Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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In this study, An Kuk-sŏn (also known as Chŏngang,1876-1926), a leading writer of the Greater Korean Empire period, is regarded as one prototype of Korean reformist intellectuals in the face of the...Show moreIn this study, An Kuk-sŏn (also known as Chŏngang,1876-1926), a leading writer of the Greater Korean Empire period, is regarded as one prototype of Korean reformist intellectuals in the face of the global expansion of imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on An’s Chŏngch’i Wŏnnon (政治原論, Basic Principles of Politics, 1907), the first modern political science textbook in Korea, the study explores the adoption of modern Western political science, which some of these intellectuals regarded as a means of national survival. This study also revalorizes Chŏngch’i Wŏnnon and the act of translation, the most common way of learning the West yet has been undermined in the discourse of nationalist historiography, by applying the frameworks of translation studies.Show less
Zuid-Korea heeft de laatste jaren altijd bovenaan de OECD lijsten gestaan wat betreft zelfmoordcijfers. Dit cijfer ligt namelijk ruim boven het (globale) gemiddelde. Waarom is zelfmoord in Korea zo...Show moreZuid-Korea heeft de laatste jaren altijd bovenaan de OECD lijsten gestaan wat betreft zelfmoordcijfers. Dit cijfer ligt namelijk ruim boven het (globale) gemiddelde. Waarom is zelfmoord in Korea zo'n veelvoorkomende actie? In deze scriptie tracht ik punten te specificeren die (kunnen) leiden tot een verhoogd risico van zelfdoding. Hierbij wordt ook de vergelijking met Japan gemaakt, een ander Oost-Aziatisch land dat jarenlang heeft gekampt met enorm hoge cijfers wat betreft zelfdoding. Zijn er parallelen te trekken tussen de twee landen, en wat maakt elke situatie uniek?Show less
Colonial period Seoul has become the backdrop for a growing number of popular dramas and movies since the mid 2000s. Kyŏngsŏng Scandal (KBS 2007) stands out for the two strong female lead...Show moreColonial period Seoul has become the backdrop for a growing number of popular dramas and movies since the mid 2000s. Kyŏngsŏng Scandal (KBS 2007) stands out for the two strong female lead characters. It is these two women, one an apparently frivolous and fashionable kisaeng the other a rather stern bookshop keeper cum night school teacher and their evolving relationship(s) throughout the series that drive the story. These two women juxtapose colonial-period modern girls with new women, or at least their representation. Beyond this historical representation, I am particularly interested in how 21st century gender concerns inform these two characters as the series unfolds and their personalities are more and more developed. In doing so, this study relates to gender, visual culture and representation, and Korean colonial history. I rely in particular on Judith Butler’s (2006) theory of the cultural construction of gender and gender performativity, and how she develops the notions of the gaze, the subject, and its object —the way we watch and how others perceive us. John Berger (Ways of Seeing, 1982) and Laura Mulvey (1975) show how Butler’s theories are in turn applicable to visual culture. Particularly Mulvey’s elaboration on the pleasure of looking and the shifting gender positions of female spectators as developed in her influential “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” informs my analysis of Kyŏngsŏng Scandal’s narrative and the representation of modern girls and new women in relation to the Korean female spectator and her (gender) position in South Korean society. I use Kenneth Wells and Kyeong-Hee Choi’s contributions to Shin and Robinson’s (1999) Colonial Modernity in Korea, as well as Korean historical research 매채로 본 근대 여성 풍속사 신여성 (New Women: The history of manners and customs of modern women visible in media, 2005) and the recently published compilation of translated articles from the colonial era magazine for women Shin Yŏsŏng (Hyaeweol Choi 2012) to situate the New Woman/Modern Girl discussion in its historical context. Nancy Abelmann (2003) and Youna Kim’s (2005) works inform my discussion of the situation of women in contemporary Korea.Show less
