• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.779-796
• /
• 2009

Pimat-gil is a bystreet over 600-years old of Jong-no in Seoul that originated in the early Joseon Dynasty. This Study defines Pimat-gol (a street village) that has developed centering around Pimat-gil (alley) as a typical backlane of modern city, traces the origin and landscapes of Pimat-gol through the historical geographies of this place, and tries to name and interpret the placeness of Pimat-gol from the angles of social and cultural geography, particularly on the basis of the concept 'place memory'. As a result, the author extracts the placeness of Pimat-gol in terms of juxtaposition of three-fold layers, ie., 'space of subaltern vs. space of escape', 'space of oblivion vs. space of recollecttion and generation', and 'space of fossil vs. space of living'. In addition, the author examines the place memories which have been sedimented in this place and the contest of the place-memories by investigating these three-fold layers, and makes a proposal which would constructs another spatiality of modern city on the basis of this case.