Leiden University Student Repository

Dijk, Claire van (2025)

From Controversy to Culture: Commodification of Contested Heritage in Gunsan and the Gangneung Danoje Festival in South Korea

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

This research will examine the process of ‘heritagization’ and the subsequent commodification of cultural practices and structures in South Korea that are surrounded by domestic contestation. Two case studies of tangible and intangible forms of heritage in this contested context will be studied: the heritagization of Gunsan City and the Gangneung Danoje Festival. By analyzing and comparing these two case studies, this thesis aims to answer the following question: How are contested narratives of national identity conveyed in the process of commodification of heritage in the cases of Gunsan City and the Gangneung Danoje Festival in South Korea?. I argue that local governments in these case studies are increasingly minimizing the influence of domestic contestation surrounding the heritage, by making use of popular trends that evoke a sense of “national” nostalgia and entertainment

Cultural Heritage

Difficult Heritage

South Korea

National Identity

Nostalgia

Author

Dijk, Claire van

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

History, Arts and Culture of Asia

Supervisors

Green, C.K.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en