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This paper examines how the Yeonam group, led by Bak Ji-won (1737-1805), collected and compiled Korean literature written in classical Chinese during the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. The Yeonam group attempted to prove how well Korean intellectuals had adopted and developed Chinese culture. Korean history, culture, and literature rapidly garnered the attention of Silhak (Practical Learning) intellectuals during this era. Previous studies, which tend to reflect the perspective of modern nationalism, have understood this academic trend as an early form of Korean nationalism. However, the Yeonam group held the opinion that Korean literature written in classical Chinese served as an indicator of the writer's degree of embodying Chinese culture, which was understood by the Yeonam group as the epitome of cultural advancement. For this reason, the Yeonam group explored and compiled a series of Korean literary works written in classical Chinese, the ideal language according to the group. This paper demonstrates that the Yeonam group's interest in Korean literature written in classical Chinese stemmed from the idea that Joseon was a sophisticated dynasty endowed with Chinese civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the interdisciplinan moves made by the soda! sciences and historical studies regarding modern and contemporary Korean history. These moves began in earnest from the to analyze the dynamic development process of Korean studies. The periods analyzed as part of this study were marked by two dramatic transitions in academic trends. The first was that of the I 980s to the mid-I 990s, a period in whidi a huge epistemological transition took place in the nationalism and internal development-based paradigm of his- torical studies, as well as in the developmentalism arid modernization paradigm of social sciences. The second transition took place in the late 1 990s, in which cultural approaches to history challenged traditional methods, and new para digfns based on postmoderity postriationalism, and posteolonialism emerged. This study analyzes the academic activities and journals of two organizations tha have continuously played a major min informing the direction of modem and contemporary Korean history since the 980s, namely the Korean Social History Association and the Institute R w Korean Historical Studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heritage settings potentially play a significant role as a specific social space within which individuals are able to conceive, define, and reconstruct elements of national consciousness. This study involves an ethnographicbased examination of ways in which elements of the past are utilized to redefine and reaffirm national (cultural) identity within the context of contemporary South Korean society, where traditional norms and values are arguably influenced by globalized processes, norms, and values. It theoretically addresses and empirically substantiates the need for comprehensive and analytical insights concerning heritage and articulations of national identity, focusing on the intermediating roles of heritage tourism in establishing and facilitating the individual and contextual processes of identity reconstruction. Critical focus is placed on contextualizing ways in which South Korean nationals, particularly younger generations, encounter emotional attachments to the nation during heritage tourism experiences in Changdeokgung palace in Seoul. This study employs a range of ethnographic strategies including in-depth interviews and friendly conversations as an efficient tool to gain intimate and insightful knowledge of the specific social setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's and feminist film practices in South Korea are normally considered to have emerged in the mid-1990s, when class issues and nationalism no longer drew serious attention from the country's dominant intellectual discourse. This view tends to imply that women's filmmaking practices were virtually nonexistent before the 1990s. In opposition to the conventional view, this work shows that women's filmmaking with feminist intent arose in the 1970s in South Korea, contemporaneous with Western cine-feminism. It also argues that South Korean women's films have developed a unique narrative discourse in which patriarchal male-centrism sustaining class politics and nationalism is challenged and deconstructed. To illustrate these points, this study calls attention to the fact that women's filmmaking has taken place in the noncommercial independent cinema sector since the 1970s in South Korea. By examining four independent women filmmakers—Han Ok-Hee, Kim Soyoung, Byeon Yeong-Ju, and Ryu Mi-Rye—and their films, it maintains that independent women's films have made continuous efforts to subvert male-centered ideologies, seeking new positions for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Northeast Project (NEP), also known as the "Research Project of Northeastern China," has unleashed national sentiment among many Korean people. Even if it originated in purely academic research, the NEP poses a grave political challenge to contemporary Korea. The Korean response to the NEP can be broadly categorized in two ways: The first is that while negative perceptions of these moves by the Chinese have prevailed in Korean society, the Korean government has been very cautious in expressing criticism of the NEP due to national interests with the Chinese government. The other point is that as time has progressed, a series of Korean self-reflections on the complex nature of nationalism in response to the NEP has emerged. With the analysis of these self-reflections, this paper attempts to address an inter-subjective nationalist perspective of history as a solution that recognizes "mutual recognition of national identity" in considering the prevailing reality of Northeastern Asian nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to excavate and examine the long-forgotten naturalization practices and policies of traditional Korea that existed before the advent of a single-raced nationalism, based on the transformation of Dangun from the first king into the biological ancestor of Koreans. The following three points will be made: first, the so-called ethnic nationalism that underlines the purity of Korean blood is not an integral part of Korean tradition. Traditional Korea did not consider itself to be ethnically homogeneous. In addition, it is erroneous to say that Koreans lack a historical experience of living together with foreigners. Second, ethnic homogeneity in Korean nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon. Korean nationalism was based on a profound sense of cultural distinctiveness and superiority. The idea of Koreans as being the descendants of Dangun was originally introduced to emphasize the Korean political and cultural life as being old as that of China. Third, those who identify ethnic homogeneity as the main cause for prejudice and discrimination against foreigners are actually engaging the wrong enemy, because the real cause is this very sense of being civilized and culturally superior. This is why multiculturalism is so easily embraced by nationalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the foreign concept of the Korean culture. The Japanese concept of culture has affected those of the Koreans because they were once a colony of Japan. Intellectuals attempted to form their own cultural identity and representation by trying to oppose the idea of Japan. They also tried to reconstruct the national character so that they will realize their own values and philosophies.

The article examines the novel titled "Ewa: A Tale of Korea," by William Arthur Noble. The novel was analyzed as an example of missionary discourse that reflects the dynamics of a contact zone where American and Korean missionaries met each other with different cultural assumptions. The investigation focused on Noble's narrative and motives in engaging to a complex discourse on civilization.

The article presents a comparative study that examines the different responses and social affects of Protestantism in Korea and Japan between the late nineteenth century and mid-1940s. One factor is the difference in socio-political contexts concerning political instability. Another is the contrast in the efforts of the missionaries. Lastly, the dissimilarity in the religio-cultural milieu regarding religious opposition of traditional religions and Shinto-centered unity.

Argues that the continuing presence of Cheondogyo, a religious movement in Korea, in contemporary nationalist and tourist publications is related to its connection with the Donghak Revolution of 1894. Acceptance of the religious movement in both South and North Korea in the post-colonial era in order to legitimize political goals; Effect of the connection to the Donghak Revolution on Cheondogyo's legitimacy as a religious movement.