire many designers through the study of Leigh Bowery's body expression and dress, but it also introduces fashion icons that are not well known in Korea.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.62
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• pp.209-229
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• 2016

This thesis is to discover the meanings of boundary through East Asian thought so as to make rooms for discoursing on it. First of all people have their own boundaries of 'Me', and they make others as persons or objects in their thoughts. Originally boundary has represented nation's frontier, and it indicated the worlds of space in Buddhism of East Asian culture. It is represented by loka or visaya in Sanskrit and region, dominion, boundary, border in English, which means the worlds that people would fancy in their minds over domains of politics, societies, culture, arts ect, not to be simple. Accordingly we must not approach to its meaning simply like 'beyond border'. There are many boundaries, which are similar to the sublime, for us to arrive in our lives. Spiritually there are also many boundaries(regions) that are made by our desires, wills and concepts. In a while there are limit or problem in our recognizing things, for example, of human's five senses that would be, to an extent connected with Buddhistic understanding of boundaries. Boundaries resulted from partiality in understanding of objects must be got rid of eventually. In regard of these matters, this thesis discusses the meanings of boundary, those that are inevitably made by human's consciousness, and negative ones to be got over from recognition systems of person or any groups.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.137
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• pp.131-149
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• 2016

The main purpose of this paper is to inquire into Johnson's defence of naturalistic ethics, and show how it could escape the intractable conundrum that has bothered moral philosophy ever since the early 20th century. Johnson shares the deconstructivist stance in claiming that moral theories are largely metaphorical constructs, and thus their claim to absoluteness is ungrounded. However, Johnson breaks with deconstructivist philosophers by offering a need for a constructive inquiry into "moral understanding." Then, Johnson's recent discussions are more concerned with moral fundamentalism in which he argues, is not only cognitively incorrect but immoral. It is incorrect in that it relies on the false assumptions on human cognition, and is immoral in that it shuts off any moral discussions. Instead, Johnson sees moral experience as a matter of moral deliberation in which we attempt "dramatic rehearsals" in Dewey's terms. Johnson's constructive offer in moral philosophy reminds us of "the size of moral theory," which fits human moral understanding as an embodied being, and this presents a third constructive way over the dichotomous conundrum of moral philosophy between traditional absolutism and nihilistic deconstructivism.

• 기호학연구
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• no.54
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• pp.93-117
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• 2018

The process of creating Hunminjeongeum described in Haerye version of Hunminjeongeum shows a rule of signification by which a signifiant represents a referent. In this article, I will suggest two types, the mythical and the anti-mythical, that affect the iconic relation between signifiant and referent, and consider how they are realized in Hunminjeongeum. The mythical type is shown as Yin-Yang and the Five Elements Theory and Three Elements Theory of Heaven, Earth and Man dominating the thought of intellectuals at that time. It had became mythos, that is the object of absolute belief, by connecting with the power of King at that time. It is very metaphysical and involves a kind of grand narrative. It is also the voice from the past in time and from China in space. It is reflected in Hunminjeongeum's letter system intactly. Meanwhile, the anti-mythical type also affects the creation of Icon in Hunminjeongeum. Even if Hunminjeongeum had been created from King Sejong's project, its intention seemed to be educational and practical. That is the problem of that time, not of past time, and for common class, not for ruling class. It can be considered as logos in that it had been planned and processed at a real-life situation at that time. Some arguments between King Sejong and liege Choi, Manri about the validity of Hunminjeongeum also show that the creation of Hunminjeongeum had involved the problem of critical logos. Above all, in that referents of Icons of Hunminjeongeum are the figures of human vocal organs, we can suggest that these Icons also implied an Indexicality implying actual connection between voice and body. It can be considered as a deconstrucion of metaphysics and grand narrative that had been dominated by foresaid mythical type. Hereafter, from time when Hunminjeongeum have been widely used, mythos of metaphysics and grand narrative that had dominated Hunminjeongeum have been deconstructed and Hunminjeongeum has become to realize its potential competence of pragmatic sign system for the convenience of common people. Therefore, I expect that the cultural potentiality of Hangul today can be realized by such tendency of logos incessantly deconstructing mythos, that is one direction of mythosemiosis.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.84
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• pp.99-123
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• 2017

We analyzed the movie (2016/ directed by J-yong E), which is entangled in politics of gender, age, class, or sexuality, naming as "spaces of Others", using the concepts of heterotopia of Foucault. Foucault addressed three types of spaces: the realistic space where we currently live, the unrealistic and non-existent utopia, and heterotopia, which functions antithetically to reality. Thus, Foucault's heterotopia can be considered to indicate "heterogeneous spaces" in reality. The Bacchus Lady revolves a 65-year old prostitute So-Young, sells her body to old men at the parks in downtown of Seoul. Old prostitute on streets are often referred as "Bacchus Ladies", because suggest the popular energy drink a bottle of Bacchus while selling sex. The movie represents some minorities such as transgender, Tina and madam of the club, G-spot, migrant women like Camila and Aindu, and a amputee, Dohoon. Through these people's bodies, the problems such as imperials, nations, ethnics, gender, age, class are entangled in the movie. The politics of these points work and construct heterotopias in four spaces of Others. First, the spaces which ageing and death are intersected. Second, the spaces of So-Young for prostitutes, Third, the spaces of So-Young's mothering: she adopted her baby to American when he was a infant, so she have felt guilty. Fourth, the spaces for So-young's quasi-family with Minho, a Kopian boy who was abandoned by Korean father, Dohoon, who is a poor amputee, and Tina, who is a transgender singer. Fifth, the spaces of speech of So-Young as the subaltern: the subaltern does not have the language to express its own experiences. In order to listen to the words of subaltern, we must do the task of measuring the silence. This cinematic representation of So-young as the subaltern makes her speak about her situation. Finally, the spaces constructed by the movie can be connected 'heterotopia of crisis', 'heterotopia of deviation' and 'heterotopia of fantasy'. The spaces of the movie represents lives of Others, nevertheless, So-Young's Otherness through spaces of heterotopia was transformed to an absolute Other by patriarchal traits of cinematic narrative.

• The Critical Review of Religion and Culture
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• no.31
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• pp.255-287
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• 2017

This paper analyzes the religious circuit of suicidal concept based on verbal expression and ritual acts, which are found in the suicide discourse of Korean Catholic Church and Protestant Church. In the relationship of suicide and religion, it is easily overlooked the religious circuit and its construction that forms the concept of suicide among the religious laymen. It is assumed that the belief system of traditional religions prohibits suicide and the laymen accordingly construct a perception or concept of suicide along with this belief system. Various studies on this subject have proved it. However, in order to understand the religious way of constructing the concept of suicide on a personal level, it is necessary to pay attention to the religious environment in which the concepts and emotions of suicide circulate. The laymen do not passively and perfectly accept the finely established suicide concept provided by the doctrine or the theology. Rather, the laymen tend to collect the pieces of concept over the suicide that are drifting in the religious environment of his/her daily routine life and to make an concept of suicide in an incomplete form. We can find the unstable and imperfect traits of such a suicide concept through the experience of suicide survivors who have a religious background. For the suicide survivors with religious beliefs, they resist the formal doctrinal and theological provisions to suicide, or try to understand the notion of suicide in their own contexts. In terms of linguistic expressions and ritual acts relating to suicide, the attentions are differently directed in the public and the private domain among the religious groups. Considering on the high rates of suicide in Korean society, the Korean Catholic Churches are increasingly tolerant over the suicide and accept it in the public sphere. It is unlikely when comparing to the negative attitudes of the suicide in the past. However, such tolerance does not go beyond the doctrinal and ethical judgment that defines suicide as a serious sin. The once-committed lay believer's speech and gestures usually contain the various emotions, such as sadness, grief, anxiety, regretfulness, eagerness, and pain in the private spheres. The language and gestures with these emotions have been activated in the religious circuits of suicide, being extended to the religious apparatus for the person who died of suicide. In case of Protestantism, the institutional organizations, such as the particular denominations and the individual-churchism of the Korean Protestant Churches, and their own interpretations of the Bible have in the private sphere strongly effected on the linguistic expressions and the rituals related to the suicide. The religious-ethical judgment of the suicide is varied how the suicide is interpreted by the theologians and the pastors. And the ritual acts for healing the complex feelings and the psychological wounds of the suicide survivors are not actively explored and adopted yet. It makes harder to approach and heal the protestant followers since they emphasize the innermost belief and the salvation assurance faith.