In Between the West and the Other: Contradictions in Korean Students' Understandings of Islam

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 60
  In Roundtable Session: Methodology and Postcolonial Studies

Abstract

This study investigated how Korean students understand Islam, Islamic cultures, and Muslims. Open-ended, task-based interviews were conducted with 32 participants. Findings indicated that students believed that Islamic customs and cultures are stalled in pre-modern periods, so Muslims’ ideas could not be harmonized with the values of the present society and might even be dangerous. At the same time, however, Korean students showed sympathy with Muslims, who are marginalized throughout the world, including Korean society. These findings suggest Korean students’ complicated ideas about others in postcolonial contexts, in which colonial experiences and Westernized perspectives have overlapped.

Authors

• Geena Kim, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Jiyoung Kang, Indiana University - Bloomington