[KS] Korea's Confucian Tradition

[Frank Hoffmann]

>(...)  I do not want to stick too rigidly to Hobsbawm's
>definition: some (modern) traditions are plainly invented, many also have
>antecedents.

Koen, in that case please can you provide us with your own definition 
of "invented tradition."

>What I am interested in, is how these antecedents are
>reinterpreted to suit contemporary demands.

Culture and tradition are obviously never static, and traditions 
where at all times modified according to "contemporary demands." No 
need to use the term invented tradition then, which indeed has been 
defined in a much more specific way.

>You use the word 'translation.'
>Well, that is indeed what I was thinking of. Following all the critique in
>late 19th C Korea on Confucian traditions, some form of 'translation' must
>have taken place in order for it to regain some standing. So, in that sense
>I am following Hobsbawm in as far as indeed this tradition is
>(re-)'invented' in the process of modernization.

That's not, however, how Hobsbawm and Ranger define this term. Also, 
I wonder if indeed Confucian tradition(s) was/were reinvented in the 
process of modernization. Please give us a few examples then. All I 
see, so far, is that Confucian traditions were either appropriated or 
applied to a modernizing society, not reinvented or invented. But 
maybe you have examples?

Frank


>But we may be talking about two different things here: the residue of
>Confucian traditions in Korean societies, and the discourse on Korea's
>Confucian tradition. They are altogether two different things.
>
>Koen
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>From:	Koreanstudies-admin at koreaweb.ws
>[mailto:Koreanstudies-admin at koreaweb.ws]  On Behalf Of Frank Hoffmann
>Sent:	dinsdag 11 februari 2003 10:55
>To:	Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
>Subject:	RE: [KS] Korea's Confucian Tradition
>
>>... would it be
>>a non-starter to begin our investigation into Korea's Confucian tradition
>>with the statement that it is an invented tradition?
>
>E.g., is the group morning exercise an invented
>Confucian tradition, or is it just the translation of Confucian
>family values to an industrialized Asian society?  In other words, we
>do have to consider that indeed there are Confucian traditions and
>value systems that have formed Korea.
>
>Frank


-- 
______________________________________________________
Frank Hoffmann
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