The Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi
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2015-05 Kimchiology Series No.2 The Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi Compiled by World Institute of Kimchi Authors Lim, Jaehae·Hwang, Kyeongsoon·Park, Chaelin Kim, Ilgwon·Kang, Jeongwon·Yoon, Dukno Massimo Montanari·Ishige Naomichi·KKatarzynaatarzyna J Sohn, Younghee·Hahm, Hanhee World Institute of Kimchi 1 The Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi Kimchiology Series No.2 Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi and Kimjang Culture First edition : October 9, 2015 Authors : Lim, Jaehae·Hwang, Kyeongsoon·Park, Chaelin·Kim, Ilgwon Kang, Jeongwon·Yoon, Dukno·Massimo Montanari·Ishige Naomichi Katarzyna J Cwiertka·Sohn, Younghee·Hahm, Hanhee Publisher : World Institute of Kimchi Address : 86 Kimchi-ro, Nam-gu, Gwangju city, Korea Telephone : 82-62-610-1700, Fax: 82-62-610-1850 Homepage : www.wikim.re.kr Planned by Park Wan-soo Translated by Kim, Sarah·Kim, Jiyung Designed by Green and Blue ISBN 979-11-954378-4-9 ⓒ World Institute of Kimchi, 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed2 on the subsequent purchaser. The Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi 3 Contents Preface 1. Acknowledgement of Kimchi’s value to humanity and the globalization 9 of Kimchi - Lim, Jaehae 2. Challenges and the prospect for the sustainable protection of the “Kimjang culture”, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity 51 -Hwang, Gyeongsoon 3. Review on Uniqueness of the Origin of Kimchi Based on the Process of Development - Park, Chaelin 79 4. The Issue of Vegetable Classification and the Development of various types of kimchi - Kim, Ilgwon 113 5. Korean Food Culture and the Making of Winter Kimchi, Kimjang 169 - Kang, Jeongwon 6. Development of Kimchi and Income Growth - Yoon, Dukno 191 7. The role of fermented products in Mediterranean food culture - Massimo Montanari 225 8. Comparison of Uniqueness of Kimchi and Other Fermented Foods 239 Representing the East and the West - Ishige Naomichi 4 9. Kimchi’s Global Journey from Saigon to London 249 - Katarzyna J Cwiertka 10. The Future and Communication of Kimjang in the IT era : Based on the Encyclopedia of the Korean Head Families’ fermented foods 261 - Sohn, Younghee 11. Gimjang, Families, and Inheritance 299 - Hahm, Hanhee 5 Preface Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi,the second series on Kimchiology, is now printed by reorganizing what was published and discussed during the second Kimchiology Symposium held in November 2014. This is the second volume published by the World Institute of Kimchi following Kimchiology Series 1issued 2013. The first Kimchiology Symposium held by introducing the new academic category of “Kimchiology” in 2013 drew acclaim and acknowledgement from various media outlets as well as academic circles, related industries and general public as Korea’s first full-fledged academic symposium on food humanities which shed light on kimchi and kimchi-making culture from a humanistic perspective. Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi and Kimchi-making Culture, the first volume of Kimchiology Series, was published as the first step in establishing Kimchiology as an independent academic field. Since the publication of Kimchiology Series 1, there have been requests from academic institutes specializing in food culture studies to use the book as their textbook while many inquiries were made by institutes and the general public on how to obtain the book. My wish is to see studies on various types of kimchi and related culture promotedaround the world. Food is the visual product that embodies national spirit. Although the value of kimchi and kimchi-making culture has been acknowledged worldwide, the globalization of kimchi still has a long way to go. I believe that the bottomless emptiness and helplessness felt while carrying out globalization of kimchi only focused on its physical formcan be overcome by incorporatingthe “soul of kimchi” as the cultural form of history and culture. 6 The Institute has established Kimchilogy by expanding the social science perspective of “kimchi”, which has mostly been studied in the existing area of research and development in natural science. This is why “Kimchiology” can be defined as convergence studies in a true sense. The successful globalization of kimchi and kimchi culture through converged academic research is the very objective pursued by the World Institute of Kimchi. To that end, the second series has been published following the first volume of last year. In the second series, Humanistic Understanding on Kimch, a wide variety of discussions has been made on kimchi by expanding the humanistic scope of kimchi, which has been limited to East Asia to Europe. The series was planned to expand the humanistic perspective of the academic circle, the media and the general public on kimchi and its culture and to share its value. I wish that our effort triggers active study on kimchi and its culture in various fields. Finally, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to those who shared the yearning to establish Kimchiology and the authors who delivered such precious texts for the publication of Humanistic Understanding of Kimchi. Park, Wansoo President World Institute of Kimchi September 2015 7 8 Acknowledgement of Kimchi’s value to humanity and the globalization of Kimchi Lim, Jaehae Andong National University 9 1. Cultural sovereignty of Kimchi overcame the power of cheese “Kimchi ~~~” ‘Kimchi’ is the title of a movie submitted to the 29 Seconds Film Festival. The word ‘Kimchi’ is the only dialogue used in the movie.1 The movie is about one night, when an old man living in a poor hillside village, (Korean translated into moon village) takes his funeral picture with a disposable camera before a mirror. He says ‘Kimchi~~’ to make a smiling face, but his wrinkled face would not change to a bright smile. His funeral picture shows a hard looking man with his mouth slit open a bit. The movie ends with two big flashes through a window, maybe he was taking more pictures hoping to get a better one? These days, when people take pictures in Korea, they are asked to say ‘Kimchi~~’. People usually obey the request, and say ‘Kimchi’. Saying ‘Kimchi~~’ has become an idiomatic expression. However, until very recently everyone would said ‘cheese~’, an obvious example of a huge western influence on Korea. Until as late as in the 1960s, owning a camera was not an item for everyone. Those who carried a camera over their shoulders were either 1_ <Kimchi> directed by Kim Gyeong-rae, Grand Prize winning film of the 1st 29 Seconds Film Festival (http://www.mh0929.com) 10 professional photographers or stylish dandies. It was not uncommon for these ‘highly colorful fellows’ to be strutting the street carrying a camera, and using the conversation starter ‘Would you like to take a picture’ was a well-known cliché for seducing girls. When only a few people could afford a camera, anyone who had camera was considered a man of wealth and power.2 When a photographer asked someone to say ‘cheese~‘, everyone obeyed. Even those who had not tasted cheese joined in the choir saying ‘cheese~’. There was a time when cheese and butter were the symbols of sophistication, and Korean Kimchi and soybean paste products were out of favor. Soybean paste still carries an unpleasant implication. For example, there is a current expression ‘soybean paste girl’, a scornful metaphor for a woman obsessed with only buying brand name items, looking good, and mooching off men. In contrast from soybean paste, Kimchi’s status has greatly improved to the point that it is called ‘Geumchi’ meaning ‘golden vegetable’. It took half-a century to move from ‘cheese~’ to ‘Kimchi~~’. Interestingly enough, foreigners are aware of Korean’s changed practice. For example, a foreign food specialist began his article on Kimchi for a health magazine with “Koreans say ‘Kimchi’ just as westerners say ‘cheese’ when they take pictures”.3 The fact that ‘Kimchi~~’ has replaced ‘cheese~’ as an idiomatic expression, stands as an example for Korean’s new understanding of Kimchi. In other words, it shows Korean’s awareness of the value of their traditional foods and culture. What caused the decline of ‘cheese~’ and the appearance of ‘Kimchi~~’? There is no particular turning point found in Korea. It seems to have a lot to do with Kimchi’s international recognition. Kimchi has become an important topic for discussion more outside of Korea than inside. 2_ Cameraman is still a man of power. They can be up and down the podium even when solemn ceremony is being held. They are pardoned even when they don’t salute to the national flag. 3_ Joan Raymond,「World’s Healthiest Foods : Kimchi (Korea)」, www.health.com, “Koreans eat so much of this super-spicy condiment (40 pounds of it per person each year) that natives say ‘kimchi’ instead of ‘cheese’ when getting their pictures taken.” (http://www.health.com/health/article/O.,20410300,00.html.) 11 These international discussions of Kimchi seem to have begun with the well-known “Korean ‘Kimchi’ versus Japanese ‘Kimuchi’ dispute”. Japan was the first to commercialized their version of ‘Kimchi’, pronounced ‘Kimuchi’ in Japan, and attempted to register it as a Japanese original food at the CODEX Alimentarius Commission held in Tokyo in March 1996, while Korea wanted to register ‘Kimchi’ as a Korean original food. The dispute drew wide media coverage under the title ‘Korea-Japan Kimchi disputes’.4 As Kimchi emerged as a health food to the world, China began to claim that their Chinese Paochai was the origin of Kimchi. While the origin of something is a matter of importance, the argument over Kimchi’s origins seemed futile because in time the truth will real itself.