د. فرغلى هارون
المدير العـام
 عدد الرسائل : 3278
تاريخ التسجيل : 07/05/2008
 | | موضوع: Blood, Birth, Imagination, MA 14/5/2010, 3:51 pm | |
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Blood, Birth, Imagination
Ethnic Nationalism and South Korean Popular Culture
By Blitz, Brian
Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Popular Culture, 2009.
Pages: 131p.
0.72 MB Abstract:
This thesis examines ethnic nationalism in South Korea through four case studies in popular culture. My central argument is that the state government of South Korea mobilizes popular sentiment around hegemonic notions of national and ethnic belonging, creating a Korean imagined community that encourages members to accept the state as sole arbiter of their identity. Koreans are encouraged to read both past and present from the perspective of particular ideological positions which favor the socio-political status quo. Chapter One examines actress Lee Young-ae in the context of the “Korean Wave” and national branding. Lee Young-ae is a “state celebrity” in whose body the dual discourses of ethnic purity and national advancement synergistically advance. Chapter Two involves discourse analysis of Hines Ward's 2005 trip to South Korea after winning the Super Bowl MVP title; while American news outlets Orientalize this self-proclaimed “Korean African-American,” in South Korea he is reappropriated, demonstrating how certain mythic and blood based notions of national belonging can be advanced in the process. In my third chapter, I critically examine the Seodaemun Prison History Museum. Here, interactive displays encourage children to make real the bloody history of Japanese colonization while leveraging their antagonism towards a reviled Japanese Other in the present. In Chapter Four, I study a children's art display dealing with a territorial dispute between Korea and Japan. Students at Gyeyang Middle School drew pictures about Dokdo, a pair of islands claimed by both countries, and their work was displayed in a Seoul subway station. These images depict state sanctioned violence committed upon an abject Japanese Other. Historical injustices inform notions of national belonging, defining Korean identity as that which is not Japanese. Finally, in my conclusion I examine how the global economic crisis may affect Korean ethnic nationalism in the years to come.
Subject Headings: Cultural anthropology | |
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