• 비교문화연구
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• 제25권
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• pp.627-648
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• 2011

The study analyzed a diachronic distribution, social meanings and social evaluations of ROOJIN. 'Headline Database of Newspaper Articles' and 'Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese' by KOKKEN were used as research data. There were 305 newspaper articles (About 0.2%) which contained the word ROOJIN at 'Headline Database of Newspaper Articles'. The number of newspaper articles related to ROOJIN started to increase in a rapid rate in 1972 and 1973. They were also increased in 1976, from 1981 to 1987, 1992 and 1993. The reasons of increasing of newspaper articles related to ROOJIN on those 4 periods of time could be summarized as follows. Firstly, there was a increasement of ROOJIN who are lonely, are not able to move about freely or live alone. Secondly, the understanding of a symptom of aging called BOKE was necessary. Thirdly, there were negative evaluations in a society towards ROOJIN. There were 453 cases which contained the word ROOJIN at 'Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese' on the data since 2000. The most frequently used words were ones that are related to senior care facilities. There were 109 cases (24%) which contain those words. '~SISETSU', '~SENTA-', '~HO-MU' were presented as words related to senior care facilities. Among them, 78 cases contained the word '~HO-MU' which was similar to a home with family members. The second most frequently used words were ones that are related to 'welfare for the aged' and they are led by 'medical care for the aged'. They occupied about 8%. Institutionalization of medical care for the aged, medical expenses, nursing were presented as words related to 'medical care for the aged'. Words that were related to 'welfare for the aged' led by 'senior care facilities' and 'medical care for the aged' occupied about 32% of research data. As mentioned above, problems of the aged in Modern Japan such as negative evaluations in a society towards ROOJIN, ROOJIN who are lonely, are not able to move about freely or live alone, BOKE could be identified by analyzing the data. Also, The frequent usage of words such as 'Home for the aged', 'medical care for the aged' and 'nursing' could be identified. The outcome of analysis suggested that a family traditionally had a function of solving problems of the aged but that function was reduced in modern Japan. It also suggested that there was a tendency to outsource problems of the aged as much as possible.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제34권
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• pp.93-114
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• 2014

Gaston Bachelard had a revolutionary progress in the field of human understanding by proposing his theory of image and imagination. His theory of the new image was so powerful, almost all areas of human science, particularly that of literary criticism, were strongly influenced and this influence continues until today. Today almost everyone accepts his theory of the image without much objection, but not rarely asked where began his transfer from the philosophy of science to the images. We propose a hypothesis that the beginning of the new concept of Bachelard's image was inspired by studies of contemporary science, especially quantum mechanics. The Heisenberg's uncertainty principle was the core of quantum mechanics, and opens new perspectives on the material world. We could summarize the message of the uncertainty principle : the material world is made up of various layers, and the material can not be measured by the location and movement at the same time. So we must have a new point of view of another dimension to know this material world. Bachelard had accepted this view of Heisenberg and developed his own theory of epistemological rupture. What is revolutionary in the theory of Bachelard's image is the fact that he looked at the images with the new perspective. The human psyche is another world compared to the rational world that dominates our daily lives. Bachelard insists that the image can not be explained by the concept. The fantasy world is a totally different world to that of rationality. That is why it can not be explained by the language of rationality as the concept. The imaginary world exists independently of the real world, but it is superimposed on the real world. These two worlds are influencing each other, and it is between these two world where our daily lives continues. The declaration of Bachelard 'image is a specific reality' is never a metaphor or rhetorical expression. This is an ontological expression that must truthfully. The imaginary world is a world built on the image and it works according to its own law. It is not a representation or copy of the real world. But the world of imagination are not alone. It exists in the same time and space with the world of science. It is superimposed with the world of science. Both two world influence each other. Bachelard has made a revolutionary change by studying the images. He gave them their own place. It has changed the views on the images that were treated as mere representations of reality. Thanks to him, the image can have its own value, that of a factor that creates reality. Bachelard shows how we can go deep into the source of being and the universe if we look at the pictures with the eyes of other dimensions.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제34권
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• pp.7-41
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• 2014

This article examines magical realism in contemporary european film, which is considered to be one of the most popular styles in the present culture, with regards to Antonio Negri's theory of art. Magical realism is "alternative approach to reality" (Maggie Ann Bowers, Magic(al) Realism) and defined as "a fictional technique that combines fantasy with raw physical reality or social reality in a search for truth beyond that available from the surface of everyday life" (Joan Mellen, Magic Realism). The term of Magic Realism was coined in 1923 by Franz Roh, German art historian, as the concept for the post-expressionist painting in Germany. It has flourished in the Latin-American literature during the 1950s to 1980s and spread worldwide. Since 1980s magical realism is considered to be a universal artistic mode. Since 1990s magical realism is to find in the various novels, and since 2000 one encounters magical realism in the cinema very often. Antonio Negri writes about the relationship between life, imagination, art and the political in his book Art et Multitude. According to Negri, the hard life of people in the present society liberates the imagination and this creates the art as "the excess of the existence". In this process the aesthetic becomes to the political. Negri calls this space of art as "magical time and space". Claire Denis' film Vendredi Soir is analyzed as a contemporary magic realist text, which realizes Negri's concept of art: vendredi soir (friday night) in Vendredi Soir is the magical time, when the impossible becomes the possible, and paris in the public transportation strike is the magical space, where the individuals meet the other in a new situation. The film analysis associates itself with Negri's theory of art: in Vendredi Soir, it is to see, that the excess of the existence liberates imagination and creates the magic reality both in the movements of things and the human relationship. The phenomenon of magical realism in contemporary culture can be understood as the symptom of the emotional and existential pains of contemporary people in the current world. The contemporaneity of the magical realism can be read in the film as "the metaphor for contemporary thought" (Alain Badiou, Cinema). As Antonio Negri writes, art can become "the aesthetic redemption" (Negri, Art et Multitude) for us. At the same time "(t)his is where aesthetics can be transformed into the political." (Lee, "Communism and the Void")

• 비교문화연구
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• 제38권
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• pp.115-144
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to look into the support activities of the 17th century spanish plays which had been taken in various paths in terms of responses of the then-public who had been enthusiastic about great plays and artworks. Such a phenomenon clearly appeared in the open-air theater 'corral' where 'Teatro nacional' was performed at that time. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the functional relation between the public's responses and the prosperity of then-plays from the concrete standpoint of Lope's public-oriented plays. Although Lope's plays basically include system-protection ideology, they are thoroughly based on the public's support and popularity. In short, at that time, Lope's dramatic reform and entailing remarkable hit and success were made possible through thorough compliance with the public's preference and thereby the public's absolute support and affection. The tendency of his public-oriented plays appears in two aspects. One is the common people persecuted and punishment of a wicked man of power. The typical plays in point are Lope's Perib??ez y el comendador de Oca?a and El mejor alcalde, el rey. Through the plays, the playwright Lope not only implemented praise of absolute monarch very effectively, but soothed the wounded heart of the common people who had suffered pains due to their unfair and lowly social status. In this way, his plays might give senses of reliefs and satisfaction to most viewers who identified with the common people in the plays. The other one is the decisive raise of status of an exemplary commoner, the subject matter which had been used by Lope as one of useful means to show the public-oriented tendency of his plays. The cases in point are Los Tellos de Meneses and its succeeding work Valor, fortuna y lealtad. The two-part work of Lope is about the hard journey, ups and downs, and ascent to the nobility of Tello, an exemplary and rich farmer, and hits young son Tello. Through the two-part play, Lope demonstrated how an exemplary and good-mannered commoner rose to the nobility and thereby gave vicarious satisfaction to the then-public and received a lot of praise from them. As mentioned earlier, through his public-oriented plays, Lope not only satisfied the public's desires and achieved his realistic goal of big success. Not all Lope's plays are public-oriented. Nevertheless, the popular success of 'Teatro nacional' made by Lope and his followers is based on the public's preference and the plays' dramatic responses to their desires, and the strategic elaboration to comfort the public suffering lot of pains in daily life.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제38권
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• pp.29-63
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• 2015

This paper attempts to re-read Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire from a non-Aristotelian perspective, particularly focusing on the audience performativity. In Chapter 6 of the Poetics, Aristotle says that tragedy has a final purpose or end (telos) and that is to inspire a catharsis (literally "purification") of pity and fear by means of representation and to give pleasure from experiencing their relief. However, a dramatic theoretician Augusto Boal argues that Aristotelian catharsis is not to get rid of pity and fear through their vehement discharge; rather, the basic function of catharsis is the purging of antisocial elements from the social body and the restoration of order because catharsis occurs when the spectator, terrified by the spectacle of the catastrophe, is purified of his "hamartia" which looks similar to the tragic flaw of the hero in the play. Thus, Boal asserts that Aristotle's coercive system of tragedy manipulates the emotions of the passive spectator. By contrast, in non-Aristotelian aesthetics, tragedy functions not as legitimation for a particular political configuration but as the performance of ethical acts-through which all the participants, including not only the actors but also the audience, communicate more actively about practical problems and actively work in order to make sense of themselves, others, and society. Here, the audience is required to restore and reinforce his/her capacity to think and to act; thus, an unquestioning, passive, indifferent attitude is not allowed. In these contexts, this paper explores how Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire involves the audience in the responsibility for what occurs on the stage, in order to urge the audience's ethical judgements and responsible acts. This paper argues that what this play asks of us is not catharsis, the purging of pity and fear, but empathy toward the other's pain, beyond pity and fear, to carry out our responsibility of sharing in and caring for the other's suffering. That is to say that it will be an ethical way to "re-member" Blanche DuBoi-the iconic Williams victim "dis-membered" by traumatic memories and open wounds and is thus unable to complete her grieving and mourning-as one of us, not as the other. It will be the only way to remember right regarding her tragedy.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제38권
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• pp.191-214
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• 2015

Chinese American Writer, Ha Jin has been writing exclusively about the life in his native Communist China. His stories and poems are almost all about the Chinese people so far. In addition, the distinctive Chinese flavour and the inexorably repressive image of China in his works present an 'Other' to the American culture. Such kind of Chineseness can also be found in Ha Jin's works and his career as a writer. The continued demand for knowledge of China, which is created by China's increasingly important role in the globalized economy, sustains the country's position as an Other for America. In his early four novels, Ha Jin portrays a totally repressive image of Communist China, an image of which functions perfectly as a form of otherness for his American readers. In Ha Jin's portrayal, the Chinese masses are subjected to the Communist authority through its bureaucracy and state-economy mechanism, as well as through the godlike image of Mao Zedong. They are to follow the Communist conscience and subscribe to unity-in-difference. Deviation from the one-party rule is intolerable. In each of the novels, Ha Jin presents a specific system of repression. In In the Pond, confrontation against Party authority is contained by a process of complicity. In Waiting, the Party's power is upheld through a system of surveillance in which people act as agents, resulting in a web of power which paralyses love. The Crazed illustrates a play of power by Party officials which, against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, is full of craze itself, driving people either out of sanity or out of the country. War Trash exposes the Communist power's repression to the extreme by presenting a case of dishonour in those whose life is debased as trash by the Party. The repressive image of China produced in these stories, which span over half a century, makes Ha Jin's China a perfect Other for the West. To sum up, Ha Jin's novels construct a repressive image of China. In his novels, Ha Jin exposes the working of repression in particular systems. Through these systems, he problematizes the notion of personal autonomy for Chinese people and proposes for his western/American readers a solution which eventually turns into a re-presentation of American hegemony.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제25권
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• pp.55-85
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• 2011

Many States such as Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, New Mexico, Florida were obtained either from Spanish Empire or from Mexico. In 1848 due to the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty America could obtain half of the original territory of Mexico. American identity cannot be understood without the history of American expansionism further consolidated by the Spanish-American War in 1898, which brought other ex-Spanish colonies such as Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines to the US. The US's interest in these territories dates back to the Monroe doctrine in 1823 when Monroe "declared the Americas off-limits to any new European colonization." America justifies their expansion based on the notion of Manifest Destiny which was created by O'Sullivan at the hight of American fever to annex Texas to US. The intent of this paper is to study how Anglo-Saxon and Latin Culture clashed against each other especially right before and after the Spanish-American War. In this study the American hero, Theodore Roosevelt and Latin American hero, $Jos{\acute{e}}$ Martí will be compared, though they did not meet each other during the Spanish-American war due to Marti's early death in 1895 at the battle for the Cuba Libre. Their comparison is significant in that the former represents the American expansionist spirit and the latter the spirit of Anti-imperialism and Anti-Anglocentrism. Along with the concept of Manifest Destiny of America, 'American exceptionalism' is also mentioned which motivates U.S. to expand further even after the Spanish-American war in the form of 'informal imperialism' characterized by 'gunboat politics'of the US. These discussions will draw attention to how recent theorists such as Bryce Traister criticizes the Border Theory represented by $Jos{\acute{e}}$ David Saldívar. Here the Border Theory is criticized to repeat the discourse of the globalized capitalism which prefers the weak state and the transnational aspects by focusing on the in-betweenness of the border. In the end the paper will focus on how the Border theory as represented by Saldivar is political enough and sets up a resistant example against American expansionism of today in its focus on the call for pan-American and pluri-versal subjectivity of the borderlands. This point will be supported by a discussion of how Saldivar's view is confirmed by Walter Mignolo who advocates the "bottom up" resistance of the indigenous people of Chiapas and other social forums such as World Social Forum and the Social Forum of the Americas derived from the Zapatistas' movement whose motto is "A World in which many world co-exist."

• 비교문화연구
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• 제38권
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• pp.89-113
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• 2015

This paper explores the work of mourning of 9/11 in the United States, focusing on the project of building the National September 11 Memorial managed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation(LMDC) and the War on Terror declared by the George W. Bush administration in the wake of 9/11. This paper first looks at the project of building the Natioanl September 11 Memorial and considers what was at stake in achieving this project. It also examines the limitations of the project. This paper argues that, in spite of the efforts to mourn the victims in significant and meaningful ways, the work of mourning in the memorial project fails at least in two respects. First, the memorial project "began so soon" right after 9/11 that the victims' families were not given enough time to mourn their loved ones. Second, the project were permeated with American nationalism and patriotism, which made the 316 non-American victims of 9/11 invisible and forgotten. Then, it goes on to examine the War on Terror because the War on Terror epitomized the failure of mourning due to these causes. In his address to the nation delivered on the very day of 9/11, President George W. Bush stated that "America was targeted for the attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world" and that the terrorists failed to threaten America into chaos. He also stated that America is in "the war against terrorism." These statements were a futile reassertion of the illusion of American invulnerability and a prohibition of mourning in favor of violent military responses to 9/11. American nationalism also underlies Bush's official naming of September 11 as "Patriot Day." The victims were sacrificed because they were at the site when terrorists attacked, which implies that their death had nothing to do with American patriotism. Naming September 11 as Patriot Day was an act of imbuing the absurdity of the victims' death with a false meaning and an act of forgetting the non-American victims. The failure of the work of mourning of 9/11 consisted in the inability to recognize human vulnerability and interdependence and the inability to mourn not only American victims but also non-American victims killed in 9/11 and the War on Terror. A meaningful and significant mourning could be possible when we realizes that all human beings are exposed to one another and their lives are interdependent on one another. September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows well demonstrated this kind of mourning. When most Americans supported violent retaliations, Peaceful Tomorrows made pleas for nonviolent responses to 9/11. Turning their grief into action for peace, its members work "to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone," not only for Americans. Their effort to mourn in meaningful and nonviolent ways delivers the message that a disaster like 9/11 should not happen anywhere.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제25권
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• pp.391-420
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• 2011

Christina Rossetti's novella Maude displays Tractarian influences in terms of Holy Eucharist, Puseyism, and the doctrine of Reserve. Tractarianism is High Church revival movement of nineteenth century. In the story a teenage girl, Maude went through hard time receiving Holy Eucharist due to self-consciousness and internal guilt according to Puseyism. She felt guilty when she enjoyed worldly things and outward beauty. Due to guilt Maude refused to receive Holy Communion, which is complete connection to God. Her cousin, Agnes suggested that in refusing Holy Communion Maude is following her own will not God's will. Later Maude overcame Puseyite thought of self-hatred and reconciled with her identity as a poet and a woman. Maude oscillates between concealing and revealing, secrecy and truth, sincerity and affectation, and modesty and display. Her marvelous poetic talent makes people praise her but she withholds private feelings and attempts to divert attention from herself. Like Maude herself, the meaning of her poems is at times reserved and withheld. This tendency goes with the doctrine of Reserve in Tractarianism. The doctrine of Reserve utilizes indirect methods to reveal divine attributes because finite human being can not accept infinite God. The doctrine of Reserve sees to it that the expression will be veiled, indirect, subdued and self-effacing. Rossetti adapts a poetic method of Reserve when Maude has anxiety over 'display and poetry' and generates the reticence, secrecy, mystery, renunciation, modesty and detachment. According to Mary Arseneau, by veiling and expressing herself through symbols she can rise above the self and employ the phenomenal to suggest a noumenal reality. Thus the poetry becomes an expression of longing for the divine. The poem "Three Nuns" exemplifies Maude's maturity and gradual progress in the relationship with God. Rossetti suggests the vision full of hopes and promises of reuniting with God. In conclusion, in some sense, authoritative and conservative Tractarianism affects Rossetti both ways. On the one hand, it makes Rossetti abnegate herself and leads her to asceticism, on the other hand, it makes Rossetti express her faith in God and write amazing devotional poems such as "Three Nuns". A poem within the poem has three voices that are in perfect harmony. In the poem the first and second nun show hesitation to fully commit to God's will and the desire for the world prevents them from having heavenly joy. Third nun reveals spiritual maturity and sings new life in God where their hopes and joys begin. Rossetti expresses the procedure of spiritual growth through the poem "Three Nuns". For Rossetti, self-abnegation and self-expression both are involved in the doctrine of Reserve, Puseyism and Holy Communion.

• 비교문화연구
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• 제44권
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• pp.373-391
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• 2016

한국의 아프리카 연구는 2000년대 이후에 본격적으로 이루어지고 있다. 그러나 지구상의 마지막 블루 오션이라는 인식과 함께 시작된 최근의 활발한 아프리카 연구는, 최근 몇 년간의 비약적인 양적 성장에도 불구하고 몇 가지 문제점을 안고 있다. 첫째는 아프리카 연구의 학문적 편중성이다. 국내에서 생산된 석박사 논문과 전문학술지 논문의 60% 이상이 사회과학, 그 중에서도 정치 경제 분야에서 이루어졌으며, 이는 아프리카에 대해 경제적 목적 일변도의 편향된 이해를 불러올 수 있다. 두 번째 문제점은 최근의 활발한 아프리카 연구의 결과에도 불구하고, 국내의 아프리카에 대한 인식은 기존의 피상적인 인식에서 탈피하지 못하고 있다. 다양한 아프리카 연구의 결과들이 일반 대중과 젊은 세대들에게 공유될 필요가 있다. 마지막으로 국내 아프리카 연구 주체들 간의 활발한 교류를 통하여, 분야별 연구의 틀을 벗어나 종합적인 아프리카 연구의 방향으로 나아갈 필요가 있다.