Snapshots and Soundbites of Korean Culture takes a novel approach to understanding Korea’s past and present by blending sounds, imagery, texts, and online and printed materials to provide a multi-sensory, multi-modal experience of Korean culture.
Snapshots and Soundbites of Korean Culture takes a novel approach to understanding Korea’s past and present by blending sounds, imagery, texts, and online and printed materials to provide a multisensory, multimodal experience of Korean culture.
Each entry showcases vitally important people, objects, places, events, and institutions that help us conceptualise Korean history, society, and culture. The volume comprises short, transcribed lectures on specific aspects of Korean culture, accompanied by explanatory notes, images, and links to a specially prepared website featuring voice recordings, additional images, and class-ready teaching resources. Contributors to the volume include some of the most respected researchers in Korean Studies, such as Martina Deuchler, Don Baker, Chan E. Park, Vladimir Tikhonov, John Duncan, and Park Tae-gyun, alongside emerging scholars. Each entry is written in an accessible style, making the book appealing to scholars, Korean Studies students, and readers with a general interest in Korea. The variety of topics examined includes iconic objects (ondol), important historical figures (Yun Son-do, Pak Hon-yong), central events (the 1637 Qing Invasion and the 1980 Kwangju Uprising), and vital beliefs (shamanism) – all of which help us conceptualise what has made Korea the place it is.
Additional resources can be found at snapshotssoundbites.wordpress.com.
The text serves as an academic study, a reference work, a book for leisurely reading, or as a primer for university-level Korean Studies survey courses.
Section 1: Art and Culture
(i) Fine Art
Fine Art Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
1. Green-Glazed Celadon Ceramics of the Kory Period, Charlotte Horlyck
2. Japanese Depictions of Music Among Korean Envoys (The Chsen Shisetsu
Gyretsu Zukan, 1655?), Keith Howard
(ii) Songs and Music
Songs and Music Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
3. Pansori, an Intercultural History of Korean Story-Singing, Chan E. Park
4. From Squares to Triangles: How to Count Korean Rhythm, Jocelyn Clark
5. Transcending Multiple Borders: Korean Performing Arts and Artists in the
Early Twentieth Century, Sunhee Koo
6. The Arrival of Punk Rock in Korea, Stephen Epstein
(iii) Performance and Theatres
Performance and Theatres Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
7. Mask Dance Dramas (Kosng Ogwangdae), CedarBough T. Saeji
8. The Seoul Drama Center, Jan Creutzenberg
9. Madanggk (Peoples Theatres) and Taehangno (Theatre District, Seoul),
JooYeoul (Jy) Ryu
(iv) Popular Culture in the Two Koreas: South Korea
Popular Culture in the Two Koreas: South Korea Introduction, Andrew David
Jackson
10. The Metanarrative of the Nation in Shiri (Dir: Kang Je-Gyu, 1999), Hye
Seung Chung
11. Hand-Painted Cinema Billboards in South Korean Cities, Roald Maliangkay
12. K-Dramas That Hurt and Heal, Bonnie Tilland
(v) Popular Culture in the Two Koreas: North Korea
Popular Culture in the Two Koreas: North Korea Introduction, Andrew David
Jackson
13. Shin Sang-Ok and the New Wave of North Korean Cinema, Gabor Sebo
14. North Korean Graphic Novels About the Korean War, Andrew David Jackson
Section 2: Religion, Philosophy, Thought, and Texts
(i) Shamanism
Shamanism Introduction, Michael Pettid and Andrew David Jackson
15. Muga the Songs of the Shaman, Boudewijn Walraven
16. Pari Kongju (Princess Pari, the First Shaman), Michael Pettid
(ii) Buddhism
Buddhism Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
17. The Korean Buddhist Canon: The Kory Taejanggyng, Robert E. Buswell,
Jr.
18. The Chikchi and Its Global Impact, Kim Jongmyung
19. Kwansem the Boddhisatva of Compassion, Antonio J. Domenech
20. Toksng- the Mysterious Lonely Saint in Koreas Buddhist Monasteries,
Beatrix Mecsi
21. Chng Yag-yong and Buddhism, Kim Daeyeol
(iii) Confucianism
Confucianism Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
22. Confucianism During Chosn-Period Korea, Gregory N. Evon
23. Korean Genealogy (Chokpo), Eugene Y. Park
24. Chosn Dynasty Funerary Tablets (Myojimyng), Martina Deuchler
(iv) Christianity
Christianity Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
25. On the Translation of the Bible Into Korean, Daniel Pieper
26. The Ilsin Womens Hospital, Hea-Jin Park
(v) Communism
Communism Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
27. On the Politician, Pak Hn-yng (1900-1956), Vladimir Tikhonov
(vi) Nationalism
Nationalism Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
28. On Pre-Modern Korean Identity, John Duncan
29. Personality Cults Past and Present, Kyung Moon Hwang
(vii) Authors, Texts, and Books
Authors, Texts, and Books Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
30. On the Ten Injunctions (Hunyo sipcho) of the Kory Dynasty, Remco E.
Breuker
31. The Poet, Thinker, and Politician, Yun Sn-Do (1587-1671), Anastasia A.
Guryeva
32. The Chosn Dynasty text, Chnggamnok (The Records of Chnggam), Anders
Karlsson
33. The Diary of Sim Wn-gwn (Sim Wngwn Ilgi), Holly Stephens
34. Pak Tae-Wns Novel A Day in Life of Kubo, the Novelist, as a
Representative Korean Modernist Novel, Justyna Najbar-Miller
35. Childrens Literature, Dafna Zur
Section 3: Korean Places, Spaces, Pastimes, Food, and Language
(i) Korean Places and Spaces
Korean Places and Spaces Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
36. The Diving Women of Chejudo, Haeny, Jae-Eun Noh
37. The Kumng Kage (Old-Style Corner Shops), Hye-jin Park
38. Korean Bathing Culture: Spaces for Social Communication and Cultural
Identity, Jung Youn Moon
39. Ondol/Kudl, the Korean Underfloor Heating System, Sungkon (SK) Moon
(ii) Education
Education Introduction, Andrew David Jackson (Monash University)
40. Sunng, the South Korean College Entrance Exam, Hyein Cho
(iii) Korean Sports and Pastimes
Korean Sports and Pastimes Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
41. A Brief Historical Account of the General Evolution of Taekwondo, Udo
Moenig
(iv) Nutrition
Nutrition Introduction, Andrew David Jackson (Monash University)
42. Korean Ginseng, James B. Lewis
43. The Chilli in Korea, Niamh Calway
44. Sinsllo a Rediscovered Treasure of Korean Cuisine, Maria Osetrova
(v) Language
Language Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
45. On Sinographs (Chinese Characters Used in the Korean Language), Ross King
46. On the Invention of Hangul, Young-Key Kim-Renaud
47. The Other Uses of the Korean Alphabet: Foreign Language Learning in
Pre-Modern Korea, Sixiang Wang
48. On the Publication of Koreas First Unabridged Monolingual Dictionary
(Chosnmal kn Sajn), Daniel Pieper
49. Honorifics, Politeness and Social Change, Lucien Brown
Section 4: Social, Political, and Historical Developments
(i) Social Change
Social Change Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
50. Early Korean Migrants to Hawai`i, Kyounghee Moon
51. The Meaning of Multiculturalism (Tamunhwa) in South Korea, Erin Aeran
Chung
52. Markets and North Korean Women, 2015, Andrew David Jackson
(ii) Invasions
Invasions Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
53. Waegu (Japanese Pirates), 1350 to 1419, Damien Peladan
54. The Court Debate Over the 1637 Qing Invasion, Seung B. Kye
(iii) Factionalism in Chosn
Factionalism in Chosn Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
55. Political Factionalism in Chosn Korea, Andrew David Jackson
(iv) The Korean War and the Vietnam War
The Korean War and the Vietnam War Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
56. On the POW Issue During the Korean War, Park, Tae-gyun
57. On the 1954 US-ROK Agreed Minutes, Park, Tae Gyun
58. South Korean Participation in the Vietnam War, Christopher Lovins
(v) Democratisation and Protest
Democratisation and Protest Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
59. On the Kwangju Uprising, 1980, Don Baker
60. On the 1987 Seoul Demonstrations (the June Uprising), Roland Bleiker
61. On the 1987 Constitutional Reforms, Hannes B. Mosler
62. The Student Movement of the 1990s, Tae-sik Kim
(vi) Historical Controversies
Historical Controversies Introduction, Andrew David Jackson
63. The Kogury Controversy and Koreas Shared History With China, David
Hundt
Index
Andrew David Jackson is Associate Professor and Director of Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) at Monash University, Melbourne, where he has worked since 2017. He also taught Korean Studies at the University of Copenhagen and is the author of The Musin Rebellion: Politics and Rebellion in Eighteenth-Century Korea (2016).
Sandy Nguyen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Korean Studies. She previously worked as a Korean-language in-class student support assistant for the Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH), assisting with introductory-level Korean. Sandy is currently the Hub Coordinator and is responsible for managing the MUKSRH website, coordinating Korean studies events, and leading outreach programmes that teach Korean language and culture to the local community.
Eva Richards is a PhD student in Korean Studies at Monash University. Her research focuses on gender, sexuality, and desire in contemporary South Korean popular culture and digital media, particularly in Korean video games. She completed her masters in Korean Studies at Yonsei University in 2024.
