Foreign Teacher Networks and Community Folklore in Sout
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Narrating Waegook Identity: Building Transitory Foreign-Teacher Community through Folklore in the Republic of Korea by © Kelly Roubo A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Folklore Memorial University of Newfoundland October 15, 2019 Abstract With increasing global mobility, itinerant expatriate groups – whether of teachers, retirees, students, or backpackers – constitute transitory folk groups easily overlooked by folklore studies. This thesis is an ethnographic study of a transient folk group of foreign teachers in Suncheon, Republic of Korea, and of how narratives about their experiences inform their sense of identity within that community. My observations of such groups in the Republic of Korea include working as a foreign English teacher in the 1990s, conducting fieldwork as a participant-observer from 2006-2008, and through additional research in 2017-2018 via the Internet. As a former foreign teacher, this work is auto-ethnographic in nature, as my time in Korea has informed not only my approach to this research, but who I am today. Alan Dundes famously suggested a folk group may be comprised of as few as two people (1965, 2). Folk groups can also coalesce for brief periods, even the duration of a conversation, wherein the content of narratives facilitates construction of shared identity, as in the “transitory community” of foreign teachers I studied. With little else in common, foreign teachers share narratives – of their work, the challenges they face, and personal experiences of life abroad. This creates bonds and equips them with vernacular knowledge specific to that community. These exchanges develop connective tissue for this transitory community, provide a mechanism for survival in an unfamiliar environment, and help create a sense of belonging in Korea, despite the teachers’ outsider status. Esoteric knowledge is employed within the transitory community as a status marker, providing evidence of competence as well as channeling information to those who need it. Additionally, the themes of some narratives reflect feelings of marginalization among people who, as white Westerners, sense a loss of standing and power. This change of status is often contradicted by how they position themselves in their narratives, wherein they present themselves as more competent, worldly, or knowledgeable than Korean counterparts. i Acknowledgments My choice of topic herein was inspired by encounters with other former foreign teachers, as well as by an ethnography course at Memorial University of Newfoundland, taught by Dr. Diane Goldstein, which required me to use network theory in a fieldwork project. The methodology evoked memories of Korea and of how vital interpersonal connections, and the vernacular knowledge transmitted through such conduits, were to survival there. I am obliged to Dr. Diane Goldstein for suggestions she made in the early stages of writing. This thesis is based on fieldwork conducted among foreign teachers in the Republic of Korea between 2006 and 2008, as well as online communication after that period. I am grateful to the foreign teachers who so generously invited me into their homes and shared their thoughts, stories, and time with me. Without them none of this would have been possible and they have my heartfelt thanks. I am especially grateful to have had the opportunity to know Margaret Scates and was deeply saddened to hear of her passing. I enjoyed her resilience, feisty attitude, and sharp wit and hope that some small part of that is conveyed in these pages. I would also like to express my appreciation for the generosity, kindness, and compassion of so many Koreans I have met in my years residing in their country. I am eternally grateful for the Korean students who are often instructors and guides to their culture for their foreign teachers and who are at the heart of some of my best memories of life in Korea. They inspire many foreigners to stay on longer than they had planned. I owe my sincerest gratitude to Dr. Philip Hiscock, without whose guidance, patience, and encouragement this thesis would never have been completed. His confidence that this project would bear fruit ensured that it did. I am indebted to my committee members, Dr. Cory Thorne, Dr. Mariya Lesiv, and Dr. Paul Smith, for their invaluable critique; this thesis is much stronger than it would otherwise be thanks to their questions and advice. Also vital was support from the staff of the Department of Folklore, who kept me connected to the department from afar and supported my efforts to finally get this done. And lastly, I must thank my parents, Bruce and Gay Roubo, for their unwavering support and encouragement of me through this and every other endeavor. Their work ethic and determination to succeed set a powerful example that continues to inspire me daily, and words cannot express how eternally grateful I am for all they have given me. ii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 English Teachers in Korea .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Road to Korea .............................................................................................................. 22 1.3 The English Teaching Enterprise in Korea ......................................................................... 36 1.4 Developing Strategies for Conducting Research in Korea ................................................. 61 1.5 Working with the Informant Group .................................................................................... 69 1.6 Folklore, Transitory Community, and the Waegook Life ................................................... 73 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 77 2.1 Literature Pertaining to the Project ..................................................................................... 77 2.2 Groups and Community ...................................................................................................... 79 2.3 Identity and Ethnicity .......................................................................................................... 89 2.4 Occupational Folklore ......................................................................................................... 94 2.5 Foodways .......................................................................................................................... 100 2.6 Performance ...................................................................................................................... 105 2.7 Summary of Literature Selection ...................................................................................... 110 Chapter 3: Korea, Foreign Influence, and Intercultural Transmission ....................................... 112 3.1 Korean Contact with the West .......................................................................................... 112 3.2 Pre-Twentieth Century International Influences on Korea ............................................... 119 3.3 The Rise of Japanese and Western Influence ................................................................... 126 3.4 Networking in Contemporary Korea ................................................................................ 130 Chapter 4: Occupational Folklore in a Diffuse Cohort ............................................................... 144 4.1 The Work of Being Foreign English Teachers ................................................................. 144 4.2 Foreign English Teachers at Work ................................................................................... 158 4.3 Tourist, Expatriate, Ethnographer ..................................................................................... 171 4.4 The Foreign Teacher’s Proper Canon ............................................................................... 181 Chapter 5: Narrative Life and Survival Tales ............................................................................. 188 5.1 Initiatory Horror Stories: The First Year in Korea ........................................................... 188 5.2 Narrating Waegook Identity .............................................................................................. 207 5.3 Narrative, Stereotype, and the White Minority Position................................................... 244 iii Chapter 6: Foodways, Improvisation, and Survival.................................................................... 254 6.1 Food, Community and Boundaries ................................................................................... 254 6.2 Eating Home When You Cannot Be Home .....................................................................