[KS] Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2026

[Sandy Nguyen]

Dear KS list members, I hope you are well.

Please note the following seminar organised by Monash University Korean
Studies Research Hub. Registration details are also included below. Hope to
see you there.

Warm regards,
Sandy.

_____________

*Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) presents:*




*Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2026Seminar 3*


*"*How Does Dialect Fit the Nation? The Politics of Language
Standardization in South Korea*"*


Dr Eunseon Kim (ANU)



  Room 221, Learning & Teaching Building (LTB), Clayton VIC 3168 and via
ZOOM

8th May, 2-3pm (Melbourne time)



*Abstract:*

South Korea is often imagined as a nation bound together by a single shared
language. But what happens to regional dialects under that ideal? This
study explores the politics of language standardization in South Korea by
examining how standard Korean came to function as the legitimate language
of education, public life, and national belonging, while dialects were
marked as incorrect, undignified, backward, or in need of correction.
Dialects were not simply excluded; they were managed—corrected in schools,
restricted in broadcasting, and tolerated mainly as subordinate forms of
speech. Even recent efforts to celebrate dialects as cultural heritage or
linguistic diversity do not fully escape this hierarchy: dialects are
increasingly welcomed as markers of regional identity that “enrich” Korean,
but usually without challenging the privileged status of the standard
language itself. This study highlights how standard language ideology has
shaped the social meanings of dialect: who sounds educated, who sounds
provincial, and who gets to speak for the nation. In doing so, it asks what
a more inclusive vision of language, identity, and belonging in Korea might
entail.


*Bio: *

Eunseon Kim is Lecturer in the School of Culture, History and Language at
the Australian National University. Her research explores the ideological
and semiotic dimensions of Korean, especially honorifics, linguistic
etiquette, and metapragmatic discourse. She is currently preparing a book
manuscript on the socio-semiotic history of Korean honorifics and their
role in ethno-national modernity.

Register here <https://forms.gle/hyxn5G8T4GpBQrGc8>.

__________________

Kind Regards,

Sandy Nguyen

*MUKSRH Coordinator*

Website: Monash Korean Studies Research Hub
<https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/korean-studies-research-hub>

Facebook: MonashUniKorean <https://www.facebook.com/monashunikorean.edu/>

Twitter: @MonashUniKorean <https://twitter.com/MonashUniKorean>
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