• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.175-209
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• 2020

This paper examines how the cinematic representation of the Japanese military "comfort women" stimulates 'imagination' in the realm of everyday life and in the memory of the masses, creating a common awareness and affect. The history of the Japanese military "comfort women" was hidden for a long time, and it was not until the 1990s that it entered the field of public recognition. Such a transition can be attributed to the external and internal chronopolitics that made possible the testimony of the victims and the discourse of the "comfort women" issue. It shows the peculiar status of the comfort women history as 'politics of time'. In the same vein, the cinematic representations of the Japanese military "comfort women" can be found in similar chronopolitics. The 'comfort women' films have shown the dual time frame of the continuity and discontinuity of the 'silence'. In Korean film history, the chronotope of the reproduction of "comfort women" can be divided into four phases: 1) the fictional representations of "comfort women" before the 1990s 2) documentaries in the late 1990s as the work of testimony and history writing, 3) melodramatic transformation in the feature films in the 2000s, and 4) the diffusion of media and categories. The purpose of this article is to focus on the first phase and the third phase in which the issue of 'comfort women' is represented in the category of popular fiction films. While the "comfort women" representations before 1990 were strictly adhering to the framework of commercial movies and pursued the sexual exploitation of "comfort women" history, the recent films since the 2000s are experimenting with various attempts in the style of popular imagination. Especially, the emergence of 'comfort women' feature films in the 2000s, such as Spirit's Homecoming, I Can Speak, and Herstory, raise various questions as to whether we are "properly" aware of issues and how to remember and present the "cultural memory" of comfort women. Also, focusing on the cinematic representation strategies of the 2000s "comfort women", this article discusses the popular politics of melodrama, the representation of victims and violence, and the feature of 'comfort women' as meta-memory. As a melodramatic imagination and meta-memory for the historical trauma, the "comfort women" drama shows the historical, political, and aesthetic gateways to which the "comfort women" problem must pass. As we have seen in recent fiction films, the issue of "comfort women" goes beyond transnational relations between Korea and Japan; it demands a postcolonial task to dismantle the old colonial structure and explores a transnational project in which women's movements and human rights movements are linked internationally.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.50
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• pp.31-51
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• 2018

The concept of 'monsters' have become popular, again, in recent times. A number of 'monster narratives' that discuss monsters such as zombies, humanoids, viruses, extraterrestrials, and serial killers have been made and re-made in popular media. Noting such an interesting cultural context, this article attempts, first, to find out some essential prototypical elements of a monster narrative and, second, to relate it with a catastrophic narrative. Correspondingly, the word 'monster' has been used as a conceptual prototype category that denies universal and clear definition, which makes it as one of the most widely used and familiar subjects of the use of metaphor. The prototypical meanings of various monster figures can be converged on a certain creature of being in this way held out as bizarre, curious, and abnormal. The monster figure that surpasses existing normality is also connected to 'abjection,' such as something that is cast aside from the body such as the bodily functions seen in its associated blood, tears, vomit, excrement, or semen, and so on. Nevertheless, both the monster figure and abjection produce disgust and horror in the minds of ordinary spectators or readers of media using this metaphor to heighten excitement for the viewers. The abject characteristic of the monster figure also has something in common with the posthuman figure, meaning to apply to a category of inhuman others who are held outside of the normal category of human beings. In the similar vein, it is natural that the most typical monster figures in our times are posthuman creatures embodied in such forms as seen with zombies, humanoids, cyborgs, robots, and so on. In short, the monster figure includes all of the creatures and beings that disarray normalized humanist categories and values. The monster narrative, in the same sense, is a type of story that tells about others outside modern, anthropocentric, male-centered, and Westernized categories of thought. It can be argued that a catastrophic narrative, a literary genre which depicts the world where a series of catastrophic events demolish the existing human civilization, ought to be seen as a typical modern-day monster narrative, because it also discounts and criticizes normalized humanist categories and values as is the result of the monster narrative. Going beyond the prevailing humanist realist narrative that are so familiar with existing values, the catastrophic narrative is not only a monster narrative per se, but also a monstrous narrative which disrupts and reinvents currently mainstream narratives and ways of thinking.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.103-139
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• 2002

Korean society has significantly changed with the onset of a dramatic economic crisis in 1998. From 2000, however, the Korean economy has recovered and currently Korea is enjoying a similar standard of living and economic growth as the pre-1998 levels. This study is a follow-up analysis, comparing the results examining the success attribution of Korean students and adults in 2001 with the results obtained before the economic crisis in 1997. Using the indigenous psychological approach, this study compares the similarities and differences in Korean students and adults' attribution of their personal success before and after the economic crisis. A total of 988 participants, consisting of 481 primary, junior high, senior high and university students and 507 adults (236 fathers and 271 mothers of the students) completed the questionnaire developed by Kim and Park (1998). The results indicate that students perceived their academic achievement and adults perceived successful family life as their most proud achievement. Successful family life included items such as academic success of children, healthy development of their children, and harmonious family life. The person who provided the most significant support for students were parents and for adults, it was their spouse. For students, the importance of friends' social support increased during the high school years. In terms of type of social support, emotional support was reported to be the most important for both students and adults. As for the reason for their success, majority of students and men reported self-regulation and for women, supportive family environment was reported as being the most important. Comparing 2001 results with the 1997 results, the importance of family increased after the economic crisis. Even with the dramatic economic crisis, however, some of the underlying pattern remain strong (such as importance of academic achievement for students, family life for adults, the importance of social support, especially emotional social support from family members, and believing that self-regulation would lead to success). The similar pattern of results obtain before and after the economic crisis indicate that the above results reflect a fundamental values and belief system deeply imbedded in Korean mentality.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.91-119
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• 2005

This study examines the perception and trust of Korean society and people among students and adults using the indigenous psychological analysis. A matched sample of 1,107 participants, consisting of 369 students, their mothers and their fathers completed a questionnaire developed by the present researchers. The results indicate that parents more likely than adolescents to hold negative views of Korean society. Adults are more likely than adolescents to view Korean society as showing high ingroup favoritism, to be insecure, to be conservative, to be corrupt, and to have social inequities. Both groups agree that Korean society is not rational nor democratic, but believe that it has the potential for progress. Second, parents are more likely to hold negative views about Korean people. Adults are more likely than adolescents of viewing Korean people as overly conscious about social face, emotional, selfish, exclusionary, and conceited. Both adolescents and their parents agree that Koreans are cooperative, full of jung (deep affection and attachment), and sincere. Third, adults are less likely to trust Korean institutions than adolescents. Adults are less likely than adolescents to trust National Assembly, political parties, and unions. Adolescents are more likely than their parents to trust family members, school friends, teachers, and government employees. These results indicate that adolescents have higher trust of Korean society and people than their parents. Fifth, the overall results indicate that both group perceive Korean society as showing high ingroup favoritism and corruption. In terms of Korean people, respondents had a more balanced view of perceiving them as highly sensitive to social face and being emotional, while also perceiving them as cooperative and full of jung. The trust of Korean institutions were generally low, especially the National Assembly and political parties. However, the trust of family was very high, followed by trust of school friends and teachers. The trust of government employees was low and this was especially the case for politicians.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.258-277
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to examine the paintings and symbols of the Jeju Guandeokjeong murals, Treasure No. 322. Gwandeokjeong Pavilion in Jeju is one of the oldest buildings in Jeju and was built in 1448 during the reign of King Sejong (世宗) of the Joseon Dynasty to serve as a training ground for soldiers. Unlike Gwandeokjeong Pavilions in other regions, Jeju's Gwandeokjeong Pavilion has a long history and is of cultural value due to its beautiful architecture. In addition, it contains various murals which are a further source of attention. There are four murals on the front and back of the two Lintels on the left and right sides of the building. Their contents include of 『The Three Kingdoms (三國志)』 and and on the back. Towards the right, is depicted, with on the back. Based on a replica of the murals from 1976, the plan, style, and age of the Gwandeokjeong Pavilion murals have been studied, together with their meanings. The contents of the mural are broadly divided into five parts, which are identified by the tacit signatures atop the screen, which provide such details as the painting titles. The paintings on the left and right sides of the center appear to inspire the spirit of the military's commerce in order to boost soldiers' morale, protect the country, and protect the people in line with the purpose of Gwandeokjeong Pavilion. The following and figuratively depict guidelines for the behavior and mindset of officials. In particular, is a painting concerned with concepts of longevity and an auspicious (吉祥), which shows how court paintings became popular as folk paintings at that time. The paintings of tangerines and other specialties of Jeju Island, the ritual paintings of Jeokbyeokdaejeon, and the expressions of Mt. Halla (漢拏山) and Oreum (오름) indicate the existence of Jeju artists that belonged to the Jeju government office at that time. The five themes and styles of the murals also show that the murals of Gwandeokjeong Pavilion were produced in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.29
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• pp.3-33
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• 2011

No one can deny the harsh reality that archival culture has not yet been permeated extensively into all the spheres of our society. Only fragmented records in fixed areas are in the custody of archives. Records to build a living memory for the history of our present are hard to find or remain minimal, if anywhere. Above all, there are few records in archives concerned with the everyday life of common people. No consideration has not been made about the reason for being of archives, not to mention of the strategy for establishing the archival culture. Accordingly, a paradigm shift is required for archives directly connected with the everyday life of common people. Archives of everyday life means one which interprets the behaviour and experiences of individuals(groups) within the context of society through categorizing everyday life of common people into the lesser fields. And archives of everyday life also means an organization or facility/place which documents the everyday life of individuals(groups), and collect, appraise, select and preserve the records from the view point of humanities for the reconstruction of history from the bottom. Archives of everyday life is an attempt to reconstruct memory and records on behaviour by and torment of the common people in the modern history of Korea, on the basis of which we can seek out the oppressive structure in the daily life of capitalism. Archival community should discuss about what is the meaning of records in the age of democracy unlike that of authoritarian era. We also need to have definite direction on the what kinds of records are to be created and appraised from the standpoint of common people. We are to make it possible to create Zeitgeist in the tackle of records and archives' content. on this kind of attempt archival community could make a practical contribution forward a more advanced democracy, resulted in having an opportunity to change the essence of archives.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.42
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• pp.7-22
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• 2016

Since the Taoyuanming of Confucius an Arcadia (Taohuayuan), utopia imagined in China has continued to this day. Such utopian imagination has been shaped by a variety of literary texts. These works depict the human desires and frustrations that form the utopian imagination. Typically, an Arcadia (Taohuayuan) has been recognized as a symbol of East Asian utopia. An Arcadia (Taohuayuan) anarchism is the utopian character of this small country, based on sensitization of the Lao strong. An Arcadia (Taohuayuan) world ruling class does not exist. But Confucius thought a utopian world is possible to imagine on the premise of 'Virtuous Policy' (德治). By the late Qing Dynasty (淸末), Kangyouwei (康有爲) had written and presented a utopia realized through the system of the "East-West stand." The literary text on utopia information in continued to experiment with implementation of the 'imagined' in the literature as "reality" of everyday life, immediately following the 1911 revolution in the People's Republic of China. As an Avant garde writer, Gefei's "Renmiantaohua" was influenced by the reflexive nature of the report on the point of the experiment. Gefei's "Renmiantaohua" has been rated as an outstanding work depicting the implementation process and the frustration of the utopian imagination. He is an inspiration to vanguard artists who focus on the desire and the frustration of the utopian imagination through the "Renmiantaohua" myths and stories that are comparable to the Sijipuseu story, which in itself perpetuates utopia in literature. In this paper, we explored the trails to implementation of a utopian imagination that has persisted since the ancient Chinese in current literary text. An Arcadia (Taohuayuan) of Confucius and Taoyuanming accompanied Gefei in the 21st century in describing the process of desire and frustration to realize utopia through a variety of traditional shape figures among other favorites. The author interprets those frustrations and desires of the human life course as just utopian imagination.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1-21
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• 2013

This study has researched the characteristics and elements of the chuibyong, a sort of trellis in the Joseon Dynasty through the old pictorial data. The results were as follows; First, as a result of the analysis for the 25 pictorial data in the Joseon Dynasty, the chuibyongs have usually functioned as screening the facility to protect the private life and dividing the spaces of the site, but it was internally regarded as the props which symbolized the dignity and elegance of high class. Especially, not only the faunas such as crane and deer, and the floras such as Pinus densiflora, Musa basjoo, bamboo species and Paulownia coreana, but also various garden elements including oddly shaped stone, pond and pavilion were shown in the surrounding area of the chuibyong, and they were considered as a series of combination that was needed in the ideal garden for the literati. Secondly, the chuibyong was recognized as the ideological object which was typical of the literati culture in the story derived from an ancient event of China. Such image has been reflected intactly in the garden culture, and the chuibyong has been used(considered) as the important scenery of the season to imitate and reenact the Chinese Classical Garden in the narrative painting. Thirdly, in terms of the shape and function, the chuibyong in the paintings in the Joseon Dynasty basically had the function of the shielding and spatial division. Fourthly, the height of the chuibyung was similar to the one of fence which exceeds the person's height or Youngbyek(影壁) which is installed in the front and the rear of the main gate in China, and the various shape's chuibyung was properly set up in many spaces. Lastly, the making of the chuibyong in Joseon Dynasty was related to the trend of the writer's culture which was popular nationally in Ming dynasty rather than the particular functions or the location conditions. Especially, the symbol expression of the chuibyong showed on 'Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden' which was brought from China was recreated in the mansion of the upper class in Hanyang city as the center, and the primary mode for the expression of the wealth and writer's spirit through the chuibyong was transformed into the high-quality's garden element which could be created in the royal palace or the mansion of the upper class. Also, the use of the chuibyung was changed by spreading into the residential style for common people after the mid-nineteenth century, and it means that the chuibyung was developed into Korean styles.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2012

This study aimed at learning the values and meanings of the letters carved on the rocks all over Mt. Sangdu located at the boundary between Kimje-si and Jeongeup-si of Jeollabuk-do by grasping the current state of them, investigating the patterns and contents of them, and understanding the spatial and landscape properties of the region where the rocks are scattered. The results of this study are as follows; The name of Mt. Sangdu came from the mountain with the same name located in India where Buddha were seeking the truth, and means auspicious. With the recognition of ancient maps and books, various propitious spots also made the landscape symbols of Mt. Sangdu solidify. Whoam, Chaangsuk-Kim, Weolgye Young-Cho Song and the members of Cheonggye Society like Dongcho Seok-Gon Kim led the creation of the rocks, and the 41 letter-carved rocks all over four water systems were found out and all of them were carved with Chinese characters. The letters were usually carved on flat and broad rocks, and they mainly had the shape of a small waterfall and a wide waterfall of under 1 meter height. 25(60.9%) of the carved letters were about moral training, and it seemed that they wanted to protect their pride under the shackle of the Japanese colonization over Korea. The styles of handwriting are Hangseo and Jeonseo except for names, and show various and complex styles. The mix composition of the carved letters of 'Yusubulbu(流水不腐)' of Choseo and the rocks of Takjok(濯足) is extraordinary, and the letters carved as the shape of Nakkwan(落款) have artistic value and degree of finishing. It seemed that intellectuals during the Japanese colonization over Korea in the 1930s considered Mt. Sangduasa highly valuable region because they expressed their hope and wish for the new world on the rocks. The letters on the rocks of Mt. Sangdu are invaluable cultural landscaping elements for the improvement of landscaping symbolism of Mt. Sangdu because of colliding values and spirits of the time of 'the anguish and pain of intellectuals' and 'the status of living joyfully outside of the mundane world.'

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.14-28
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• 2010

By philological geography method for dismantling and reconstituting Buyeo's Palkyung(扶餘 八景), which best signify the image of ancient city Buyeo's landscape, this research is to demonstrate the fact that the place's inertia of certain historic sites has been passed down as a type of geographic code. Titled poems and retrospective poems about Buyeo's Palkyung and its spectacles and landscapes reveal the fact that the splendid and glorious cultural heritage of Baekje had faded but its traces have remained in the each eight views including Nakhwa-am(落花巖), Goran-sa(皐蘭寺), and Jayong-dae(釣龍臺). In addtion, the spectacles and historic sites of Buyeo's Palkyung appear as the symbol of Baekje's fall and loss in the poems. Thus, it can be said that Buyeo's culture and civilization have never escaped from the cultural and historical scars of Baekhe's fall, being dominated by the place's inertia originated from the identity as "Baekje'slastcapital". It is ironical that Buyeo's future development and prosperity are not free from its cultural and historical spectacles which bear the image of the fall of Baekje. 'Older Buyeos' Palkyung(扶餘舊八景)' and, Prior Buyeo's Palkyung(夫餘前八景), originate from nine views of an unknown builder and after the construction of pavilions and towers, 'Subuk-jeong eight views(水北亭八景)' by Heungguk Kim(金興國) and the eight poems of the, Retrospect of Buyeo(扶餘懷古八景), were created. 'Buyeo's later Palkyung(扶餘後八景), which are especially free from the site's inertia are known to have expanded the scope of Buyeo's landscape by deliberately demonstrating spectacles and sites different from those of existing views. Nakhwa-am, Goran-sa, Joryong-dae, Songwal-dae(送月臺), Youngwal-dae(迎月臺), and Pyungje-tap(平濟塔) are all located within a one kilometer radius of Banwol-sung(半月城), Buyeo's palace and the Baekma river(白馬江), Daewang-po(大旺浦), Busan(浮山) in a two kilometers radius. Jaon-dae(自溫臺), Subuk-jeong(水北亭), and Gyuam-jin(窺岩津) are located within a three kilometers radius. Even Chunjeong-dae(天政臺), which are located within a four kilometers radius of Banwol-sung are located alongside the Baekma river. This indicates the fact that these spectacles had not been established temporarily or impromptu but for a long period time by historic retrospect and the inertia of landscape's geographic cycle. In conclusion, the geographic phenomenon of historical and cultural inertia appeared because Buyeo had the geographic message of "fallen, ancient city". Therefore, Buyeo's Palkyung which have constant retrospective inertia is clearly an geographic code effective and helpful to understand not only the characteristics of historic sites and spectacles of Buyeo in the Sabi period but also the quality of the site itself.