Popular discourses on Korean culture: From the late 1980s to the present

Abstract

In this paper, the general trends and distinct features of 'popular discourses on Korean culture' are analyzed. While the content and perspectives of the discourses on Korean culture vary greatly, they can be classified into the following types: the customs and manners thesis of Yi Gyu-tae, folkloric discourses that focus on searching for an 'archetype' or the 'depths' of Korean culture; cross-cultural discourses that compare Korean culture mainly with Japanese culture; and 'inter-disciplinary' discourses produced by members of the International Association for Korean Studies. As for analytical and methodological features, most of the works on Korean culture in this genre suffer more or less from cultural determinism and a lack of methodology. Finally, the cultural/political dynamics of the discourses on Korean cultural phenomenon, and the conditions for producing/consuming discourses on Korean culture and their 'possibilities' are discussed as well.