• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.215-240
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• 2009

This paper focuses on how Younghill Kang internalizes whiteness ideology through interracial romance to build himself as an oriental Yankee and recover his masculinity in his autobiographical novel East Goes West. This paper also focuses on Kang's strategy of racial and cultural hybridity presented in this novel. The theoretical basis of my argument is a mixture of Fanon's psychoanalysis in his Black Skin, White Masks, Bhabha's notion of mimicry in The Location of Culture, and notions related to race and gender of some Asian critics such as Patricia Chu, Jinqi Ling, and Lisa Lowe. In East Goes West, white women appear as "ladder of success" of successful assimilation and serve as cultural mediators and instructors and sometimes adversaries who Korean male immigrants have to win to establish identities in which Americanness, ethnicity, and masculinity are integrated. However, three Korean men, Chungpa Han, To Wan Kim, George Jum, who fall in love with white women fail to win their beloveds in marriage. George Jum fails to sustain a white dancer, Jun' interest. Kim wins the affection of Helen Hancock, a New England lady, but Kim commits suicide when he knows Helen killed herself because her family doesn't approve their relationship. Han's love for Trip remains vague, but Kang implies Han will continue his quest for "the spiritual home" as the name of "Trip." In East Goes West, Kang also attempts to challenge the imagining of a pure, monolithic, and naturalized white dominant U.S. Culture by exploring the cultural and racial hybridity shown by June and the various scenes of Halem in the 1920s. June who works for a Harlem cabaret is a white woman but she wears dark makeup. Kang questions the white face of America's self-understanding and racial constitution of a unified white American culture through June's racial masquerade. Kang shows that like Asian and black Americans, the white American also has an ambivalent racial identity through June's black mimicry and there is no natural and unchanging essence behind one's gender and race identity constitution.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• no.89
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• pp.37-67
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• 2010

The 21 Century is definded as an age of culture or image characterized by the fact, that modern society are being overwhelmed with virtual reality, that is full of visual images. The cultural concentration on the visual image and the excessive tendency to attend it become not only today but also ever as the leading style of culture. Nevertheless, it is particularly noteworthy that the visual image has become so one of the basic conditions of modern society, that one holds it as the society of the spectacle. So can the problem of seeing that resulted from the oculocentric culture, that is the problem of the fundamental relationship between the world and the eyes of human beings, be examined in the phenomenological sense. For this study, I believe that 『Phenomenologie de la Perception』 of Merleau-Ponty provides a important approach. The theme of this study is to refer, first, how man has dealt with the seeing in the history of philosophy, such as Plato, Kant, and Merleau-Ponty, who although not the anti-oculocentricism, but also makes serious reflection about an excess of visual images. Second, it is to explain what characteristics and problems are located in these considerations, and thirdly, it must be brought into the light, what is the essence of the seeing with regard to the beauty, the truth and the morality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.48
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• pp.5-24
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• 1999

The globalization of Korean beauty comes partly from the succession of korean traditional culture and its modernization will be the one of very important issues in 21st century. This paper was done in order to analyze the process of Korean design development in modern Korean fashion in terms of the succession and modernization of Koreantraditional Beauty and based on this analysis also suggest new possibilities for successful globalization of Korean traditional beauty andbased on this analysis also suggest new possibilities for successful globalization of Korean fashion in 21st century. 227 fashion designs which represent typical elements of korean traditional costume were selected from fashion magazines books SFAA collection books and company brochures published from 1986, to 1997. Content analysis was used with 8 variables including 7 design elements(line shape, color, textile, motif, detail, accessories) and year. Results of analysis showed that the process of Korean Design development in modern Korean fashion has in the use of straight lines and simple silhouettes. Diversity could be found in the application of various kinds of outwear items as well as in the variety of materials and details. Symbolic tradtional motifs and accessories were used to enliven the Korean folklore image, These trends became more salient with the turning point of 1993 when a few designers began to participate in Paris Collection. For successful globalization designers should have more active attitudes toward exploiting the essence of Korean beauty and developing them as modern and global styles.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.677-691
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• 2020

A lot of work has been done on the topic of Korean traditional costume. In spite of the amount of the work, however, not much work has appeared that summarizes the overall research trend in such a way that we gain insights into the future direction of the Korean traditional costume field. This study aims to work out an analysis of the research trend that may shed light on the current status of the field and also on the things that have to be done to further develop the Korean costume design field. The analysis reported in this work is based on the articles that appeared in two journals: Journal of the Korean Society of Costume published by the Korean Society of Costume (2,661 articles from the year 1977 to 2019) and Journal of Korean Traditional Costume published by the Society of Korean Traditional Costume (762 articles from the year 1998 to 2019). The result of the analysis shows that only a very small amount of work is devoted to actual designing of Korean traditional costume, and this has to change to globalize Korean traditional fashion and draw worldwide attention to it. So more work is needed particularly on actual designing of Korean traditional costume. This does not mean that we simply have to maintain tradition and replicate the original designs, but we have to endeavor to work out novel designs by, for instance, creative destruction and restructuring, maintaining the essence of the tradition of Korean costume.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.347-360
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• 2018

It is ironic but not coincidental that the loss of Korean sovereignty to Japan roughly paralleled the formation of the idea of Korean ethnic identity. The coalescence of the content of this heretofore amorphous notion of a "pure" and transcendental (in the class sense) ethnic essence was, again ironically, the result both of ideologies taken from (or given by) Japan and resistance to Japanese encroachment. What resulted was the birth of a hybrid (sub) consciousness that was able to accommodate disparate, or even contradictory, realities simultaneously without any sense of contradiction (Christian and shaman for example). If, as Kim Chul has asserted, the colonial period was the most impactful in forming today's Korean society and "giving birth" to today's Korean, it becomes easy to imagine how this formation process included elements of Japanese and western culture. This meant that there was going to be an inevitable cognitive dissonance when these influences collided with the imperatives of ethnic nationalism which became the touchstone for a common Korean identity (North and South). This paper attempts to show how this split-consciousness was manifested in Yeom Sang seop's Manse jeon with the aim of identifying how it affects discourses related to nationalism and identity.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.431-441
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• 2013

Purpose: The study was done to explore meanings and essence of the experience in South Korea of men defectors from North Korea. Methods: Data were collected from March, 2011 to May, 2012, through in-depth interviews with ten men defectors. Data analysis was conducted using the process of hermeneutic phenomenological reflection. Results: Eight essential themes were extracted; 'buoyant expectation for a new life', 'feeling guilty about family left behind in North Korea', 'inability to become acclimatized due to communication difficulties', 'inability to socialize with South Koreans due to different lifestyles', 'finding strength through trustworthy acquaintances', 'continuing reconciliation with oneself while trying to assimilate into South Korean culture', 'self-realization of one's original self', and 'continuing to feel out the possibility of a future in South Korea'. Conclusion: The findings indicate that North Korean men who defect to South Korea shape their identity through three phases: forming self-image during escape from North Korea, trying to become accustomed to South Korean society, and finding their own identity by self-realization of their original self. Eventually, the whole process enables them to recover their identity, to feel a sense of belonging, and to discover possibilities for a better future.

• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
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• v.3
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• pp.51-87
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• 2003

This study aims primarily to discuss the question 'What does the red fashion boom in Korean society during the 2002 World Cup mean\ulcorner' For this question, it describes fashion phenomena and characteristics that appeared during the time. Specifically, in order to understand the concrete essence of the red fashion boom in terms of clothing and textiles, this study classifies and describes the red fashion boom as 'object, process and symbol' concepts. It investigates each case within the context of fashion. Outside that context, then, the implications of the red fashion boom are examined based on cultural studies and other sociocultural perspectives. This question is considered by focusing on social pressures as ideology, looking at the voluntary behaviour of Korean people in this context and examining several other factors. This is an investigation of the relationship between fashion, society and culture pursuing fashion theory by reviewing the relevant theoretical backgrounds afforded by the humanities and the social sciences. Based upon the above theoretical discussions, it synthesises what factors contributed to the Korean red fashion boom. Finally, this study briefly states their applicability to cultural marketing in its practical aspects. This study has attempted to throw some light on the question 'What does the red fashion boom in Korean society during the 2002 World Cup mean\ulcorner' The Korean Red Fashion Boom emerged from its interrelation with each context of the World Cup, as in the dualism of 'Janus'. That is, the World Cup functioned as the positive face of a festival that collected deep emotions and passion and contributed to the integration of society. Whereas its negative face, ideologically speaking, personified the invisible capitalistic product produced by the nation, enterprises and the mass media. And the implications of the red fashion boom can be interpreted with reference to the two faced World Cup.

• Archives of design research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2000

Hangul came to life as part of the East Asian culture of the Chinese ideograph. Korean letter-culture is starkly different from that of Western letter-culture. In the Orient, letters were sacred and incantory; they were objects of awe, which incorporated elements of the majestic, mysterious, and of ritual. Here we had cultural tradition that acknowledged the intrinsic value of the letters. And it was in this context that Hangul was born as a completely phonetic system of writing. However, the characteristics of Hangul are quite different from those of Chinese ideographs, which are designed to convey a certain meaning. Despite the fact that Hangul is phonetic, its roots lie most definitely in the image of Chinese ideographs. This is something that contrasts with the roots of the Latin alphabet, which have been lost in its long journey of evolution. As a phonetic writing system, a notable characteristic of Hangul is that it has this and the attributes of image. In other words, in that Hangul is a compound, it shares some of the same attributes as Chinese ideographs, but also in that it is a phonetic writing system it is dose to the Latin alphabet. Hangul is definitely a visual writing system that has its origins in the visual culture of Chinese characters as well as being functionally a highly developed phonetic writing system. In short, Hangul has both of these attributes in one writing system. These characteristics of Hangul, for us living in the era of the image, are parts that awaken us to the meaning of existence in our visual culture. Unique among the world's writing systems, the identity of Hangul typography will become none other than the essence of our visual culture.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.89-102
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• 2017

This study aims at examining our social recognition on and the topographic map of a game through the discourse analysis on games shown from the Korean media coverage. Media don't reflect the reality as a mirror but represent it in certain manner. If so, how Korean media organize and represent the meaning of a game? This study analyzed the game discourse from 479 articles on games by 5 daily newspapers including Chosun, Joongang, Dong-A, Kyunghyang and the Hankyoreh during 4 years' Park Geun-hye administration. Research findings show that as a single issue frames of game addiction, addiction damages and AR games including $Pok\acute{e}mon$ Go counted for much reaching up to nearly half but discourse on the play culture as an essence of a game occupied only 3.8%.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.28
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• pp.37-53
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• 2012

This paper examines 'an active nihilism' in Suk-je Sung's novels in detail. The focus of this study is formed from the critical mind in a critical perspective that in Korean novels before and after 2000s, characters who embody 'problematic individuals' of $Luk{\acute{a}}cs$ have disappeared and those close to 'active nihilists' has become the mainstream. The most representative example of this phenomenon is Suk-je Sung's novels. 'Active nihilists' in his novels are described as 'ascetics' who mastered various spheres such as 'billiard', 'baduk gambling', 'alcohol', 'dance', and 'book collecting', and so on. In the sense that they reject the transcendental conditions of the modern world and live in the space and time of play in which they can display their passion and potentiality to the maximum, they beings jumping over the 'reality principle'. Also, what they want to repeat is not the endless exchange of labor and capital according to the capitalist system of exchange but rather the repeated existence of their power and passion. This 'anthropology of power and passion' is 'active nihilism' which could be expressed as the 'subject of creating new value' and 'Dionysian affirmation' by Nietzsche. Suk-je Sung's novels sharply prove the stylistic essence of 'a novel' which has to create its own form every time, constantly renewing the narrative style of the past ideal model. In this respect, they are very problematic and his innovation of a form draws the attention. Further, this will certainly be the important object of research in the diachronic dimension of contemporary Korean novel.