[KS] Now On My Way to Meet Who?

Hilary V. Finchum-Sung finchumsung at snu.ac.kr
Sun Nov 10 21:19:47 EST 2013


Dear List and Scott Bug:

Just a quick response to Scott's thoughtful post. More specifically. I am responding to his questions regarding his interpretation of multiculturalism. 

On the surface, yes, multiculturalism does imply an acceptance of difference.  However, studies on multiculturalism in places such as the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, etc. reveal that in each location the meaning of multiculturalism is construed differently.  

There are many scholars who have done research on mutliculturalism (Han Geonsu, Andrew Kim, among others) in Korea and most would agree that the Korean brand of mc is one of assimilation. Multicultural programs at schools (of which my oldest child was a part) are aimed at teaching Korean, teaching 'multicultural' parents the fine art of making kimchi; essentially training non-Koreans (even children who are, technically and by nationality "Korean") to be Korean. Thus far, the focus of multicultural programs are of two general types: introducing foreign residents to Korean culture (free tours, prime seats at cultural events, etc)  and training members of 'multicultural families' to assimilate into Korean society. Members of the latter include families in which one spouse is foreign born as well as families of North Korean refugees.

If you are interested, I will refer you to a recent article I published on the topic:

2012. "The Rainbow Chorus: Performing Multicultural Identity in South Korea." Seoul Journal of Korean Studies 25/1: 127-159.
 




Sincerely,
Hilary Finchum-Sung



--- Original Message ---
From : "J.Scott Burgeson"
To : "Korean Studies Discussion List"
Date : 2013/11/10 일요일 오후 3:19:52
Subject : [KS] Now On My Way to Meet Who?



    
        
            
            
            I recently read Christopher K. Green and Stephen J. Epstein's "Now On My Way to Meet Who? South Korean Television, North Korean Refugees, and the Dilemmas of Representation" in the 14 Oct. 2013 edition of The Asia-Pacific Journal, and found it quite illuminating, as usual.One of the main themes of the essay is the "Otherizing" of North Korean female defectors on the show "Imangap," whereby the North is presented via their personal narratives as a quaint, exotic or pitiable backwater to the "superior" or far more modern, developed South (in a kind of hierarchized relationship). I don't normally watch much TV, Korean or otherwise, but I have seen a few installments of the show when in Southern hotel rooms, as well as odd clips on YouTube, and what struck me was how many of the woman had been thoroughly South Koreanized: Their North Korean accents muted or replaced with standardized South Korean accents, make-up styles overtly South Korean, and fashions as well. Having recently lived in NE China for several years, and interacting with dozens of young North Korean women there (none of them defectors, I should note, but there for various official or state-sanctioned reasons), the South Koreanizing of these women seemed obvious to me, and what I am wondering is if this struck anyone else who has seen the show as well? More to the point, is this so-called "South Koreanizing" at odds with the theme of "Otherizing" these women, or is there in fact a double "Otherizing" at work here, in the sense that these women have been encouraged to present themselves according to contemporary South Korean standards of beauty and speech, whether because of the producers or the broader South Korean society in which they now live, and are consequently further alienated from their own original, or primary, North Korean identities? Certainly there seems to be a process of standardizing and homogenizing at work here, and indeed I've also noticed that the American drummer of Busker Busker, Brad Moore, has undergone a similar kind of "South Koreanizing" subsequent to his appearance on the hit TV show "Superstar K": Thick oversized black glasses currently in vogue here in the South, an overly whipped South Korean hair style and a fashion sensibility that is distinctly South Korean well -- call it a rather conservative type of "indie preppy," if you like.In any case, if multiculturalism implies an acceptance and celebration of cultural difference, erasing or downplaying cultural differences would seem to be at odds with the much-heralded rise of "multiculturalism" in South Korea, would it not? Is "Imangap" simply another instance of South Korean "multiculturalism" actually being code for radical assimilation and incorporation into the South Korean collective?  Scott Bug
            


            
            
            On Saturday, November 9, 2013 1:15 AM, Sun Joo Kim  wrote:

            
            

            
            


            
            
            Korea Institute at Harvard University is pleased to announce the second Harvard Korean Art History Workshop to be held on December 13, 2013. Please see below for a tentative schedule of the event.
             
             
            Infinite Interfusion: Buddhist Art in Korea
             
            Date: December 13, 2013
            Place: Korea Institute, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138
            Organized by Korea Institute 
            Co-sponsored by East Asian Art History Program and Harvard-Yenching Institute
             
             
            Session I: Buddhist Iconography, Local Contingencies
             
            Harmony and Conflict in Ch’?nt’ae and Hwa?m Buddhism as Seen through a Kogy? Amitâbha Painting
            Ide Seinosuke
             
            The Shifting Pantheon of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha
            Gyeongwon Choe
             
            Discussants: Yukio Lippit, Chin-sung Chang
             
            Session II: Buddhist Worlds in Unified Silla 
             
            S?kkuram and Iran: Kuchean Buddhist Caves and their Eighth-Century Korean Kin
            Minku Kim
             
            A Four?sided Buddha Land?: A Stupa Valley Sculpture on Mt. Nam in Unified Silla
            Sunkyung Kim
             
            Discussants: Eugene Wang, Youn-mi Kim
             
            
            Session III:  Reading Patronage in Chos?n Buddhist Painting
             
            Sakyamuni Expounding the Teachings in the Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne: A Vivid Example of Gold Line Painting in Early Chos?n
            Maya Stiller
             
            Buddhist Activities by Royal Household Members in the Chos?n Dynasty: On the Three Indras Painting of 1483
            Jiyoung Lee
             
            Discussants: Melissa McCormick, Jaebin Yoo
             
 
 
 


            
            
            
            
            


            
            
            
            
            
        
    


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