• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.7-43
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• 2023

This study examines and identified a series of strategies of Russia's political elites to maintain and strengthen their dominance by reviewing the case of revisions in the election laws of Russia in 2014. At that time, a mixed-member electoral system was newly introduced, and on the surface, it seemed that the new system was a step toward meeting the demands of the people for "enhanced democracy". However, in 2016 and 2021, the ruling party of Russia won the general elections by making the most of the factors that could distort the election results inherent in the mixed-member electoral system. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze whether the revision of election laws was a mere vehicle used by the ruling party, United Russia, to maintain its political power, or whether it was a leap forward to achieve democracy. The study result indicate that the revision of election laws in 2014 was part of the policy responses to the internal conflicts in the circle of Russia's political elites, which had been rising since 2008, as well as to the public resistance. In other words, it was confirmed that the revision of election laws was one of the measures taken to "minimize competition" and "reproduce political power on a stable basis".

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.1
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• pp.109-144
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• 2003

Orientalness is a concept that expresses the collective identity of the Orient in relation to the West. The concept itself is mutable and defined by the relationship between the two regions at different points in time. Changes in the concept depend on a number of factors, such as cultural influence, the political balance of power between the two regions, and on the interpretative scheme that defines the relationship. In addition, the geographical notion of the concept evolves culturally, socially and politically. During this process, Oriental-ness becomes Oriental-ism at times. I will attempt to survey and measure the progression of Orientalness from its emergence in early 17th century to its subsequent transformation in modern Korea as reflected in art theory and art works. The recognition of the comparative characteristics of Oriental art began when the Orient was exposed to the art of the West in the late Ming dynasty during the early 17th century. The changes in the artistic climate in China affected the late Chosun. I will start with a brief introduction of this time and the birth of Orientalness. The concept gradually changed during the period of Enlightenment(開化期) towards the end of the 19th century, and during the colonial period( 1910-1945) it took on a new form. Establishment of the concept of "Orient"as a single, unifying concept spanning across cultures and national boundaries has been attributed to late Meiji period Japan, whose intention at that time is believed to have been to build a pan-Asia(亞細亞) empire with Japan at its commanding center. It has been stressed that the real motive behind the formation of one single cultural unit, where the shared common written language was Chinese and Confucianism and Taoism were the common metaphysical traditions, was to build one political unit. When the notion of a geographical unit of Asia was replaced by the concept of Asia as a cultural and political unit, a massive growth of interest and discourse were provoked around the concept of Orientalism. When Orientalism was being formulated, Korea automatically became member of "one Asia" when the country became colonized. For Koreans, the identity of the Orient had to be defined in cultural terms, as the political notion of a nation was non-existent at that time. The definition of identity was pursued at two levels, pan-Asian and local. If Orientalism was an elite discourse centered in pan-Asian philosophical and religious tradition, localized Orientalism was a popular discourse emphasizing locality as the byproduct of natural geographic condition. After the liberation in 1945 from colonial rule, a thrust of movement arose towards political nationalism. Two types of discourses on Orientalism, elite and popular, continued as central themes in art. Despite the effort to redefine the national identity by eradicating the cultural language of the colonial past, the past was enduring well into the present time. As discussed above, even when the painting themes were selected from Korean history, the tradition of using history painting as a manifestation of political policy to glorify the local identity had its founding during the Meiji period. The elevation of folk art to the level of high art also goes back to the colonial promotion of local color and local sentiment. Again, the succession of the past (colonial) ideal was defended as the tradition assumed a distinct modern shape that was abstract in style. The concept of the "Orient" is of relative and changing nature. It was formulated in relation to Western culture or civilization. Whatever the real motive of the adoption of them had been, the superiority of the Orient was emphasized at all times. The essence of the Orient was always perceived as the metaphysical tradition as a way to downgrade Western culture as materialistic. This view still prevails and the principle of Orient was always sought in Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Even when Orientalism was employed by imperialist Japan in an effort to establish her position as the center of the Orient, the spiritual source was still in Chinese philosophy and religion. In art also, the Chinese literati tradition became the major platform for elite discourse. Orientalism was also defined locally, and the so-called local color was pursued in terms of theme and style. Thus trend continued despite the effort to eradicate the remnants of colonial culture long after liberation. These efforts are now being supported politically and also institutionalized to become the aesthetic ideal of the modern Korean art.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.43
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• pp.43-70
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• 2015

The value and validity of elite oral materials have been questioned because of their gaps with 'fact'. The purpose of this article is to analyze these gaps and to propose some solutions that can reduce the gaps. According to the analysis of this article, there are three types of the gaps that qualitatively differ from each other. The first type of the gaps is produced in the process of generation of memory. This type is made because informants cognize and memorize the facts that exist outside themselves. Selective cognition, selective memory and individual experience come under this category. The second type is produced in the process of preserving the memory. Forgetting and memory transformation are main examples of this type. The third type is produced in the process of the interviews with the informants. False statements or lies fall into this category. The main conclusions are as follows. 1) all gaps in oral materials are not necessarily negative. It is because Some of these gaps- the first and the second type- are not only parts of the real world but also very useful for interpreting the world. 2) The third type of the gaps are very harmful and it is need to be eradicated or reduced. For this, this article proposes some solutions.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.221-239
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• 2010

The lineage village is a very characteristic form of village in Korea. Although it was known as having established on the base of the Lineage Law, the complexities of political and economical structures played an important role in the process of establishing the village. The continuous political struggles between the scholar officials forced them to abuse the blood ties as well as the academic and regional relation. Using the disorder of land ownership system, the ruling elite made chances to expand the private land ownership, and these became the fiscal background of the formation of the lineage village and the agglomeration. The capital area's lineage villages were used of fiscal background by scholar officials lived in Hanyang. In the reason of political struggle, the initiator came to Osan-ri in late 16th Century. And in early 17th century, with a government dignitary, Shin Kye-Young, and with the reproduction of population, Osan-ri formed a typical lineage village with many clan households in the late of 17th century.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.59
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• pp.121-156
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• 2015

Memorials in Joseon Dynasty created a arena where the intellectual and political power met. This thesis traces the process of a certain political faction's rebuilding of the political structure of the elite groups by leading the intellectual controversies through memorials, especially those about the evaluations of Pak Setang(朴世堂) and I Gyeongseok(李景奭). This is what happened: Song Siyeol(宋時烈) submitted a memorial which disputed I Gyeongseok's petition, which provoked complete controversies around the memorials between Noron(老論) and Soron(少論). This led to the academic censorship against Sabyeonrok written by Pak Setang. The analysis of act of writing and submission of memorials by Noron and the role of the Kim Family of An-dong(安東 金門) specifically is the main topic here. The members of Soron ceaselessly criticized Song Siyeol, while the Kim Family strongly defended him. The trigger of the strife was a letter written by Kim Chang-Heup(金昌翕), a member of the Kim Family and the Kims played a significant role in the background during the process of political fights using memorials. The series of memorials criticized or supported certain political figure or his writings, but the opinions of Noron and Soron were directly opposite to each other. Even though the expressed difference was the result of the existing political factions, however, it also caused the new power structure of elite groups. The expressions and logics used in the arguments also have its significance. The Noron's memorials evaluated the contemporary people and their writings based on Chu-Hsi and Song Siyeol, who was regarded as a identical figure of Chu-Hsi. The arguments and writing strategies in this regard gained political strength enough to reorganize the intellectual society by changing alignment of political parties, and this led to the rebuilding of academic environment afterward.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.21
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• pp.363-399
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• 1994

This article aims at bibliographical analysis of the and historical research of Buddhism in the period of king ChungYeul. The analysis is made in the respects of: 1) physical form 2) historical aspect of the Zen Buddhism in the latter period of Koryo Dynasty 3) related persons who corresponded with Mongsan First, this books is consist of 56 records about tripitaka, biography of Mongsan, poets of Zen Buddhism, and abstracts of Buddhist books. Secondly, the new trends of Buddhism in the 13th century was influenced by Mongsan Son(contemplate school, zen). He was corresponded with some political persons and the elite class of Koryo Buddhism. Because of these meetings, LimJae Son were adopted main stream of zen Buddism in Koryo Dynasty by Mongsan and his accompanies. Thirdly, these political groups want to meet Mongsan and his teaching about zen Buddism, but he suggest three questions to the gourp instead of meeting. And he explained 10 kinds of methods to study zen Buddism comparing visited ten persons with ten pinetrees. In the Koryo Dynasty, Buddism was very inportant in history of throughts and social functions. But there had been little research on Mongsan who afford theoretical base on zen Buddism in Chosun Dynasty. On the point of the relation to Koryo and Yuan dynasty in zen Buddism. The is a new and important records that afford some solutions of religious branch and trends in early periods of Chosun Dynasty.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.37
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• pp.473-507
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to understand Zhuxi's Taoxuezhengzhi(道學政治) by reorganizing both his political opinion in each different political situation and his consistent political consciousness appeared in his whole political career. He concluded that the politics was the real problematic in Southern Sung, which made its structure distorted. This distorted structure of politics had widely rooted in whole sphere of society. In order to cure this political problematic, Zhuxi had focused on huangdi(皇帝) and chaoting(朝廷). That is why people is the basis of State and the result of politics, while huangdi and chaoting is the basis of politics and the beginnig of politics. According to Zhuxi, forming their political power group of their own will by using huangdi's power, the political elites close to only to huangdi made the function of chaoting unstable, with the result that the political decay produced. In chaoting, it resulted in the weakness of huangdi's power, the collapse of official discipline(紀綱), and the absence of public opinion(公論) and public aggreement(公議). Beyond chaoting, it resulted in the absence of political trust and the degeneration of public morals(風俗). In the Southern Sung were not altered the political orientation and culture based on the political decay, but only political orientation and characteristics of political elite only altered. This proves Zhuxi's approach that all problems in Southern Sung could resolve by the political approach. Zhuxi had suggested political issues in office. The alternatives for those political issues had basis of the theme, the one that saving people(恤民) is the purpose of politics. However his political ideas and the execution of them had been occsionally collapsed by the complex political structue, the mechanisms of political power, and the sameness and privatization of political geography in Southern Sung. Qingyuandanghuo(慶元黨禍) was the final stage of his political frustration, with the result that it led to the failure of Zhuxi's taoxuezhengzhi and interrupted the tradition of taoxue(道學) for the time being.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.48
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• pp.109-134
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• 2009

This study explores the political parody, which has become an active art form in order to express Korean Internet users' political practices, especially, during the politically turbulent periods from the presidential election of 2003 to the recent candlelight vigil protest of 2008. This study investigates the rise and fall of a parody culture by online users from the mid-2000s, and also examines aesthetical aspects of parodic artworks relying on amateurism culminated in 2004. Specifically, the current study questions an aesthetical lack shown in 'appropriation', by which most of the online users simply produce imitations of original image. This study rather notes 'photomontage' as an aesthetic prototype, the political aesthetics made by John Heartfield, through which this study intends to observe how his aesthetical legacy of political art could be realized in the contemporary form of political parodies produced by online users. The present paper concludes that online users' political participations in producing critical works of art could allow us to negate the dichotomy between the elite and the mass, professional artists and amateur parodists, and a radical politics and the politics of style.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.43
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• pp.7-50
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• 2016

In the capitalized Joseon Dynasty under the Japanese colonial rule, most Gisaengs (female entertainers) were waiting for men who would save them from financial distress, but others chose to seize the opportunity imposed by the modern times and capitalization to transform their lives. Socialist Jung Chil-sung was one of those who utilized such opportunity to transform themselves through political awakening. The political awakening of Chung Chil-sung was the result of two factors-the historical occasion of the March $1^{st}$ movement and her personal labor experience as Gisaeng. The March $1^{st}$ movement was not only a colossal political incident externally manifested in nationalism and but also an occasion which educed the microscopic anger of a woman named Chung Chil-sung. In the early capitalist society, women with jobs were forced to play not only vocational tasks but also to subject themselves to emotional roles of being obedient and generous. In other words, those early career women suffered feelings such as anger, shame and humiliation, when they were defenselessly exposed to gender hierarchy and gender power in the public sphere. As shown in the case of Chung Chil-sung, these emotions led to a certain political awakening. The political awakening through the labor experience and emotional problems was the fact that helped Chung Chil-sung have a concrete and realistic understanding about the issue of women's economic dependence unlike other female socialists. But, although socialism was relatively the most appropriate language to explain Chung Chil-sung's experience, what she experienced contained several elements that cannot be explained by the elite socialist language. Therefore, her life paradoxically proved the need of lower-class women's lives to be divided and registered as a new emotion and to be politically visualized.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.32
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• pp.295-332
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• 2006

This study inquires at behavior and attitude of gatekeepers at major Korean media in the process of selecting and covering newsmakers, with focusing on factors, paths and practices in making news on the people. The study assumes that gatekeepers' social networking process with social elites, based on birth places, alma mater and kinship, plays great role in making people in the news. The study applies methods of in-depth interviews with people-page gatekeepers and content analysis of news on newsmakers. The in-depth interviews and content analysis unveil that people-page gatekeepers tend to support high society and social elite group. Furthermore, through the process of news-making, the gatekeeper group shares social capital such as economic exchanges and socio-political influences with social elite group. The result of interviews and analysis confirm that social networking based on personal affiliation plays as an important factor in selecting and covering newsmakers. With in-depth analysis of news contents, the study finds out that social elite groups of top government officials, corporate CEOs, medical doctors, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, college professors, cultural celebrities and journalists, who are predominantly male, appear on people pages much frequently out of proportion. The content analysis also reveal that 'personal news,' which cover personal and private life or unilaterally promote newsmakers predominate in terms of frequency and amount over socially-important or pubic-interested 'public news.' In terms of news values, fragmentary news composed of sensational, personal and gossiping elements appear more frequently than socially-meaningful news with strong social issues and public messages.