The papers offered so far are in alphabetical order here below:
- Justin Chew Forsyth, "Reading Surrealism in
Modern Korean Literature"
This
paper examines surrealism in works of modern Korean fiction (1936 – 2011). I
focus on one larger work—Cho Se-hŭi’s The Dwarf (난장이가쏘아올린작은공, Nanjangi ka ssoa ollin chagŭn kong, 1978). I also include an
incomplete list and analysis of other works of modern Korean literature that
have surrealist characteristics.
The Dwarf
is a linked-story novel that follows primarily the life of a working class
family living in Seoul during Korea’s period of very rapid industrialization in
the 1960s and 1970s. Its English translator, Bruce Fulton, called it “perhaps
the most important 1-volume novel of the post-1945 period” in Korea (260). This
paper discusses surrealist elements that exist in the text including ideas
related to political surrealism (i.e., class struggles, dehumanization amidst
existing structures, dislike for fascist politics, and revolution) and literary
surrealism (i.e., interest in the subconscious, such as in dreams and automatic
writing; mathematical metaphors; manipulation of time and space; irony; absurdity;
objective chance; femme-enfant; and
literary subversion).
Shorter
works addressed in the paper include Conviction
(확신, Hwakshin, 2003, by Ch’oe Such’ŏl), Corpses (시체들, Shich’edŭl, 2004, by P’yŏn Hyeyŏng), Habiro (하비로, 2004, by Yi Inhwa), Poems of John the Baptist (요한 시짐, Yohan sijip, 1955, by
Chang Yong-hak), The Haunted House (흉가, 凶家, Hyungga, 1937, by Ch’oe Chŏng-hŭi), Phantom
Illusion (환시기, 幻視記, Hwanshigi,
1938, by Yi Sang), Another Man’s Room
(타인의 방, 他人의房, T‘ain-ŭi pang, 1971, by Ch’oe
In-ho), Wings (날개, Nalgae, 1936, by Yi Sang), and Another Man’s City (낯익은 타인들의 도시, Nach‘igŭn t‘aindŭl-ŭi tosi, 2011, by Ch’oe
In-ho).
[Work Cited: Fulton,
Bruce. "Literature." The Koreas. Ed. Mary E. Connor. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2009. 250-63. Google Books. Google Inc. Web. 23 Jan. 2013].
- Kevin O’Rourke, "Aston"
Aston’s
essay "Corean Popular Literature," presented at the Asiatic Society in Tokyo in
1890 is illuminating. The
essay
begins: "The popular literature of Corea has received little attention from
European scholars. Nor is it much honoured in its own country".
Vernacular
literature, Aston says, is not found in a gentleman’s library or in Seoul’s two
bookshops. Literature in Korea means works in Chinese exclusively. For
vernacular literature you must search the stalls that line the streets or look
in a general store, the kind of premises that passed as a stationary shop at
the time. The books are quarto style, 20—30 pages of flimsy gray paper, bound
with coarse red thread, and wrapped in dirty yellow covers. Patches of various
colours, bits of straw and other extraneous substances make reading difficult.
There are no fly leaves, no title page, no printer’s or publisher’s name and no
date or place of publication. Even the author’s name is not given. Printing
errors are numerous and spelling is arbitrary. There is no punctuation and
nothing to show where a word ends or begins. A new chapter or paragraph is marked
by a circle or the words ‘new subject.’ The script which is almost illegible is
a discursive form of ŏnmun (vulgar
language), today’s han’gŭl. Add to this the vagaries of spelling, numerous
printer’s errors and holes in the paper—these texts drive a student to despair.
The many Chinese words in the ŏnmun
script (without hanja), make exegesis
even more difficult.
Have we here a literature of high art,
with a national folklore, poetry and drama, Aston asks? He answers with an
emphatic ‘No.’ Vernacular literature in Korea, he says, is primitive in the
extreme.
- Paul Price, "The
Other Korea: Prospects for Peace or for Proliferation?"
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, more commonly
known as North Korea, is frequently affixed with labels that imply the regime
is irrational and capricious. For example, the titles of ‘Hermit Kingdom’ and
‘rogue regime’ suggest that North Korean state behaviour is wildly
unpredictable. This ‘Othering’ of North Korea has contributed to the ongoing
impasse on the Korean peninsula. However, it will be argued that analyzing the
approach of the regime toward the development of nuclear weapons can best be
understood, and perhaps even resolved, within a ‘soft realist’ framework. That
is to say, by enhancing traditional realist analysis with constructivist
approaches, the North Korean conception of sovereignty can be understood within
its cultural context.
Through
this approach, it will be argued that the North Korean conception of
sovereignty differs from that of the Westphalian conception that predominates
in Europe and North America. Juche sasang,
the dominant political ideology within North Korea, supposes that autarky is
essential to true sovereignty. Therefore, the North Korean ambition is toward
complete political, economic, and military self-reliance, so as to prevent
eventual regime collapse and the absorption of North Korea by South Korea.
Having
established an understanding of the North Korean regime’s nuclear ambitions, it
will be contended that the most effective means by which North Korea can be
discouraged from engaging in proliferation and further weapons development is
for the governments of both the United States of America and South Korea to
pursue a peace treaty with North Korea, formally ending the Korean War. While
potentially unpalatable to domestic American and South Korean audiences, the
North Korean regime could see a peace treaty as a sufficient security
guarantee, especially in an environment where most of North Korea’s neighbours
have developed, or are in the process of developing, superior missile defence
capabilities.
- Daniel Jong Schwekendiek,
"A Look at Korea Through a Popular News Magazine Published in (West) Germany"
This paper investigates (West) German media-coverage on
Korea over the last decades by conducting a content analysis of Korea-related articles
appearing in Germany’s most popular weekly news magazine ‘DER SPIEGEL’. In
doing so, this research has two objectives: first, the number of articles are
counted to detect the long term trend of Korea-related media coverage in
Germany and identify peaks and lows over the last decades. Secondly, focusing
on the tone of the texts, articles are reclassified into positive, negative and
neutral articles in order to see what kind of images of Korea have been
portrayed in German print media. Special attention is paid to famous and
infamous topics such as the North Korean missile and nuclear crises as well as
South Korea’s economic and pop-cultural rise. Another subfocus of the content
analysis is on reunification-related articles concerning the two Koreas vis-à-vis
the two Germanys. The paper concludes with a discussion on how these findings
are related to South Korea’s recent nation-branding campaign, initiated by
current president LEE Myoung-Bak, that aims at pro-actively improving the
country’s reputation for commercial and tourist reasons. From a methodological
point of view, this research limits itself to showing simple percentages and
ratios, although advanced statistical analysis will be conducted in the future.
- Joseph
Trolan, "Sport
Stars - Changing the image of Korea"
Sport
has always been an important part of society and cultures. Many nations over the years have utilized
sport to promote their countries image or politics. Such events as the Olympics have continually
been used for the promotion of a countries image and messages. Governments have enacted the idea of “sport
diplomacy” to rebrand their countries image.
Individual sport athletes have been promoted as agents of change by countries
trying to improve or change their image.
Since
the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean government has sought to host mega sport
events such as the summer and winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Formula 1, and
World athletic events to enhance its global image. The success of these events and the success
of Korean athletes during these events have certainly drawn attention to
Korea. From a top five finish in the
Olympic medal count, to continual qualification for the World Cup, countries
have noticed the steady rise in Koreas entrance into elite sport. This growth has brought more interest for the
country and its culture. Specifically, one
sporting area has been at the forefront of the promotion of Korea, this area is
football or soccer.
It
is this author’s belief that the number of Korean football stars in Europe has
not only improved the image of Korea as a sports nation but has increased
people's interest in the country. This
paper will examine print news coverage from the United Kingdom and Korean to evaluate
if football has created a positive image of Korea.
