Spring Forward, Fall Back? Progress and Challenges in Korean Gender Studies

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Gender became an academic issue for Korean Studies in the 1970s as it did in the larger academy. Early studies were primarily concerned with pushing beyond stereotypic views of “oppressed Asian women” and complicating our understanding of class standing, religion and ritual, and the meaning of “women” in traditional Korean society. Since then, as South Korean society has moved in new directions, a wide range of studies have brought deeper understanding of the intersection of history and social structures that underlay Confucian ethics, colonialism, nationalism, modernity, class mobility, ethnic diversity and alternative sexualities.

This roundtable discusses two related issues: the status of Korean gender studies, in particular the theoretical and methodological contributions that have come out of the field and some of the challenges it still faces; and new directions in Korean gender studies with special attention to the impact of the transnational flow of images, capital, materials and people on gender dynamics.

Panellists represent a diverse set of disciplinary backgrounds—history, geography, anthropology, sociology and gender and cultural studies—and a range of eras from pre-modern to contemporary periods. Each panellist will highlight how using “gender” as a category of analysis has helped reinterpret and enrich our understanding of history, culture and society. Laurel Kendall offers a panoramic overview of the issues of gender in Korean studies scholarship based on her pioneering research on shamanism in South Korea. Jungwon Kim discusses archival, methodological and theoretical issues in locating women’s experiences and gender ideologies both inside and outside the various sources relevant to women in premodern Korea. Hyaeweol Choi addresses the politics of archives and the task of retrieving the voices of Korean women in the everyday experience of modernity in the early twentieth century. Judy Han focuses on cultural dynamics and political contestations in articulations of race, sexuality, gender and religion. Finally, Seung Kyung Kim sums up the landscape of existing scholarships and identifies future trajectories of Korean gender research.

This roundtable is designed primarily to elicit lively discussion. Each panellist will present 5-10 minutes, leaving ample time for open discussion with the audience.

Area of Study

• Korea

Session Organizer

• Hyaeweol Choi, Australian National University

Chair

• Hyaeweol Choi, Australian National University

Discussants

• Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History

• Jungwon Kim, Columbia University

• Hyaeweol Choi, Australian National University

• Ju Hui Judy Han, University of Toronto

• Seung-Kyung Kim, Indiana University Bloomington