• Title/Summary/Keyword: Political metaphor

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American Culture at the Crossroad : Debates over NEA(National Endowments for the Arts) (미국 문화, 그 기로에 서서 - NEA(국립예술진흥기금)를 둘러싼 논쟁 중심으로)

  • Kim, Jin-A
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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    • no.4
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    • pp.33-56
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    • 2006
  • The cultural debates between conservatives and liberals at the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s were termed as "culture wars." The "culture wars" involved a diverse range of controversial issues, such as the introduction of multicultural curricula in educational institutions, prayers in schools, whether to allow gays to serve openly in the military, and whether abortion should be permitted. The most heated debates of the "culture wars" regarding art raged over the NEA and the question of whether Andres Serrano's works should have been publicly funded, in addition to the exhibition "Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment" which were charged as projecting "obscene" or "blasphemous" images. This paper examines the development of culture wars in art and focuses on several issues invoked by the NEA debates. However, it is not a detailed chronological investigation. Rather it pays attention to the several phases of the debates, analyzing and criticizing the clashes of the political and esthetical points of views between conservatives and liberals. How could NEA funding, a mere fraction of the federal budget, have become so critical for both sides(conservative and liberal), for politicians and artists' groups, and for academics and the general public? The art community was astounded by this chain of events; artists personally reviled, exhibitions withdrawn and under attack, the NEA budget threatened, all because of a few images. For conservative politicians, the NEA debate was not only a battle over the public funding of art, but a war over a larger social agenda, a war for "American values and cultures"based on the family, Christianity, the English language, and patriarchy. Conservative politicians argued the question was not one of "censorship" but of "sponsorship," since the NEA charter committed it to "helping museums better serve the citizens of the United States."Liberals and art communities argued that the attempt to restrict NEA funding violated the First Amendment rights of artists, namely "free speeches." "No matter how divided individuals are on matters of taste," Arthur C. Danto wrote, "freedom is in the interest of every citizen." The interesting phase is that both sides are actually borrowing one another's point of view when they are accompanied by art criticism. Kramer, representative of conservative art critic, objected the invasion of political contents or values in art, and struggled to keep art's own realm by promoting pure aesthetic values such as quality and beauty. But, when he talked about Mapplethorpe's works, he advocated political and ethical values. By contrast, art experts who argued for Mapplethorpe's works in the Cincinnati trial defended his work, ironically by ignoring its manifest sexual metaphor or content although they believed that the issues of AIDS and homosexuality in his work were to be freely expressed in the art form. They adopted a formalistic approach, for example, by comparing a child nude with putti, a traditional child-angel icon. For a while, NEA debates made art institutions, whether consciously or unconsciously, exert self-censorship, yet at the same time they were also producing positive aspects. To the majority of people, art was still regarded as belonging to the pure aesthetic realm away from political, economical, and social ones. These debates, however, were expanding the very perspective on the notion of what is art and of how art is produced, raising questions on art appreciation, representation, and power. The interesting fact remains: had the works not been swiped in NEA debates, could the Serrano's or Mapplethorpe's images gain the extent of power and acceptance that it has today?

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Bringing the Multiscalar Approach into Feminist Spatial Studies: On the Study of Women's Movement (페미니스트 공간연구에 다중스케일적 접근 접목하기: 여성운동연구를 중심으로)

  • Hwang, Jin-Tae;Jung, Hyunjoo
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.50 no.1
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    • pp.123-139
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    • 2015
  • This paper attempts to complement the methodological and conceptual lack of spatial thinking in Korean women's movement research and to facilitate further discussion on this field of research, by drawing on recent academic discussion on scale developed particularly among the Western critical and feminist geographers. The purposes of the paper are following. First, it addresses the need to utilize the concept of scale in women's movement research. Numerous spatial metaphors often proliferated with indiscretion in the feminist approach have rather tended to hinder fully understanding the spatiality of social movements. In order to examine the spatiality of social movements as both conceptual tool and praxis, not merely as metaphor, the paper incorporates main issues in recent scale discourses with particular attention to the debate between Marston and Brenner, and explores their implications for women's movement research in Korea. Second, it emphasizes the multi-scalar approach by highlighting the role of micro-scale, the less studied side in social movement literature. The public and the private divide, the long time battle ground in feminist research, is often intermingled with the hierarchical scalar understanding which considers the global as more powerful and important than the local. The reproductive realm, however, is indispensably related to production and political economic realm. The paper explores the very site where both the public/private divide and the hierarchical scalar understanding can be dismantled. It is the site where the private becomes public and the local becomes the global (and vice versa). Drawing on a brief example of an anti-FTA movement of women with strollers in Korea, it examines the way the multi-scalar approach advances the understanding of Korean women's movement.

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On the Characteristic and Representation of Kyodong Island Soundscape (교동도 사운드스케이프의 특성과 재현)

  • Kim, Ji-na;Zoh, Kyung-Jin;Kwon, Byung-Jun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.57-75
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    • 2019
  • Soundscapes have the potential to help people experience the historical background and cultural traditions by the scenery of a local area and to be used as a cultural and tourism resource. This concept was first explained in detail by M. Schafer and has been developed as a new way of experiencing landscapes using various senses. This research studied the soundscape of Kyodong Island, the so-called "Island of Peace" and designed new cultural acoustic content for education and tourism. Kyodong Island is located right below the Northern Limit Line and the whole island is in the Civilian Controlled Area. The political and economic status of the island has been changed dynamically by the Korean War and the division of the country. These days, the island needs to realize the vision of the "Island of Peace" in a more creative way using local resources, including its "cold war landscape" and the natural scenery of the region. This research applied the concept of a soundscape to document the island, and to reproduce it in an artistic way. A workshop was conducted to learn concepts and techniques of soundscapes with a sound artist. Listening, recording, conducting interviews, and literature research was used to study the soundscape of the island. After that, this research reconstructed the soundscape of the island through a soundscape composition. The main theme of the composition story was the "Hope and Wish for the Harmony and Peace" to show the vision of the "Island of Peace". The initial sub-theme for the introduction part was "First Encounter with Kyodong Island" arranging the representative soundscape, which could be the first impression of the region. The second sub-theme was "War and Tension" using several soundscapes as a metaphor for the tragedy of the Korean War. The third sub-theme was "Everyday Life of Kyodong Island" which described the energy of the present day, after the wounds of the war have healed. The final sub-theme was "Harmony and Peace" using traditional music and keynote sounds of the region as a reminder of the peaceful past, before the war. The recording files were documented as two types of sound maps. One was a two-dimensional map to show the soundscapes from one point of view, and the other used the online application called "Sound Around You". The final artwork was displayed at an exhibition and uploaded on YouTube to be shared publicly. Through this project, we discovered the potential of soundscapes as a medium to preserve the history and local identity, as well as presenting a new vision. The artwork will be exhibited at historically and culturally meaningful places on the Island to utilize the underused places as local tourist attractions and educational resources.

'Yongyudam of Hamyang', the Significance and Value as a Traditional Scenic Place ('함양 용유담(咸陽 龍遊潭)', 전래명승으로서의 의의와 가치 구명)

  • Rho, Jae-hyun
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.82-101
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    • 2014
  • The purpose of this study was to survey and analyze the origin story and the legends associated with Yongyudam(龍遊潭, Dragon Creek), its scenic and spatial description in Climbing Writings(遊山記: Yusangi Notes), its geographical and geological features, its surrounding remains and letters chiseled on the rocks through the field study and the study on literatures associated with it so to identify its significance and value and then to ensure justification on preservation of Yongyudam scenic site. Conclusions of this study are as follow. As the traditional scenic place 'Geumdae-Jiri(金臺智異)' representing Hamyang-gun(咸陽郡) depicts Mount Cheonwangbong and 'Yongyudong Village(龍遊洞)', ancient maps and literatures have positioned Yongyudam as the center of Eomcheon-river Creek as well as the representing scenic site of Yongyudong Village. Core images in the spatial awareness of Yongyudam described in our ancestors' Climbing Writings Notes on Jirisan Mount are 'geographical and scenic peculiarity associated with swimming dragons', 'potholes in various shapes and sizes scattered on rocks', 'loud sound generated by swirling from shoals' and 'the scenic metaphor from the dragon legend', which have led scenic features of Yongyudam scenic site. In addition, significant scenic metaphors from legends such as 'Nine Dragons and Ascetic Majeog' and 'Kasaya Fish' as well as 'the Holy Place of Dragon God', the rain calling magic god have descended not only as the very nature of Yongyudam scenic site but also the catalyst deepening its mystic and place nature. On the other hand, Jangguso Place(杖?所, Place of Scholars) in the vicinity of Yongyudam was the place of resting and amusement for scholars from Yeongnam Province, to name a few, Kim Il-son, Cho Sik, Jung Yeo-chang and Kang Dae-su, where they experienced and recognized Jirisan Mount as the scenic living place. Letters Carved on the rocks at Jangguso Place are memorial tributes and monumental signs. Around Yongyudam, there are 3 stairs, letters chiseled on the rocks and the water rock artificially built to collect clean water, which are traditional scenic remains detectable of territoriality as the ritual place. In addition, The letters on the rock at Yongyudong-mun(龍遊洞門) discovered for the first time by this study are the sign promoting Yongyudam as the place of splendid landscape. The laconism, 'It is the Greatest Water in Jirisan Mount(方丈第一山水)' on a rock expresses the pride of Yongyudam as the representing scenic place of Mount Jirisan. Other than those, standing rocks such as Simjindae Rock, Yeong-gwidae Rock and Ganghwadae Rock show the sign that they are used as amusement and gathering places for ancestor scholars, which add significance to Yongyudam. By this study, it was possible to verify that Yongyudam in Mount Jirisan is not simply 'the scenic place in the tangible reality' but also has seamlessly inherited as the traditional scenic attraction spiritualized by overlapped historical and cultural values. Yongyudam, as the combined heritage by itself, shows that it is the product of the place nature as well as unique ensemble of cultural scenic attraction inherited through long history based on natural scenery. It is certain that not only the place value but also geographical, geological, historical and cultural values of Yongyudam are the essence of traditional scenic attraction, which should not be disparaged or damaged by whatever political or economic interests and logics.