Koreans and Foreigners: Public Discourse on Nation and Ethnicity in South Korea

• 영문명: Koreans and Foreigners: Public Discourse on Nation and Ethnicity in South Korea
• 발행기관: 연세대학교 동서문제연구원
• 저자명: Joe Phillips Joseph Yi Seon-Joo Kim
• 간행물 정보: 『동서연구』제28권 2호, 1~26쪽, 전체 26쪽
• 주제분류: 사회과학 > 지역학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2016.05.20

영문 초록

This article explores how public discourse in South Korea, expressed through academic publications, mainstream media, and social media, is reimagining relations between Koreans and different nationalities and ethnic groups. Since the country’s independence (1948), the paradigmatic image is one of Koreans unified and righteous in their relations with often-morally problematic foreigners: this is commonly termed the ‘ethnic-nationalist’ model. A more recent, ‘multicultural’ model of public discourse does not challenge the stereotype of virtuous Koreans, but re-imagines foreigners and migrants, from less-developed countries, as socially vulnerable and deserving the support of native Koreans at home and abroad. This elite narrative of the ‘pitiful foreigner’ is fiercely contested by non-elite, nationalist-minded publics, and, interestingly, critiqued by some academic and media elites and even migrants. The ‘ethnic-nationalist’ discourse of righteous Koreans is challenged by some scholars, activists, and writers, who discuss the nation’s complex past and present. We reveal that this evolving debate challenges fixed stereotypes of ‘Koreans’ and ‘foreigners,’ promoting more complex portraits of these groups. We also consider whether the debate contributes to a Korean liberalism model of public discourse, which imagines people as complex individuals with equal rights and duties.

목차

Ⅰ. MULTICULTURAL KOREA

Ⅱ. RIGHTEOUS KOREANS AND PROBLEMATIC FOREIGNERS

III. PITIFUL FOREIGNERS AND PATERNAL KOREANS

IV. CONTESTING THE MULTICULTURAL NARRATIVE

Ⅴ. FROM RIGHTEOUS KOREANS TO COMPLEX INDIVIDUALS

Ⅵ. CREATING SPACE FOR KOREAN LIBERALISM

키워드

South Korea ethnic national multicultural immigrant Confucian liberal