| ID | 143677 |
| Title Proper | Back to the future: Recalibrating the myth of Korea’s homogenous ethnicity |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Cawley, Kevin N |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article reviews Korea’s multicultural past, while also tracing the evolution of the myth of ethnic Korean homogeneity via the Tan’gun myth, whose earliest extant record dates from the thirteenth century. It highlights how the myth was recalibrated in the twentieth century in the face of Japanese cultural imperialism, and used to promote a nationalist, homogenous Korean identity. By exploring past intercultural exchanges and developments, this article also illustrates how this modern ‘homogenous’ identity has been misconstructed by both North and South Korea. This is now especially anachronistic for contemporary South Korea, which is fast becoming multiracial and multicultural, but where biracial people are often discriminated against. Finally, I argue that by deconstructing the Tan’gun myth, one discovers that it already inherently possesses the potential to resolve the problematic nationalistic myth of ethnic homogeneity in a growing multiracial society, which still, in the twenty-first century, emphasises racial ‘purity’. |
| `In' analytical Note | Asian Ethinicity Vol. 17, No.1; Jan 2016: p.150-160 |
| Journal Source | Asian Ethinicity Vol: 17 No 1 |
| Key Words | Nationalism ; Race ; Multicultural ; Multiracial ; Tan’Gun Myth ; Ethnic Homogeneity ; Purity |