Depreciated to be Appreciated: Gender Devaluation in the Cultural Consecration of Korean Writers, 1960-2000

• In Event: 228 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 10. Diffusion, Consecration, and Legitimization

Abstract

Previous literature shows that female writers were underrepresented and devalued in art history. Nowadays, however, many female writers seem to earn contemporary recognition from critics. Then, does this indicate that female writers are achieving long-term symbolic success in the artistic field without being hindered by female disadvantage? To explore this question, I analyzed the case of Korean literary fields where female writers’ status is rapidly increasing. I first conducted binary logistic regression to show that female writers are less likely to be included in literary anthologies than male writers. The results indicate that female writers are still less likely to be included in the cultural consecration process, which is likely to result in the underrepresentation of female writers in literary history. Furthermore, I applied content analysis to examine how female writers are depreciated in literary discourse even when they are appreciated as canonized writers. The results show how critics employ different cultural repertoire in the critical discourse on artists and their artworks depending on the writer’s gender. Unlike male writers, female writers are more likely to be labeled by their gender and homogenized as members of a group rather than be appreciated as autonomous and creative artists who attain a high art quality. By presenting the results, this research calls attention to the issue of gender devaluation and female underrepresentation in the contemporary cultural and artistic field.

Author

• Jina Lee, The University of Arizona