KOREA INSTITUTE HARVARD UNIVERSITY
SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER DIRECTOR’S WELCOME The strength of the Institute also lies in its ability to continue to support our basic programs while INSIDE also developing new academic initiatives. 04 New Faculty & Postdocs It was a great honor and pleasure to history, and took an active role in our return as director (interim) this past colloquia. Professor Lee’s presence was of year while Professor Sun Joo Kim took course a sign of the burgeoning interest 06 Visiting Professors a well-deserved sabbatical year’s leave. in Korean film studies at Harvard more It was, as always, a year of many events generally, and of our continuing efforts and activities, enriched by the presence as an Institute, together with the Harvard 08 Highlight of Fall Events of numerous visitors, including two new Film Archive and CJ Entertainment in postdoctoral fellows Seong-Uk Kim and Seoul, to introduce Korean film and film Dennis Lee, both of whom received directors to the Harvard community, and 12 CJ Asian Film Collection their PhDs from UCLA. Our Kim Koo to collect and preserve original Korean Visiting Professor this year, Professor films for future research. 19 Student Experiences Hyangjin Lee from Rikkyo University in One of the most enlivening and gratifying Tokyo, shared with us and our students aspects of the year for me personally was her extensive knowledge of Korean Affiliates to work closely with our three newer 26 film, teaching a conference course (for faculty: Professor Nicholas Harkness in undergraduates and graduates) on Anthropology, whose recent book, Songs “Korean Cinema and Transnationality.” 28 Harvard-Yenching Library of Seoul: An Ethnography of Voice and She also participated in my introductory Korean Section historiography course on modern Korean (continued on page 3) (continued from page 1)
Voicing in Christian South Korea was awarded the 2014 Edward Sapir Prize in linguistic anthropology; Professor Paul Chang, a former student, who went on to receive his Ph.D. at Stanford and returned to Harvard as assistant professor in Sociology last year, and who just published a study of state repression and the democracy movement in South Korea in the 1970s: Protest Dialectics, while also garnering a prize in his department for outstanding undergraduate teaching; and Professor Si Nae Park, who just joined us this academic year in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, where she is teaching pre-modern Korean literature and working on a book on Chosŏn vernacular literature. The fresh perspectives, critical insights on problems, enthusiasm, and good humor that these three younger colleagues brought to the Institute’s executive committee were as refreshing as they were crucial to the overall success of our endeavors this past year. Here, in a very real sense, lies the Institute’s future, and that future looks bright indeed.
Of course the strength of the Institute also lies in its ability to continue to support our basic programs while also developing new academic initiatives. Interest in Korean studies at Harvard is definitely growing, indicated by increasing class enrollments in both language and content courses. In that regard, I want to thank Dr. Sang-suk Oh for his years of service as director of the Korean Language Program, and welcome his successor Dr. Hi-Sun Kim from the University of Chicago as the new director, who will join us next academic year. But the growth of the Korean studies program, and the addition of three new faculty, each with his/her developing constituency of students, have put enormous strains on our financial resources, particularly our bedrock student fellowships and grants for the regular academic year and for summer research and study. The number of outstanding student applications (both undergraduate and graduate) for these scholarships is expanding exponentially, and it is essential that we find a way to support as many of them as possible. One of our primary goals in the immediate years therefore will be to seek sources of such support. This is frankly our most pressing need at the moment, and we will be calling on you, our friends around the world, to do whatever you can to help The Korea Institute is devoted solely to the support and development of Korean us meet this challenge. Studies at Harvard as the central hub for Harvard faculty, students, leading scholars in Finally, I would indeed be remiss if I did not thank our superb administrative staff, not least of all Susan Laurence and Jina Kim, who have made my year as director so smooth and enjoyable. And the field, and visitors to join together as a community for the study of Korea. like everyone at the Institute, I look forward to welcoming back a revivified Professor Sun Joo Kim as director, effective July 1! KOREA INSTITUTE HARVARD UNIVERSITY
CGIS South Building 1730 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel. 617-496-2141 Fax. 617-496-8083 Carter J. Eckert korea.fas.harvard.edu Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History www.facebook.com/ki.harvard Director, Korea Institute vimeo.com/channels/koreainstitute
2 | HARVARD UNIVERSITYFront cover KOREA photo, INSTITUTE back cover photo, inside cover photo by Arthur Nguyen, ‘15 SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 3 NEW FACULTY & POSTDOCS FACULTY & AFFILIATE NEWS
Nicholas Harkness’s book, Songs of Seoul: An Ethnography of Voice and Voicing in Christian South Korea (University of California Press, 2014), has been awarded the Edward Sapir Book Prize by the Society for Linguistic Anthropology (American Anthropological Association). The Edward Sapir Book Prize was established in 2001 and is awarded to a Dennis Lee book that makes the most significant contribution to our Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow understanding of language in society, or the ways in which Korea Institute, Harvard University language mediates historical or contemporary sociocultural processes. Nicholas Harkness is Assistant Professor of Si Nae Park Seong-Uk Kim As a Korean Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard, I am Anthropology at Harvard University. Soon Young Kim Postdoctoral Fellow currently developing my book manuscript Invisible Frontiers: Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and The Path to the Korean and Japanese State, which examines Korea Institute, Harvard University Civilizations, Harvard University, Harvard University early “Korean-Japanese” relations in the 5th – 6th century. Si Nae Park specializes in premodern Korean literature. My book manuscript, “Redefining Zen: Nineteenth Century By examining the construction of highly localized keyhole- Interested in Korean literature and literary practices Korean Zen Buddhism and Its Acculturation,” explores the shaped tombs on the southwestern corner of the Korean within the Sinographic space, Park currently focuses on Korean development of distinctive Sŏn (Zen) Buddhist peninsula (i.e. the Yŏngsan River basin) and the Japanese representations of the human voice and vernacular writing theories in Chosŏn (1392-1897) in light of the relationship island of Kyushu, my manuscript challenges interpretations to examine the origins and development of yadam narratives between kataphatic and apophatic forms of Buddhist practice. of the archaeology that are limited by geonationalism and (‘unofficial talk’; short narratives of historical persons and Korean Buddhism is often described as showing few signs of hegemonic texts. As an alternative, it argues that textually invisible polities/societies played important roles in the trade events) within literary practices of late Chosŏn Seoul and creativity and being virtually dead in the latter half of Chosŏn and transportation networks between the historical states of within the history and historiography of Korean literature. (1392-1910) because of harsh persecution by the Confucian Paekche, the Kaya polities, Silla, and Yamato. My research To that end, she is working on a book manuscript tentatively ruling class. My research not only challenges such a common shows that the political and economic situation between the John (SP) Cho, currently a Fellow (Soon Young Kim titled Staged Voices: “Tongp’ae naksong” and the Origins of perception, but also presents a more comprehensive picture Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago did not consist Postdoctoral Fellow in AY 13-14) at the Korea Institute and of Chosŏn Buddhism through a case study of Ch’oŭi Ŭisun the Korean Vernacular Story. She is also completing a paper of merely three “Korean” kingdoms and a single “Japanese” a visiting lecturer at Boston University, will be joining the 草衣意恂 (1786-1866). Literary collections of late Chosŏn, that excavates a tutor’s voice in Chosŏn ŏnhae vernacular state but involved a multitude of polities with very porous faculty at Sarah Lawrence College as an Assistant Professor renditions of the Confucian classics and situates these texts at compiled by Confucian literati, reveal that many yangban borders up to and possibly beyond the mid-6th century. By in Global Studies this fall. Dr. Cho’s focus of research and the intersection of oral reading (vocalization and recitation) aristocrats held favorable attitude toward Buddhism, making focusing on the eclectic nature of the tombs in the Yŏngsan teaching will be Global/Transnational LGBT Studies. and the civil service examination. Park co-edited Score One frequent and substantial monetary donations to Buddhist River basin and Kyushu, my work also contributes to our for the Dancing Girl and Other Stories from the Kimun temples; some of them even showed their keen interest in understanding of this period by giving a voice to the political, Paul Chang, Assistant Professor of Sociology, has been ch’onghwa (forthcoming; University of Toronto Press). Her Buddhism, reading Buddhist texts and being devoted to the economic, and ritual choices made by the local authorities of awarded Sociology’s 2015 Kahrl Award for excellence translation of the Kohaengnok (Record of My Hardships; study of Buddhist doctrines. Chosŏn Sŏn masters, in an effort those regions, which would normally be rendered invisible and in teaching. George Kahrl, ‘83 established the Kahrl 1719) by Lady Yi of Hansan is to be included in An to embrace the literati’s scholastic approach to Buddhism, silent by geonationalist frameworks and hegemonic historical award some years ago in recognition of Professor Stephen Anthology of Premodern Korean Prose: Literary Selections developed distinctive visions of the relationship between Sŏn texts. In addition to the manuscript, I am currently preparing a journal article that examines and evaluates the claims made on Cornell’s outstanding commitment to undergraduate from the Tenth to the Nineteenth Centuries (forthcoming; meditation and Kyo doctrinal studies. In particular, Ch’oŭi the origins of these tombs, the racial identity of the entombed, education at Harvard. It is given to a junior faculty Columbia University Press). In Spring 2014-5, she teaches redefined ŏS n and Kyo, vindicating the doctrinal studies, a and their geopolitical circumstances as well as another article member in the Sociology department who has made a lecture course (KL 110) surveying premodern Korean field of Buddhist training traditionally despised in Chan/ that focuses on the role of local authorities as portrayed in Sŏn circle as an obstacle on the path to enlightenment. outstanding contributions to undergraduate education, literature and a seminar (KL 211) called “Korea through the historical texts. I am very grateful to the fantastic support His new definition of ŏS n endorses the value of conceptual enthusiasm for students, and scholarly guidance. A Ideologies of Language and Writing.” provided by the Korea Institute and the Harvard academic and referential rhetoric in Chan/ Sŏn soteriology, defying committee of undergraduate students poll concentrators community as a whole. The positive collaborative atmosphere to choose a recipient and present their nominee to the the conventional view of Chan/ Sŏn that characterizes it as here and the amazing conversations I have had with my Committee on Undergraduate Degrees. paradoxical and non-linguistic rhetoric. colleagues has made this a highly rewarding experience.
4 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 5 KIM KOO VISITING PROFESSOR: SANG-KEE KIM VISITING PROFESSOR Hyangjin Lee, Professor, College of Intercultural OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: Communication, Rikkyo University Seungsook Moon, Professor of Sociology, Vassar College We are pleased to announce that Hyangjin Lee, Professor, College of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University, We are pleased to announce that Seungsook Moon, has come to Harvard as Kim Koo Visiting Professor in the Professor of Sociology, Vassar College, has come to Harvard Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations where as Sang-kee Kim Visiting Professor of the Social Sciences she taught a course titled Korean Cinema and Transnationality: at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and Conference Course, Fall 2014. the Department of Sociology. She taught Food, Culture, Hyangjin Lee is a Professor at the College of Intercultural and Globalization (Soc 132) in Fall 2014 and Masculinities: Communication at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, where she Global Perspectives (Soc 149) in Spring 2015. teaches courses on Korean and Japanese cinema and cultural Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Seungsook Moon is studies. She received both her B.A. and M.A. in Sociology Professor of Sociology at Vassar College where she chaired from Yonsei University, where she also completed her doctoral the Department of Sociology (2010-2013) and directed the coursework. Lee completed her dissertation, a comparative Asian Studies Program (2006-2009). She also taught in Social social movement organizations. The other is a study of study of North and South Korean film, at the University of Studies, undergraduate interdisciplinary honors program, altering and enduring ideas and practices of masculinities Leeds in the UK, and earned her Ph.D. in Communication at Harvard University (1993-1995) and was awarded among younger-generation men (mostly in their thirties) in Studies there in 1998. focusing on representations of war, death, and family in Distinction in Teaching for the two consecutive years. She South Korea. Professor Lee taught at the School of East Asian Studies at the Korean cinema. Her new book, North, South, and Japanese- earned her B.A. from Yonsei University and her Ph.D. University of Sheffield from 1991 to 2008. In addition to her Korean Cinemas: From the National to the Post-National will be from Brandeis University. She is the author of Militarized She is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholar Award, the Korea extensive teaching experience, she has served as the Director published by Misuzu Sobo in 2015. Modernity and Gendered Citizenship in South Korea (Duke Foundation Advanced Research Grant and Field Research Fellowship. Regarding her professional service, she has been of the UK Korean Film Festival (2000-2006), and is currently In the fall of 2014, Lee taught East Asian Film and Media University Press, 2005, reprinted in 2007), Kunsajuŭie the Associate Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and a member of the editorial boards of New Cinemas: Journal of Studies 121, “Korean Cinema and Transnationality,” a kach’in kŭndae: kungminmandŭlgi, simindoegi, kŭrigo sŏngŭi an editorial board member of Contemporary Sociology: A Contemporary Film and Korea Culture Studies. Since 2013, she conference course that examines how film reflects and chŏngch’i, (Seoul: Alternative Culture Publication, 2007) Journal of Review, published by the American Sociological has organized the annual Transnational Cinema Symposium in influences power dynamics and inequalities as they pertain to and co-editor with Maria Hoehn and a main contributor Association, and Asian Women. In the past, she served as Japan, focusing on East Asia. The 2015 Transnational Cinema gender, sexuality, class, race, and ethnicity in both national of Over There: Living with the U.S. Military Empire from Korea Book Review Editor of the JAS and served on the Symposium will be held in the UK and Korea with the theme and transnational contexts. World War II to the Present (Duke University Press, 2010). of war memories narrated by women’s voices. As a political and cultural sociologist of South Korea and Editorial Board of Gender & Society, a flagship journal of Sociologists for Women in Society. Her monograph Contemporary Korean Cinema: Identity, scholar of gender studies, she has published numerous Culture and Politics (Manchester University Press, 2001) articles on military service/militarism/US military bases, She was the chair (2008-2010) of the executive board of civil society /citizenship/ social movement organizations, the Committee on Korean Studies in the Northeast Asia is the first book on Korean national cinema written in Kim Koo Visiting Professors at Harvard University English, and it has been revised and published in various collective memories of late presidents, globalization and Council-the Association for Asian Studies and the chair Chong Wook Chung, Department of Government languages including an extended edition in Spanish in food, democratization and nationalism. (2009-2010) of James B. Palais Book Prize Committee in (Spring 2011) 2012. Lee’s latest book, Sociology of Korean Wave: Fandom, Currently, she is working on two main projects. One is a NEAC-AAS. She also served as a faculty mentor for the Family and Multiculturalism (Iwanami, 2008), explores the Y. David Chung, Department of Visual and Environmental book manuscript, tentatively entitled “Three Tales of Civil Social Science Research Council Korean Studies Dissertation popularity of Korean television dramas and their stars among Studies (Spring 2013) Society in South Korea: Globalization, Consumerism, Workshop in 2011, 2010, and 2009. Japanese consumers of entertainment, and its implications Hyangjin Lee, Department of East Asian Languages and and Social Hierarchy” which examines the working and She has been widely consulted by news media, including for transnational cultural exchange. More recently, she has Civilizations (Fall 2014) transformation of civil society from the perspectives of CNN, El Periodico (Spain), Korea Herald (Seoul), and contributed chapters to volumes on Korean and Asian Film, volunteer members as well as staff members of three different Weekendavisen (Denmark).
6 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 7 HIGHLIGHT OF FALL 2014 EVENTS
KIM KOO FORUM ON KOREA CURRENT AFFAIRS “A Death Warrant for Our Nation”: Syngman Rhee and South Korean Opposition to the Armistice, 1951-1954
Presented by Professor Allan R. Millett, Ambrose Professor of History and Director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies, The University of New Orleans; Raymond E. Mason, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Military History, The Ohio State University
NOVEMBER 20, 2014
By Wenjiao Cai, Ph.D. Student examining the period from 1951 burdened by the war’s material demands of the Eighth United States Army. securing benefits on behalf of the ROK. East Asian Languages and Civilizations to 1954, which has thus far been – the latter, for example, allocating one Additionally, Millett demonstrated how Professor Millett concluded his lecture understudied in English language third of its defense budget to fight the contested repatriation of North On November 20 the Korea Institute’s by highlighting the significance of Rhee’s literature on the Korean War that the war – and found their long-term Korean Prisoners of War – including Kim Koo Forum on Korea Current 1954’s mission to Washington, where focuses primarily on the major battles strategic plans in jeopardy. Rhee’s adamant opposition – further Affairs hosted Professor Allan Millett as he successfully forced U.S. officials to fought in 1950 and 1951. In particular, obstructed armistice negotiations. he delivered a lecture on Syngman Rhee The lecture focused on Syngman reconsider South Korea’s strategically he stressed the significant role of the and South Korea’s opposition to the Rhee’s opposition to the armistice Professor Millett interpreted Syngman importance and forged a U.S.-ROK 1951-1954 armistice negotiations in Korean War Armistice between 1951 and his vision for the ROK’s survival. Rhee’s signing of the Armistice alliance that ensured the survival and shaping the end of the war and the post- and 1954. A distinguished American Professor Millett reminded us that Agreement in July of 1953 as a future of South Korea. war development of Republic of Korea. military historian, Professor Millett has despite his awareness of the big powers’ compromise, driven by the threat of the published seven books and numerous Based on an analysis of the domestic hope for a cessation in hostilities, Rhee withdrawal of U.S. troops. Nevertheless, articles on wars and U.S. military and international concerns of all parties held firm to his goal of reunification. Rhee’s lobby remained undeterred by The Korea Institute acknowledges policies and institutions, including two involved, Millett concluded that both Rhee’s June 1951 position statement the conclusion of the armistice. In the generous support of the Kim Koo recent volumes on the history of the sides of the coalition were inclined to on the Republic of Korean Army July of 1954 Syngman Rhee visited Foundation. Korean War. The lecture was chaired by reconcile at the time armistice talks (ROK Army) reaffirmed his unyielding Washington, where he met with A video of this event is available Professor Carter Eckert, Yoon Se Young were initiated. Leaders in both North stance on the territorial integrity of President Eisenhower and spoke before for view at the KI Vimeo channel: Professor of Korean History at Harvard and South Korea hoped for a peaceful Korea and his demands for a firm Congress. Professor Millet detailed https://vimeo.com/channels/ koreainstitute University, and drew participation from environment for reconstruction and American commitment to the military Rhee’s interactions with American scholars and students throughout the economic development. China wanted defense of and economic aid for South political and military personnel, greater Boston area. to withdraw its troops in order to Korea. Millett also revealed Syngman including President Eisenhower, concentrate on broader plans regarding Rhee’s scheme of creating a personal General Clarke, and Secretary of State Professor Millett began the lecture Taiwan. Both the Soviet Union and military force separate from the ROK John Foster Dulles, and was generally by emphasizing the importance of the United States were increasingly Army, which fell under the command sympathetic to Rhee’s efforts toward
8 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 9 HIGHLIGHT OF SPRING 2015 EVENTS
CONFERENCE “Urban Futures in Asia: Aspiration, Speculation, Contention”
Organized by Korea Institute, Harvard University and Max Planck Institute for the study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI-MMG)
Sponsored by Korea Institute, Asia Center, and Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, Harvard-Yenching Institute, and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI-MMG)
APRIL 24 – 25, 2015
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS: Jonathan Bach, Associate Professor of International Affairs, The New School for Social Research OPENING REMARKS Matthew Hull, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University Nicholas Harkness, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, of Michigan Harvard University Hyun Mee Kim, Professor of Anthropology, Yonsei University Patrick Eisenlohr, Professor for Society and Culture of Modern Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and Director India, University of Göttingen Yukiko Koga, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, CUNY, Hunter College, of the Social Anthropology Program, Harvard University Academy Scholar, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (2015-16) Doyoung Song, Professor of Anthropology, Hanyang University Arthur Kleinman, Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Jin-heon Jung, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Anthropology, Professor of Medical Anthropology and Angie Heo, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Ethnic Diversity Professor of Psychiatry and Victor and William Fung Director Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity of the Asia Center, Harvard University Daniel Goh, Associate Professor of Sociology, National University of Singapore Doreen Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Northeastern Carter J. Eckert, Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History University DISCUSSANTS and Acting Director of the Korea Institute, Harvard University Allison Truitt, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Tulane Li Zhang, Professor of Anthropology, University of California Davis KEYNOTE LECTURE University Kenneth Dean, Professor and Head of Chinese Studies, National University of Peter van der Veer, Director of the Max Planck Institute for AbdouMaliq Simone, Research Professor, Max Planck Institute Singapore the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity and Distinguished for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity University Professor at Utrecht University Judith Farquhar, Max Palevsky Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences, Florence Galmiche, Assistant Professor of East Asian studies, University of Chicago PRESENTERS Paris Diderot University Laurel Kendall, Division Chair and Curator, Division of Anthropology, Professor, Erik Harms, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Yale Ju Hui Judy Han, Assistant Professor of Human Geography, Richard Gilder Graduate School, Museum of Natural History University University of Toronto Michael Herzfeld, Ernest E. Monrad Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University
10 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 11 CJ ASIAN FILM COLLECTION AT THE HARVARD FILM ARCHIVE
The Harvard Film Archive and Korea Institute are pleased to announce the establishment of the CJ Asian Film Collection at the Harvard Film Archive. Established by the CJ E&M Corporation, the largest entertainment company in South Korea, the Collection includes [15?] English-subtitled film prints of South Korean movies. It is both generous and historic as the first named research collection of [primarily Korean] films at Harvard, and includes films by Korean directors such as Lee Chang-dong, Bong Joon-ho and Hong Sang Soo, all of whom have visited Harvard in recent years to screen and discuss their films. The film prints are fully accessible for private research and study on the HFA’s premises. Access includes classroom screenings and ON THE OCCASION OF the films may, from time to time, be shown at public screenings at Harvard. BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (2000) SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (2003) REMEMBERING THE TURNING GATE This Collection will be an invaluable resource to scholars, teachers and students of Korean and Asian film at Harvard for many BONG JOON-HO (2002) JANG JOON-HWAN years to come. HONG SANG-SOO List of films in the collection (for the most up-to-date list, please see the Harvard Film Archive website at http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/):
ONCE UPON A TIME IN A MEMENTO MORI (1999) ROAD MOVIE (2002) MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003) MOTHER (2009) CASTAWAY ON THE MOON (2009) BATTLEFIELD (2003) KIM TAE-YONG, MIN KYU-DONG KIM IN-SHIK BONG JOON-HO BONG JOON-HO LEE HAE-JUN LEE JOON-IK
12 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 13 RECENT PUBLICATIONS
A
azalea z
Features A Writer In Focus: Lee Eyunkee l Translator’s Note by Tahee Lee “The Bow Tie,” “The Visitor” by Lee Eyunkee
e Sŏ Chŏngju And Hwang Sunwŏn Centennial Journal of Korean Literature by Paul Suhr, David R. McCann, Kevin O’Rourke, 2015 & Culture a Bruce Fulton, Hwang Sunwŏn, Heinz Insu Fenkl
Inverse Modernity: Literary Representations of Volume Eight the Contradictory Flow of Technology and Ideas in Volume Eight Colonial Korea by John M. Frankl
A publication of the Reprinting “Azaleas”: A Meditation on Volume Korea Institute and Volumes by Wayne de Fremery Harvard University
Fiction by Cover Image: Noh Suntag Kim Young-ha, Park Min-gyu Cover Design: Wayne de Fremery Poetry by Ryu Byung-wook Chŏng Chiyong, Cho Yong-Mee, Kim So-yeon, Journal Park Sangsoon, Gang Jeong, Kim Haeng-suk, of Korean Yi Yeong-gwang Literature ISBN 978-0-9886928-4-8 & Culture
Images by
9 780988 692848
Noh Suntag
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD HWANG JIN YI (2007) THIRST (2009) (2008) Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture, Volume 8 CHANG YOON-HYUN PARK CHAN-WOOK David R. McCann KIM JEE-WOON Cambridge, MA: Korea Institute, Harvard University, 2015 Ordering Information: www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
Protest Dialectics: State Repression and South Korea’s Democracy Movement, 1970-1979 Paul Y. Chang Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press. 2015 Ordering Information: http://sup.org
ASIA CENTER PUBLICATIONS Ordering Information: www.hup.harvard.edu
HARVARD EAST ASIAN MONOGRAPHS 374 SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE (2005) The Proletarian Wave: Literature and Leftist Culture in Colonial Korea, 1910–1945 Sunyoung Park PARK CHAN-WOOK Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2015
HARVARD EAST ASIAN MONOGRAPHS 375 The Korean Economy: From a Miraculous Past to a Sustainable Future Barry Eichengreen, Wonhyuk Lim, Yung Chul Park and Dwight H. Perkins Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2015
Azalea is supported by the Sunshik Min Endowment for the Advancement of Korean Literature at the Korea Institute, Harvard University, and the International Communications Foundation (ICF), Seoul, Korea. The Korea Institute, along with the Asia Center, Fairbank Center, and Reischauer Institute, supports the Harvard East Asian Monographs (HEAM) series. The series is KING AND THE CLOWN (2005) produced by the Asia Center Publications Office and distributed by Harvard University Press. Additional support was provided by the Sunshik Min Endowment for LEE JOON-IK the Advancement of Korean Literature at the Korea Institute, Harvard University. SECRET SUNSHINE (2007) LEE CHANG-DONG
14 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 15 PAST KOREA HERALD INTERNS
10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 2010: PAIGE QIN “Being in a newsroom with some forty other expatriates, who hail from every corner of the world including Dublin, Halifax and Ithaca was an enlightening experience in the intermingling of KOREA HERALD INTERNSHIP accents, tastes and experiences. Rather than being given assignments, I was left to my own means to chase after story ideas. I activated the limited number of contacts I had in Korea with food bloggers and Harvard alums and soon found myself listening to stories of a Thai woman trying to introduce IN SEOUL, KOREA Korean cuisine to Bangkok, or a HBS graduate starting up coupang.com and blowing the winds of social commerce in Seoul. I want to thank the Korea Institute for making this experience possible. I will treasure my summer memories in Seoul during and beyond my college years.”
2011: XING LIN This summer, the Korea Institute celebrated the 10th “Because I was a part of The Korea Herald’s Culture desk, I focused on traditional and modern Korean culture, entertainment news, sports news, and expatriate living in South Korea. I chose anniversary of the Korea Herald Internship in Seoul, this specific section of the newspaper because I wanted to gain a stronger understanding of Korean culture while gaining work experience. As one of the few reporter interns at The Korea Herald, I was Korea. encouraged to explore various cultural attractions in Seoul during work hours, and occasionally, I was given the opportunity to travel to other parts of Korea as well. The articles I wrote were often inspired from the people I met during my excursions throughout Korea. From these interactions, I not only improved my interviewing and reporting skills, I also gained new, different perspectives of South Korea and more knowledge on different aspects of Korean culture.”
2012: SARAH BERLOW “I worked mostly with the copyediting team, helping to proof edit evening and morning editions of the newspaper as well as doing first-round edits of articles—most articles go through two or three rounds of edits. I also had the opportunity to write a couple of pieces myself, mostly on activities and experiences related to the expat community as well as various community services opportunities. This summer has been an extremely rewarding experience, and it would not have been possible without the internship program at the Korea Institute.”
2014: DINA PEREZ “My internship at The Korea Herald and the time I spent in Korea as a whole was not only enriching but made for the most satisfying summer experience I have had as a Harvard student. At The Korea Herald, I was assigned to the national desk, where I covered stories dealing with expat living and artistic and cultural events taking place across the Korean peninsula. From exploring the expat film community in Korea through the perspective of an American-born filmmaker who juggles his passion for cinema with his day job as an English instructor to writing a fundraising story for a Tanzanian lymphoma patient receiving treatment in Korea, the stories I reported were not only varied. Rather, they were also particularly insightful in helping me see the many faces of modern Korea which has ever-increasingly become a hot spot for travelers looking for experiences and services that go beyond what their homelands offer.”
16 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 17 STUDENT EXPERIENCES and opportunities in Korea to be both relevant issues facing Korea today. gratifying and humbling. The practical side of the class revealed Taking the film and sociology course itself through the development of a with both students from Harvard and skillset in documentary filmmaking. As Ewha students was a wonderful blending an avid photographer, I partly decided of cultures and backgrounds. Paul, to apply to this summer school program David, Bertrand, and the TAs made the for its filmmaking opportunities, as I class not only fun and interesting, but have had no experience in film. With also enjoyable and practical. Having David, a documentary filmmaking known little about Korea and Korean himself, and his expertise in film and society and culture—aside from my creating a visual story, and Bertrand fascination for K-pop and penchant for for his professional guidance in sound Korean food, I came out of the class design, I was equipped with all the having a basic, yet solid foundation of resources to traverse the streets of Korea Korea’s history and place in the world. and produce a film. Moreover, the film There was never a dull moment in screenings after class were breathtaking, HARVARD SUMMER lecture. I learned about its turbulent “CINEMA KOREA: DOCUMENTING KOREAN SOCIETY THROUGH FILM” SCHOOL IN SEOUL featuring powerful films that echoed TAUGHT BY PROFESSORS PAUL Y. CHANG AND YOUNG SHIK DAVID CHUNG PROGRAM past with Japanese colonialism and its various cultural and social themes EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA subsequent rapid rise in development present in Korean society. And they Arthur Nguyen, ‘15 JUNE 24 – AUGUST 17, 2014 and modernization. were only enhanced by special guest A.B. Candidate in Human Developmental
& Regenerative Biology, Secondary in Visual and Environmental Studies “The friendships I have made, I “The Summer of Endless Wonders” would not have been able to do so As the title suggests, my experience in Korea this summer was just that— anywhere else, and the experiences wonderful. Enrolled in the Ewha- Harvard Summer School Program and memories I have made will in Film, and Korean Culture and Language, I expected a summer of just continue to shape how I view the class intermixed with some excursions Undergraduate student summer programs in Korea world.” were supported by the Office of Career Services and outings here and there. However, Summer Awards; Min Young-Chul Memorial Fund, this was not the case. The EHSSP And at the same time, we touched upon visits of the films’ directors. LG Yonam Endowment Fund at the Korea Institute; exceeded all my expectations and Sanhak Fund and Anonymous Donors; other Korea Korea’s darker and often overlooked has become one of my best and most For my film group, we decided to focus Institute funds, and Asia Center funds. social dilemmas, such as its alarming meaningful experiences of my Harvard our story on the social and cultural suicide rates and divorce, its treatment Graduate student support was made possible by career. From training in film and daily significance of rice in Korean society, the International Communication Foundation (Ko- towards unwed mothers, and its stance Korean language classes to making my and its ultimate decline in modern- rea), Kim & Kang Fund, Min Young-Chul Memorial on adoption and the elderly population. day Korea. As a foodie, the topic could Fund, Sanhak Fund, Sunshik Min Endowment for own documentary film and having I found my learning experience to be not have been more perfect. Our the Advancement of Korean Literature Fund; other the chance to integrate Korean in my comprehensive, reaching many of the Korea Institute funds, and Asia Center funds. daily routine, I found my experiences group’s expeditions from restaurant to
18 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 19 restaurant were satisfying and delectable, the summer, as it brought together all “Beyond Any Expectation” Korean and engaging with local Seoul professors allowed me to understand experiences in my life. For a long and allowed me to experience the vast the material from the classroom lectures During the summer of 2014 I was one residents in a variety of situations, how language and culture go hand-in- time, I had interest in comparative array of Korean cuisine. Interviews of and provided us all the chance to know of the lucky students given an amazing helped cement in-class learning and hand. The last two months in Seoul government and legislative procedures academics, teenagers, store vendors, a both our classmates and teaching staff opportunity to both study and research taught me to use the language in a passed quickly, yet in their wake they left at international scales and so I was Buddhist monk, and a rice farmer made in a more intimate and relaxed setting. in Seoul, South Korea. My journey natural and fluent manner. However, me a more socially aware and globally naturally drawn to the prospect of seeing me realize how important rice was to the My summer in Seoul with the Ewha- began at Ewha Womans University, I did not only learn Korean language. attuned person. I will have memories the Korean legislative body firsthand. Korean society, while at the same time Harvard Summer School Program where as part of the International One of the most interesting social about fun in coffee shops, concerts Believe it or not, my internship site recognizing that it was threatened with is one of the best experiences of my Summer College I was able to polish science courses I have ever taken was and singing rooms, as well as treasured provided me with much more! the shifting food culture of Western Harvard career. The friendships I have my language skills, gain knowledge on offered during the Ewha summer moments obtained in classrooms and At the National Assembly I was able to and fast foods. The entire experience of made, I would not have been able to do gender relations from the point of view program. Korean Gender Relations was through eye-opening conversations. sit in during various committee sessions pursuing a topic of interest, engaging so anywhere else, and the experiences of a Korean feminist professor, and taught by Professor EunMee Lim, who in the National Assembly organized in a process of self-discovery, and and memories I have made will continue interact with individuals from every imparted on me her years of expertise by the Foreign Affairs and Unification developing it through film was simply to shape how I view the world. Living corner of the world. I was able to hold and explained Korean history through Committee. My internship helped me incredible. in a foreign nation and going about challenging and perspective-shifting the perspective of gender parity. better understand some of the most The EHSSP gave me opportunity to a daily routine in a different culture conversations with students, professors, Furthermore, my coursework was current political issues happening not also foster lifelong friendships with for the first time was enjoyable and and the lovely staff of the Ewha program complemented by planned excursions only in South Korea but also China, people I would not have had the chance exciting, and it allowed me to have a throughout my stay, all the while to major sites of political, cultural, Japan, US, and North Korea. The time to otherwise. Through the intermixing greater appreciation of other cultures. reveling in the fun, beauty and variety and artistic importance I was given I spent in the committee hearings gave of cultures, I was not only able to share In all, I will always be grateful for the that South Korea had to offer. intellectually stimulating and at me a better idea of the most pressing my own experiences and stories from experiences I have gained this summer As this summer numbered the third times heart-wrenching insight into issues in South Korea in relation to home, but also was introduced to a and if given the opportunity to do it all of my visits to Seoul, I came to Korea the historical and current issues that some of the political happenings within new culture, complete with its set of over again, I would without the slightest with just as much enthusiasm but less dominate Korean social discussion the globe. However, the most valuable traditions, practices, and etiquettes. It hesitation. expectation for discovery and wonder. and debate. Most memorably, course experience that I have been having was a learning and teaching experience. Gladly, I let Seoul once again surprise instruction and real-world experience at the National Assembly has been As cliché as it sounds, I learned me as it opened my mind to a whole combined to introduce me to the helping my supervisor prepare for the something new everyday. And with dimension of social and cultural sexual enslavement of Korean women annual U.S. Congress-South Korean some added help from my Korean intricacies that had previously escaped by Japanese armies during World War National Assembly Congressional friends, I received a personalized tour II. My learning began in class, where Youth Program. This program selects my star-struck eyes. Although new INTERNSHIP IN of Korea and lived as any other Korean my gender relations professor taught ten Korean and another ten American visitors will be at first be overwhelmed SEOUL, KOREA would. To list some of my adventures, us about the power, class and gender delegates selected by Congressmen or by the at once modern and traditional Franklin Lee, ’15 I visited the N Seoul Tower, Banpo Korean landscape, I was prepared hierarchies that make such atrocities National Assembly members as a way A.B. Candidate in East Asian Studies and Bridge, and the Han River; watched for the beautiful and immediately possible. However, most impacting was to experience both the U.S. and South Anthropology the inspiring film, Myeong-ryang at apparent. However, my time at a the opportunity to visit survivors and Korean government and culture. As the IFC Mall; and explored Insadong, premier educational institution such hear their stories of perseverance and My internship at the National Assembly assistant program director, I helped Myeongdong, and Dongdaemun and as Ewha delivered much beyond what hope. I felt inspired by the continued in South Korea this summer has been create the program itinerary, supervised participated in its late-night shopping. the casual tourist could experience. At efforts of the Korean survivors to bring no doubt one of the most memorable their activities, and had various During our class’s excursion week, I had Ewha Womans University I furthered justice to all those affected by such to chance to go beyond the borders of my language study by taking advanced terrible war crimes. “I feel certain that my experience at the Seoul to see and experience more of level Korean with two extremely kind During my time abroad I was able to Korea. I roamed Chinatown in Incheon, National Assembly has made it a bit TUITION WAIVER and helpful professors. The course’s delve beneath the surface of Korean mediated in Naksansa Temple, scaled TO EWHA WOMANS rigorous 3-hour a day schedule ensured society. My Ewha course on gender easier to achieve my goal, as it helped and hiked Seoraksan Mountain, and ate UNIVERSITY & that I extracted maximum learning my relations provided the theory and fresh seafood in Sokcho’s fish market SUMMER RESEARCH time abroad. Furthermore, a variety of historical data necessary to better extend my knowledge in international and eateries. The class excursion was Janin Alfonso, ’15 activities outside the classroom, such navigate complex topics in Korean by far, one of my top highlights from affairs and global politics.” A.B. Candidate in Anthropology as interacting with fellow students in studies, and the Korean taught by Ewha
20 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 21 translating sessions. With the group, the first time last year through another problems in order to try and solve them. Korea, I was able to utilize my family Most of all, I loved exploring all the that factors importantly in my project I was able to visit Jeonju, Pyeontaek, winter program. With the support Although difficult, I believe that my network to obtain diverse and fantastic places to eat, shop, and hang out in – Mount Kyeryong (near present day Gunsan, as well as various places within from the Korea Institute I have been growing role in the international sphere contacts. One highlight was having the Seoul. Taejŏn) which had been the center for Seoul known for either its political, able to utilize my summer in the most and the step I am taking to try and reach chance to go to the Ministry of Justice I would like to thank the Korea numerous New Religious Movements cultural, or economic significance. productive, fun, and memorable way my goal can make it that much easier to (the equivalent of the U.S. Department Institute for their generosity and giving and Shamanistic practices due to its My work for the youth program was possible. I learned how fortunate I was realize a future brighter than the one we of Justice) to interview the Chief me the opportunity to travel to Korea role in geomantic prophesies that had mainly valuable for the significant and to maintain my mother tongue as I was are currently living. Prosecutor of the Human Rights Policy to conduct thesis research. I would also been passed down since the mid-to- lasting relationships I made with the able to communicate with people with a Division. Her interview was incredibly like to thank my advisors, interviewees, late Chosŏn dynasty. While many of people I met. Apart from the 20 students very different culture and state of mind helpful and she even had her staff and family, without whom this summer the religious groups have relocated to and the two supervisors within the than people in the state and see various prepare literature on human trafficking would not have been possible. I can other places due to the state’s efforts to program, I was able to meet wonderful landmarks and sceneries that I had in South Korea for me to take back to honestly say that this summer was the develop this mountain into a national people who were both inspiring and never seen before. Most importantly, campus. best summer I have ever had! park and military headquarter, I resourceful through the trips that we I realized that my background and Another highlight of my trip was going was able to survey how the history made according to our itinerary. For experience as a Korean-American could to the National Assembly to interview of the mountain and the culture example, I had the chance to personally help me become an influential global the Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the surrounding it are being remembered talk to an employee of the Korea leader finding creative modes of efficient National Assembly. I am appreciative through exhibitions, landmarks and International Cooperation Agency and peaceful communication between of all the time that many government publications. I also visited some of the (KOICA) a governmentally sponsored countries around the world. officials, journalists, and NGO workers remaining Buddhist temples and other organization that focuses to provide Today I hope to work for the gave me and all the interviews that I was global service and volunteer work at International Court of Justice (ICJ). I able to do. Having the opportunity to “...this summer international scales. During my visit feel certain that my experience at the actually go to Asia to research on the the North-South Korea Entrance Office National Assembly has made it a bit easier ground was very rewarding. I learned so has furnished near the DMZ line the civil workers to achieve my goal, as it helped extend much more from independent research from the Foreign Affair and Unification my knowledge in international affairs than I did from classes and books. I me with a wealth and my supervisor kindly updated me and global politics. At the near center UNDERGRADUATE have a newfound appreciation for this on the latest news on North-South of East Asia, South Korea is no doubt a STUDENT SUMMER fight against human trafficking that so of data that Korean conflict. Everyone I met was country with a huge international role. RESEARCH TRAVEL many people in many different fields are will hopefully so kind, smart, and resourceful and Especially since the beginning of the GRANT engaged in. I also gained an appreciation I cannot thank those who made me 21st century, South Korea is often noted Hyun Ji Gina Kim, ‘15 for the huge challenges of conducting bring me many experience working for the National for its rapid economic development A.B. Candidate in Government independent research, particularly on moments of Assembly so invaluable and worthwhile. since the Korea War and its consistent Since taking a seminar on human a topic as controversial and nuanced as GRADUATE STUDENT As such, I am so thankful for the social and political developments. At trafficking freshman year, I have spent human trafficking policy changes. SUMMER RESEARCH pleasure and support that I have received financially the same time, South Korea maintains time in and out of the classroom Beyond just my research, I had an TRAVEL GRANT various conflicts including its tension learning more about international and emotionally from the Korea amazing time in Seoul. I got to see my Nuri Kim inspiration.” Institute and other sponsors for my with North Korea, political disputes human rights and. This summer, thanks extended family who I haven’t seen Ph.D. Student, East Asian Languages and internship program. While I was against Japan, and its intricate to the support of the Korea Institute since my family immigrated to the Civilizations altars located throughout the mountain born and raised within the U.S., relationship between China-U.S. and the FDR Global Fellowship, I U.S. in 1999. Seoul is so modern and that are often characterized by a my upbringing in Koreatown, Los relations. As South Korea is broadening had the opportunity to conduct thesis fun on one hand, and on the other, it From late May through August, the LG unique syncretism that incorporates Angeles and the fact that neither of its political influence and relations with research in China and Korea. My is not difficult to find ancient history Yonam Foundation Graduate Summer things such as shamanistic beliefs and my parents spoke English well helped other countries worldwide, I was able to primary research question was “Under and culture. I really enjoyed going to Research Travel Grant enabled me even the worshipping of Queen Min me maintain my Korean fluency and experience a much more international what circumstances do sex trafficking markets around Seoul; Kwangjang to travel to Korea and continue my (who was assassinated by Japanese other cultural remnants within my daily experience in the National Assembly policy changes occur in China and in Market and Noryangjin Fish Market dissertation research on the growth of colonialists in 1895). Climbing the life. However, I nonetheless had very than one would normally expect. As the Republic of Korea?” My weeks in were my favorite. It was also really fun New Religious Movements in colonial mountain, I was able to appreciate the few opportunities to visit my parents’ such, I feel that my experience at the Seoul were incredible in more ways visiting historic sites such as Namsan Korea. The first thing I did was to area’s natural beauty and one of the homeland; I visited South Korea for National Assembly has equipped me than one. First and foremost, despite Tower and Bukhansan National Park. embark on a field trip to one of the sites to think more critically about such initial challenges securing interviews in reasons this mountain has stimulated
22 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 23 the imaginations of so many people– its colonial era, journals and other texts politics of aesthetic taste, and the and restaurants are some of the primary images of venues they have visited each unique locality, and claiming each unique shape that resembles the comb written and published by various kinds processes in which trends form and die locations at which people spend much and the drinks and dishes they have district’s cultural import in the city. of a rooster on top of a dragon. of New Religious Movements, as well in Seoul. In addition, I have decided of their leisure time and disposable consumed. Business owners aspire to These stories provided a glimpse that The grant also allowed me to enroll in as records of the day-to-day operations to study bloggers and owners of these income. Although these two spaces become creators of trendy hang-out the reputed identities of each district the Kyujanggak’s Hanmun Workshop, a of one particular group. While I still small independent businesses as central are typically regarded as where young spots which introduce fine food and are formed in relation to other districts, four week program that trains students have to evaluate many of the sources I figures who create the urban scenes of women lavish themselves in luxury, display cutting-edge store designs. indicating the importance of attending in reading Korean historical sources collected, this summer has furnished me Seoul. I have seen a wide range of people I hypothesize that the activities of to the larger underlying context. written in Classical Chinese. This with a wealth of data that will hopefully In order to gain a sense of the utilizing them, from female, secondary bloggers and owners create an urban Sharing my research topic with people skill turned out to be crucial in my bring me many moments of pleasure dimension of fashion and its operation students, to elderly men. Dining out in milieu in which even those who claim served as an opportunity to listen research – many of the texts left behind and inspiration. in Seoul, I began with observing and Seoul consists of different genres such to be unaffected by them are entangled. to their observation about business by these New Religious Movements documenting what goes in and out as “matchip ch’a-ja da-ni-g (searching Touring different parts of Seoul – operations of cafés and restaurants were written in Classical Chinese and of fashion in Seoul. My list included for restaurants famed for being mainly Jongro, Hongdae and Itaewon in Seoul, and about the behaviors employed concepts that I would have clothing styles, the twinkling fame of delicious)” and “kolmok yŏhaeng – I delved into understanding the of South Koreans in these locations. had a hard time understanding without girl groups and boy bands, “yu haeng (traveling alleyways).” particular ambiance of each district, Observations often included criticisms the rigorous training at the workshop. ŏ (trendy catchphrases)” of comedy I argue that identities of individuals by zooming in and exploring the of contemporary South Korean Coincidentally, the Kyujanggak is skits television, and banners with society, for example, an extreme also home to a significant number of images of seasonal menus hanging on sensitivity to trends as characteristic of primary sources, such as scriptures the storefronts of cafés and restaurants. “The information and insights I gained South Koreans, narrow and uniform written by these New Religious During this process, I became drawn this summer will serve as a critical standards of beauty and success, a Movements and transcribed copies to the aesthetics of storefronts socio-cultural environment adverse of the Chŏnggamnok, a Chosŏn-era arraying the streets and alleyways of resource to developing my doctoral to entrepreneurship and creativity, a geomantic prophesy that inspired many Seoul. I detected a scene common lack of economic opportunities for of the subsequent religious movements. to Seoul: similar types of businesses research on aesthetics, consumption “ordinary people (sŏmin)” to live This allowed me to apply my improved (e.g. coffee shops, clothing stores, a qualitatively rich life, and youth reading skills on the spot and thereby fried chicken places) clustering, while and trends in contemporary South unemployment. Aspects of South kill two birds with one stone. striving to differentiate one another Korea.” Korean society narrated as problematic through aesthetic forms (e.g. prints were often simultaneously identified as Other sites where I conducted research GRADUATE STUDENT include the National Archives in Taejon on coffee cup sleeves and napkins, are being fashioned through the specificities of each district. Primarily, its source of strength and vitality. For SUMMER RESEARCH design-conscious furniture, fonts on practices of dining out, and that there I investigated the differing networks instance, South Koreans’ preoccupation for colonial era documents mostly TRAVEL GRANT written by government officials, the Park signboards). I was shocked to learn is a dynamic politics of taste in Seoul of relationships among business with, and overemphasis on beauty has Chung Hee memorial museum, and Vivien Chung that most of these small enterprises go creating distinctions among the diverse owners and customers, including made South Korea into a nation with the Korean Film Archive which houses Ph.D. Student, Anthropology out of business within a year or two, “classes” of urban selves. According bloggers. For example, a café owner in the highest rate of cosmetic surgery in yet new enterprises continue to open to casual conversations I had, and Hongdae stated that he has a symbiotic the world, but has also made South a number of colonial era films as well Thanks to the support provided by the only to close down when customers in-depth interviews I conducted this relationship with his customers, Koreans into one of the most stylish as one film from the ‘60s that focuses Korea Institute, I was able to gather the find them no longer appealing and summer, bloggers and owners of cafés developing a space in which people people in the globalizing world. The specifically on exposing the religious data necessary to design my doctoral attractive. and restaurants are central agents can express themselves freely through information and insights I gained this scene surrounding Mount Kyeryong. research project. It will investigate the forming such urban culture in Seoul. consumption and cultivate diverse summer will serve as a critical resource The archive which I visited most ways in which “fashion” reproduces Observing people deciding on which Both strive towards becoming trend- tastes. One restaurant owner in to developing my doctoral research on frequently, however, was the National and transforms the urban societies of café or restaurant to visit, and their setting urban connoisseurs in their Itaewon, on the other hand, critiqued aesthetics, consumption and trends in Library in Seoul. After liberation, the Seoul, in comparison to other socio- activities and interactions at these daily engagements and practices. bloggers for posing as connoisseurs contemporary South Korea. colonial government’s archives were cultural mechanisms such as traditions, locations, I recognized the importance Bloggers aim for being acknowledged when in fact their consumption is passed on to what became the National customs and civil movements. Upon of dining out as a cultural practice as possessing an aesthetic sensibility driven by vanity instead of fine taste. Library, hence its collection of historical completing my fieldwork this summer, among the middle-class living in Seoul. which enables them to discover Personal histories were intertwined sources relevant to my topic remains I have narrowed down my potential Among the various sites of consumption quality locations in the city, by with individual renderings of local unsurpassed. Here, I discovered a photo field sites to small-scale cafés and in Seoul (e.g. movie theatres, karaoke posting glamorous and seductive histories, narrating the formation of book of Mount Kyeryong from the restaurants as sites to explore the bars, spas, department stores), cafés
24 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 25 AFFILIATES 2014-2015
VISITING SCHOLARS Dr. Seong-Uk Kim received his Ph.D. He offered a course “Sages, Saints, and 2012, Dennis Lee has been a visiting Studies at Brown University. He Dr. Park has studied how rulers in Korean Religions and Korean Shamans: an Introduction to Korean researcher at the Yonsei University completed his Ph.D. in socio-cultural attempted to shape family and women Buddhism with a subfield in East Asian Religions” in the Department of East Institute of Korean Studies. He also anthropology from University of Illinois through policy, laws, and administration, religions and religious studies from the Asian Languages and Civilizations in taught courses at Yonsei University at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. Prior and how people transformed their lives University of California, Los Angeles the Spring 2015. Underwood International College and to Harvard, Dr. Cho served as Korea under the circumstances of the Chosŏn hos n ch n’gi in June of 2013. His dissertation is Research Project Title: Korean Sŏn Korea University’s Graduate Studies in Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and Dynasty, publishing her C ŏ ŏ entitled, “Korean Sŏn Buddhism in Buddhism in the 19th Century: International Studies in Seoul, South the Social Science Research Council ŭi ibyang kwa kajok chedo (Adoption the 19th Century: Paekp’a, Ch’oŭi and Paekp’a, Ch’oŭi and Buddhist- Korea. His primary research interests for Transregional Research Postdoctoral and the Family Institution in the Early Buddhist-Confucian Interaction at the Confucian Interaction at the End of include early Korean-Japanese relations Fellow from 2011-13, both at UC Chosŏn Dynasty, Seoul: Hye An) in End of the Chosŏn Dynasty.” His main the Chosŏn Dynasty as seen through text and archaeology. Berkeley. The book proposal for his 2011. She has also co-authored Chosŏn research area is Sino-Korean Buddhist He also plans to develop mapping manuscript, Intimate Confrontation: ŭi ilsang, pŏpchŏng e sŏda (The Lives of tradition. His academic interest is Course: Sages, Saints, and Shamans: software that will analyze transportation Negotiating Gay Desire in Post-IMF Korean People as seen in Chosŏn Period also in other religions in East Asia An Introduction to Korean Religions networks between the Korean peninsula South Korea, is currently under review Lawsuits, Seoul: Yŏksa Pip’yŏngsa, Hyangjin Lee such as Confucianism, Shamanism, (Spring 2015) and the Japanese archipelago from the for publication. His next project will 2013), Yŏsŏng ŭi yŏksa rŭl ch’ajasŏ Professor, College of Intercultural and Christianity. As Soon Young 4th - 7th century. focus on a comparative study of queer- (In Search of Women’s History, Paju: Nanam Ch’ulp’an Communication, Rikkyo University Kim Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard, Research Project Title: Keyhole- feminist movements in South Korea , 2012), and Han’guk he worked to extend his dissertation and Taiwan. kŭn-hyŏndae taeoe kwan’gyesa ŭi chae Please see page 6 for Professor Lee’s bio. shaped Tombs and Unspoken into a publishable manuscript. Frontiers: Exploring the Borderlands of chomyŏng (The History of Korean Research Project Title: North His manuscript, “Redefining Zen: Early Korean-Japanese Relations in the Foreign Relations in the Modern Age, Korean in America: The Cultural Nineteenth Century Korean Zen 5th-6th Centuries Seoul: Kukhak Charyowŏn, 2007). Consumption of Evil Buddhism and Its Acculturation,” In addition, Dr. Park has written explores Korean Buddhism during numerous articles on family policy, the latter half of Chosŏn (1392-1910) women’s life under Confucian norms, POSTDOCTORAL in relation with Confucianism. In FELLOWS social status, and the penal system in FELLOWS particular, it demonstrates that the the Chosŏn Dynasty. She is currently intersection of these two religions conducting research on how humanistic in the 19th century Korea occurred values were realized and pre-modern not only on a personal level between social order was reinforced as family was Buddhist monks and Confucian literati dealt with as a major subject of public but also on a philosophical level that Dennis Lee discussion in early Chosŏn. led to the mutual transformation of Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Buddhism and Confucianism. Dr. Korea Institute Kim worked as a postdoctoral fellow Kyoung Park Research Project Title: Research on Fellow, Korea Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, Dennis Lee received his Ph.D. in early Family as A Major Subject of Public in the Department of East Asian Korean-Japanese relations from UCLA Kyoung Park specializes in the social Discussion in Chosŏn Korea Languages & Cultures/ Religious in 2014 and is the AY 2014-2015 Korea history of Korea’s Chosŏn Dynasty. She Studies Department, where he taught Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the received a B.A. in 1997, an M.A. in “Buddhist Traditions,” “Introduction to Korea Institute at Harvard University. 2000, and a Ph.D. in 2007 from Ewha Korean Religions,” and “Theories and His research looks at the textually John Song Pae Cho Womans University. After receiving Seong-Uk Kim Methods in the Study of Religion.” He “invisible” frontiers of historical states on Fellow, Korea Institute her Ph.D., she worked as a Research Soon Young Kim Postdoctoral Fellow, the Korean peninsula and the Japanese also contributed to the publication of John (Song Pae) Cho is a Fellow in the Professor at the Korea Culture Research Korea Institute; Lecturer, Department of East archipelago and their role in early the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism Korea Institute at Harvard University Institute, Ewha Womans University Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard relations between the regions currently (Princeton: Princeton University Press, and a visiting lecturer in East Asian (2008-2013). University (Spring 2015) 2013), writing more than 100 entries. associated with Korea and Japan. Since
26 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 27 HARVARD-YENCHING 11TH ANNUAL HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY KOREAN SECTION INTERNATIONAL PHOTO CONTEST WINNER THE KYUJANGGAK KOREAN RARE films are stored in DVDs and its uncompressed format in a traditional music. The materials are not commercially ANNOUNCEMENT BOOKS DIGITIZATION PROJECT: flash disk, and when online interface becomes available for available, and those multi-media format titles contain audio-visual materials at Harvard, the uncompressed format performance audio-visuals or audios of Korean traditional On Friday, Feb 6, 2015, in the Forum Room of Lamont Kyujanggak at Seoul National University in Korea agreed to can be easily utilized to make streaming online. music, so they can be used for teaching and research as sponsor the Korean rare book digitization project for two years Library, the winners of the annual Office of International primary sources. Education (OIE) International Photo Contest were from 2013. The first year’s project materials of the two year awarded. Since 2004, this International Photo Contest has project plan include 170 titles and 301 volumes of Korean rare NEW SUBSCRIPTION OF FOUR recognized excellence in photography—artistic expression, books which were selected by Kyujanggak, and additional titles DATABASES IN KOREAN STUDIES: GIFT FROM PROFESSOR YANGJIN creativity, originality, quality of image, and international were selected for the second year in April 2014. The project content. All photographs were taken by Harvard under- The following databases are newly subscribed as a package deal, PAK OF CHUNGNAM NATIONAL began in October 2013 and in February 2014, one rare book graduates engaged in study, work, internship, or research EKS Plus: E-article, New Nonmun, and CNC Haksul chŏngbo UNIVERSITY: specialist visited the Harvard-Yenching Library for a few days, abroad. which includes several subset databases in various subject areas Professor Yangjin Pak donated 579 titles/662 volumes and selected additional rare book titles for the second year includes North Korean materials. Also, the Library subscribed of reports on archaeological excavations in Korea. His project. Yŏnhaengnok ch’onggan chŭngbop’an 연행록총간증보판( donated reports will be another big addition to the existing The first year of the project has been completed with 170 titles 燕行錄叢刊增補版) through an one-time purchase method, archaeological reports which are currently about 3,000 title and 301 volumes by January 2014. The second year of the which provides CD-ROM backup copies. Yŏnhaengnok is counts in HOLLIS. Each record of donated reports will project has been completed by the end of October 2014. And, the digitized version of the 150 volume set, 燕行錄全集 and display [Yangjin Pak Collection on Korean Archaeology] in a total of 219 titles and 468 volumes of HYL Korean rare books 續集, with additional titles. Its online services are accessible the Location line after call number information. has been digitized under the Kyojanggak project for two years through KRpia. by October 2014.
JOINT ACQUISITIONS OF A MULTI- DIGITIZATION OF THE HAUSMAN VOLUME SET WITH THE JAPANESE ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPHS AND REEL SECTION: FILMS: The following 45 volume set was purchased jointly with the This year, the Korea Institute Special Photo Prize was Digitization of the Hausman photographs has been started Japanese section during FY14: awarded to: Arthur Nguyen, ‘15, for his photograph en- in March 2013, and done by the end of June 2014, with the 韓半島刊行日本傳統詩歌資料集 ; 中國滿州地域刊行日 titled “Wheels of Solidarity” Korea Institute’s support. This digitization project is mainly 本傳統詩歌資料集 (HOLLIS# 013763185). Cataloging of for the following two reasons - preservation and easy access Arthur was a student on the 8 week Harvard Summer this set is also cooperatively done between Korean cataloging for research. Imaging Services at Widener Library digitized School in Seoul Program this past summer.Arthur says, and Japanese cataloging, and provided detailed contents notes, the Hausman photographs, and provided digitized photos “ From sampling Korea’s unique food culture and range for users. in DVDs. Due to its complication of copyright issues, the of flavors to experiencing a nation united in light of the Sewol Ferry Disaster, I was able to immerse myself in all digitized photos won’t be available through VIA (Visual dimensions of Korean culture and society. It is a hope to Information Access), Harvard’s online catalog for visual GIFT FROM KUNGNIP KUGAGWŎN tell a small part of this story through my photographs.” materials, for a while. (NATIONAL GUAK CENTER): Three unique reel tapes of the Hausman films are also digitized Kungnip Kugawŏn donated their publications, LPs, with the Korean Institute’s support in 2014. The digitized DVDs, CDs, which are all related to the subject - Korean
28 | HARVARD UNIVERSITY KOREA INSTITUTE SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER | 29 KOREA INSTITUTE GOES SOCIAL! SUPPORTING THE KOREA INSTITUTE AT http://korea.fas.harvard.edu HARVARD UNIVERSITY Please visit our website for more information about the Korea Institute; its mission, faculty, events, programs, etc. To receive weekly events announcements, sign up for the KI’s mailing list at: THE KOREA INSTITUTE RELIES ON GIFTS AND GRANTS to support its teaching, research, http://tiny.cc/korea publishing, and educational and outreach goals. The need for these commitments increases as the Korea plays an increasingly important global role.
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