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KOREAN STUDIES REVIEW

 

J. Scott Burgeson, ed. BUG 5: Foreigners and Foreign Culture in Korea. Seoul: Nalari Press. 2001. 178 pages. ISBN: 566-61-2419. 5000 won.

Reviewed by Bernhard Seliger
Hanguk University of Foreign Studies

 

It is always difficult to do justice in a review to a variety of articles written by several authors. However, Bug is somewhat different in that a driving force behind it aims at making it an magazine with a coherent view of 'cultural criticism'. Bug 5 is the fifth issue of an alternative magazine that is in essence a one-man enterprise, created and edited by Scott Burgeson, an outlet for his thoughts and an expression of his idea of cultural criticism. The student-of-English-literature-turned-reporter-turned-magazine-editor, making his home in a yôgwan in Seoul, developed a keen interest in less well-explored facts about Korea, as this recent volume, also translated into Korean as Palch'ikhan hangukhak ("Nasty Korean Studies"), shows. In Bug, together with a few co-authors, he attempts to give a non-conformist, 'underground' view of a wide field of cultural topics.

Like all previous issues, Bug 5 has a main theme, and this time it is "foreigners and foreign culture in Korea." Innumerable articles have been written on foreigners in Korea; nonetheless, Bug 5 manages to contribute a fresh perspective. Writers on this topic generally concentrate on cultural clashes between foreigners and Koreans (and this aspect is also present, beginning with a hilarious glossary of essential Korean terms for beginners like 'ajumma' and 'ajosshi'), but here the focus is rather on foreign communities in Korea and their culture, not only that brought from home, but that developed within Korea.

Four case studies treat examples of foreign culture in Korea--Texas Street in Pusan, Itaewon, the Filipino community in Taehangno and Inchon's Chinatown; several mini-interviews in each provide insight into foreigners' lives within the country. However, a number of other items are included as well: a lengthy interview with longtime resident Ken Kaliher, including some of his early photos of Korea, give the reader a glimpse at the transformation of Korean society in the last 30 years. Another piece draws a portrait of U.S. Kim, a well-known custom tailor, and through him conveys typical features of foreigners' life in Seoul. A rather conventional assessment of major fast-food chains uses the time-honored approach of high school magazines and rates each on such items as music, food and how 'green' (environmentally friendly) it is. Accompanied by a long, pointless dialogue about the advantages and disadvantages of each chain, this piece leaves the reader disappointed. On the other hand, a witty review on books on Korea written by foreigners is highly interesting. Equally interesting is a story about North Korean film festivals and an interview with German-born filmmaker Oliver Griem, living in South Korea, both of which inevitably lead to a comparison of two film cultures worlds apart. Other items include bits of a novel, manhwa style comics, reports on cultural events, etc.

The quality of the pieces certainly varies widely, and ­ as so often ­ beauty is in the eye of the beholder, thus many articles might be appreciated in widely differing ways by different readers. My favorite was the aforementioned review of books on Korea, the one I liked least a satire entitled 'The Most Famous Foreigner Who Ever Came to Korea" that ridicules Christianity in the country. The relationship between the frequent use of profanity in some articles and the perspective of cultural criticism is not clear to me, but I am sure there must be an explanation. Except for this gratuitous use of obscenities and a sometimes heavy dose of amour propre from the editor, Bug 5 is well worth purchasing and makes for entertaining reading with its refreshing and iconoclastic take on Korean Studies. As Burgeson advises, 'keep on Bugging'.

Citation:
Seliger, Bernhard 2002
Review of Bug 5: Foreigners and Foreign Culture in Korea, ed. by J. Scott Burgeson (2001)
Korean Studies Review 2002, no. 9
Electronic file: http://koreanstudies.com/ks/ksr/ksr02-09.htm


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