• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.412-424
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to analyze the meaning of soul fashion in American pop culture. This study was conducted using a literature research method based on the prior theses, journals and relevant books. Soul as a concept, originated in African-American communities and evolved from the ideology of Black Power, which prompted Black Nationalism. Soul fashion, which took on two styles in African American culture began to embody black resistance and community pride in the late 20th century. One of these, hip-hop style represented the message of resistance and a sense of beauty outside the mainstream. The other, African-inspired fashion, which utilized a look inspired by African tradition, rejected white supremacy by expressing a proud dignity. As a result, the meaning of "soul" in soul fashion represented by American pop culture resulted in contrasting appearance due to different elements. First, one of its meanings is ironic and sarcastic, and it expressed historical trauma, cultural stereotypes, self-hatred, and self-degradation and, the self-mutilation of African-American by cynically distorting their silhouettes and, using modified materials and patterns, fantastic colors, and extraordinary accessories. Second, the other meanings is the pride and dignity of Black Power, which visualized the concentration of ideas implied by the tradition of African-American, through soul fashion by using fierce traditional of African costumes, unique patterns and accessories.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.402-415
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to research the ideologies of African-American hair-styles according to cultural phenomena. This is a qualitative research using the books and theses about society, culture, hair and beauty, and materials of internet. The results are; Firstly, African-Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. About 75 percent of the dark-skinned people on this continent have hair labeled "kinky". Secondly, African hair-styles expressed Supernaturalism and Traditionalism in the formative period of African culture. African-American hair-styles reflected Colonialism in the period of slaves. African-American citizen's hair-styles showed Nationalism after 1960s' Black Pride Movement in the period of settlement in America, and expressed De-territorialism since the boom of 1970s' Reggae. Today, the wearing of dreadlocks, cornrows, and afros has transcended racial and religious barriers. No longer necessarily reflections of ancient traditions and cultural identification, they are just as often fashion items.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.527-539
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• 2017

This case study examines the experiences of an African American student's successful second language acquisition in Korea. There is an increasing number of multicultural families in Korea; but few research on African American students' second language learning. In the past, some American researchers have analyzed African American students as academic underachievers for learning and there is a scarcity of research on African American students' successfully acquiring a second language. With this qualitative research design, the researchers interviewed, and observed an African American girl named Mary. The researchers also interviewed Mary's mother, teacher, and peers about Mary's Korean language development. The results of this study revealed Mary's determined efforts to become a fluent Korean speaker with support from family, community and friends. Mary underwent unique social and systematic supports for her language development. This paper concludes with the educational implication for multicultural language learners in Korea and the possibility to diminish the common stereotypes of African Americans as underachievers.

• 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.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.169-191
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• 2014

This explores an African American male poet, Etheridge Knight, and his poems. He died in 1991 and had been wounded in the battle field during the Korean War (1950-1953). Particularly, engaged in the war as a boy soldier, due to his wound, he had turned to a drug addict. Despite his experience in the war, Knight didn't write poems much about the war and wartime experience. Rather than war experience, for Knight, the prison gave him a strong motivation to be a poet with Gwendolyn Brooks' help. Further, Korean scholars are not familiar with contemporary African American poets, and my study is an introduction of those poets. Since in Korea researches on African American poets have been relatively rare, it is needed to sincerely work on those poets. The none-white writers, above all, penetrate the undercurrent of canonized American poets and poems. By examining Knight's poems, I eventually align a notion of the ethnic with racial minorities in the U. S.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2018

Objective: In accordance with the changing demographics in the United States, orthodontists working on various ethnic populations should be more conscious when using the standardized profile analyses for the African American patient. The objective of this study was to examine whether the perception of lip protrusiveness in modern African American faces has changed. For this purpose, we investigated the most favorable African American lip profile using the opinions of 10 experienced and 10 newly trained younger orthodontists. Methods: Attractiveness was converted to a number on visualized analog scales. Comparative ranks on 16 African American profiles, with focus on lip protrusiveness and thickness, were made among the groups. Mixed-effects linear regression models were fit and group differences were estimated. Results: Younger orthodontists favored a more protrusive lip profile, and the variance in their perceptions was narrower than those of older orthodontists. Measurements related to upper lip protrusion showed the strongest correlation to attractiveness (r = -0.82). The association with attractiveness decreased linearly as the protrusiveness of the upper lip increased. Steiner's E-line was the most influential reference for determining the level of attractiveness for the older orthodontists, whereas upper lip protrusion was the most influential factor for the young orthodontists. Conclusions: An adequate level of lip protrusiveness and thickness should be essential for maintaining attractive esthetics in African American patients. Yet, a new set of standards for prominent lips in this population is necessary to reflect the current trend in the concept of a beautiful face in the modern world.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.413-416
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• 2003

Hair fragility is a major concern to most people of African decent due to frequent chemical treatments, thermal appliance use and environmental exposure. It is extremely important to both cosmetic scientists and African-American consumers to understand the internal and external hair damage caused by these factors.(omitted)

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.315-332
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize how Parks recalling, deconstructing and reconstructing African-American memories of the absences in American history through a black Lincoln impersonator named, The Foundling Father or The Lesser Known. Parks unearths and reconstitutes a significance for the historical event of Lincoln's assassination by repetitive mimicry and verbal puns. As a pun of the Founding Father, the Foundling Father reminds us of Abraham Lincoln, one of the most venerated figures in American history. In the first act, the black Foundling Father performs as The Great Man. This inverted minstrel show of the black Foundling Father performing a white Lincoln exposes the desire of the Foundling Father to insert his narrative within the history of America. With a series of assassinations, the African-American performers figuratively murder the power and control of the American myth. In the second act, his wife Lucy and his son Brazil dig relics from the past out of 'The great hole of history' instead of the Foundling Father. Digging and burial for African-Americans are their livelihood and their calling as well. As Parks pointed out, they should locate the ancestral buried ground, dig for bones and find bones because so much of African-American history has been unrecorded, dismembered and washed out. Parks leaves the possibilities of digging and burying on the black history through Lucy and Brazil.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.167-180
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• 2007

This study analyzes the Asian, African and Latin American cultural hybrids in modem fashion, and offers a direction for desirable cultural hybrids in modem fashion. First, the cultural hybrids have been considered in two aspect: global hybrids and structural hybrids. Second, the trends of Asian, African and Latin American cultural hybrids have been interpreted differently depending on the cultural backgrounds of each area. However, the cultural hybrid representing the change of tradition in Asia, Africa and Latin America is a common trend, and is used to describe the social changes. Third, this study examines the global hybrid trend in modem fashion based on the hybrid trend of Asian, African and Latin American culture found in the four major collections from 2000 S/S to 2005 F/W. Until recently, the exotic images have been determined in the viewpoint of Western world, and utilization by the world-renowned designers in the four major collections plays the major role in converting the regional cultural elements into global ones. Fourth, this study also examines the structural hybrids in modem fashion based on the hybrid trend found in Asian, African and Latin American designer collections between 2000 S/S and 2005 F/W. The works which are connected to the world trend, but are also rooted from the cultural and regional traditions demonstrate the globalization of the Asian, African and Latin American fashion. Fashion is a messenger of a culture, and its importance as a symbol of a cultural trend is growing.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.61-76
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• 2018

This essay examines Toni Morrison's African-American characters' struggle in The Bluest Eye (1970) and Home (2012) through the lens of heteronormativity, arguing that they suffer double victimization due to both their race and gender. The Bluest Eye portrays a family tragedy caused by an African-American husband and wife's failure to live up to images of gender as represented in white, middle-class media. Written forty-two years later, Home describes an African-American man and woman who establish their own lives away from gendered standards after striving to meet social expectations and becoming traumatized in the process. Their adversities stem not only from the deeply rooted racial discrimination in American society but also from subtle gendered norms implanted by heteronormativity. Morrison's characters in her earlier narrative face a tragic denouement, ultimately destroying their children's lives. By contrast, Morrison's later characters explore more utopian ways of life unfettered by heteronormativity, overcoming hardships imposed by white-centered heteronormal society. By portraying socially victimized characters, Toni Morrison problematizes the power behind the discriminatory nature of heteronormativity and suggests a more gender-neutral, egalitarian way of organizing society, free from the constraints of heterosexuality and from violence created by normalized gender rules.