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Summary Introduction to Korean Culture
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Full summary of the course "Introduction to Korean culture, society and politics"
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Introduction to Korean cultureEthnocentrism:
The technical name for this view of things in which one’s own group is the centre of everything, and
all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Each group nourishes its own pride and looks with
contempt on outsider. Each group thinks it’s the right one
- William G. Sumner in Folkways-
Claude Lévi-Strauss:
- French anthropologist
- Born in Brussels
- Studied law and philosophy
- Taught philosophy but eventually got bored
- He was more interested in sociology and anthropology
- Did fieldwork in Brazil in the 1930’s
- Came back to France during WW2 and was persecuted due to his Jewish background
- He exiled to New York position at the New School for Social Research
- Came back to France in 1947 and had a prestigious career
- Wrote the booklet Race et Histoire published by UNESCO (1952) as part of its campaign
against racism
Lévi-Straus on Ethnocentrism
The two main ideas on the subject are:
- He sees ethnocentrism as a universal trait of humanity
- Humanity covering all forms of the human species is a recent concept
- Ethnocentrism as a universal trait of humanity
- humanity as covering all forms of the human species is a recent concept
e.g. Belgian diplomats’ perception of Korea in the 19 th century:
Belgium established diplomatic relations with China and Japan in 1866 (opening ( to western
trade)of china: treaty of nanking 1842)
1868: Meiji restauration modernisation = westernization (opening of Japan in 1854??)
unequal treaties: we can accept their products but can’t export, foreign diplomats could stay
in the country and had privileges (extraterritoriality = when a diplomat is in another country and does
something bad (s)he will be trial in his/her country, not in the country where they committed the
crime)
1876: opening of Korea (Hermit Country)
1901: relations with Korea (before that western diplomats were not allowed in Korea
sources to know about Korea were extremely limited: anonymous articles etc,
Belgium perceived Korea as barbarians
EXEPTION: Charles de Groote: several contacts with Korean diplomats in Japan and had an
excellent opinion about Koreans
Albert d’Anethan (Belgian Minister (gezant) to Japan at the top of the Belgian legation in
Japan from 1893 - 1910), he died in Japan
- he says: Japan is more advanced than the others of the “yellow race” because they follow
the western model
,Sinocentrism
The idea that China is in the centre and surrounded by barbarians
China saw itself as magnificent: the most prominent civilization
Western barbarians: Tibetans and Turks
Northern barbarians: Uighurs and Mongols
Eastern Barbarians: Japanese and Koreans
Southern barbarians: Indochinese peninsula
Only China had an emperor, Son of Heaven, other countries only had kings
Tribute system: prevailed in East Asia from the Han Dynasty until the 19th century
the surrounding countries could bring gifts to china and admit that China was superior
what they got in return: the possibility of trading with china and the title of king
That system decreased when China became weaker lead to more equality
Japan in the book of the later Han:
Emperor Guangwu granted the Country of Na (Japan) an imperial seal made of gold. In return the
country of Na sent envoys to the Chinese capital offering tribute
Culturalism:
Started at the university of Colombia in the 1930 th
Sociological approach that places great emphasis on culture to explain how society works. Culture
conditions the behaviour of individuals cultural determinism
Culturalists use Freudian psychoanalysis matrix: personality (ego) defined as a socialized expression
of human nature (id) shaped by values, norms and institutions of a particular culture (super-ego)
Ruth Benedict : studied in Colombia (PhD) and member of the faculty ( rare since she was a woman)
according to her: each culture chooses from “the great arc of human potentialities” only a few
characteristics which become the leading personality
The Chrysantemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture: Ruth Benedict was asked to write it
to understand the Japanese behaviour in order to cope with them
She said that Japan was the most alien enemy the USA ever had (they had to understand them in
order to fight them)
Japanese culture is a culture of shame (e.g. shame of surrender) , while the USA had a culture of guilt
Criticism against the book:
-anthropology at distance (she never went to Japan)
- Kawashima Takeyoshi: Considering Japanese as homogenous overlooks class differences (like Pierre
Bourdieu says: cultural norms vary depending on social milieu)
- Watsuji Tetsuro: The Japanese described are not representative, they are just ultranationalist
soldiers
- Yanagita Kunio: There is no people who use the word guilt as much as the Japanese . the “culture of
shame” only concerns the class of bushi
Criticism against culturalism: (Bourieu, repas Populaire contre repas bourgeois)
-it leads to (over)simplification overlooks for example class difference leads to
stereotypes/cliché
- it has a tendency to see as specific a cultural trait that can be, in fact, observed in other cultures
George B. Sansom: what must be washed away is not guilt but pollution. The Japanese have never
been tortured by the sense of sin
, Stereotype:
comes from Greek:
first used by French printer Firmin Didot (end of 18 th c) to describe the printing plate he created
First reference in social science in PUBLIC OPINIONS by walter lippman and describes it as pictures in
our heads
main characteristics of stereotypes:
- overly simplistic: oversimplify a cmplex reality and erases differences between individuals
- rigids and persistent
- socially shared (role played by media etc.)
- core of truth (some might)
- effects: not neutral: stereotypes can lead to discrimination
e.g. arabs and japaneses according to the dictionary (Larousse 1922)
Korean Shamanism:
Shamanism: can be defined as a religion in which human request the help of a spirit through the
mediation of a Shaman.
Korean: we think it came from Siberia, Korea is the most important east Asian place where
shamanism has been kept.
important Japanese scholars were very interested by it during the colonization of Korea (1910 –
1945)
Spirits :
1: heavenly gods & 2: Earthy Gods
60% of all spirits
personified versions of natural objects and phenomena
3: Holy persons
high ranking military commanders who lived heroic lives or met tragic end. E.g. General Ch’oe
Yong (1316 – 1388) during the Choyon dynasty (1392 – 1910) (foundend by Y Songgye
4: mischievous or evil spirits
various spirits like old domestic animals, damaged objects, tree spirits, and the souls of wild
animals
Shamans :
Chinese character…. (ask someone)
one shaman connecting the heavens and the earth with 2 people around him
usually females (called Mudang) male shaman (called paksu mudang or just paksu) were far less
numerous
typical kind of shaman in Korea
-Kang (means: to descent refers to the shaman who receives the spirit in his body and becomes
possessed by it sinnaerim
usually experiences “shaman illness” shinyong (bodily pain and mental exhaustion) ; dreams of
demons and gods ; hallucinations and illusions
no medication, so goed to a shaman who becomes the godmother of the younger woman, who, in
return becomes the shaman’s assistant and a novice shaman
the novice takes the god who appeared in her dream as guardian deity
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