Natalja Lois Mariazeta
Welcome!
Hello everyone! I'm Natalja and this is my last (hopefully) semester here at Dawson as a Language student. I was born and raised in the Philippines where I learned both Tagalog and English. I came here in Canada in 2016 and was in French Immersion for a year. I noticed that I picked up the language quickly (but not easy), so I applied to the Languages program. I studied Chinese for 2 semesters and I am doing Spanish 4 right now. I also like learning other languages by myself, such as Korean and Japanese.
Whenever I do not have classes nor work, I like staying at home with my books, music, and movies. Or just lay in bed and let my thoughts run around. I am a HUGE foodie! I like both cooking and eating, especially Chinese cuisine (I cannot get enough of it!). I am planning to continue learning about different languages and culture because I enjoy learning about various things and I would like to communicate with more people. Also, I want to travel around the world and maybe live different countries.
Video Presentation
IA Video Presentation.mp4Topic Ideas
The Korean Language
The first topic that I chose is the Korean Language. In one of the South Korean dramas that I watched, they talked about the creation of the Korean Alphabet "한글". They said that it was created by their king because he wanted his people to be able to write and read. So, he created a simple alphabet that would increase literacy in his country. Ever since I heard about this, I wanted to learn more about the Korean language. If I choose this as my final topic, I want to talk about the history, evolution and interesting facts about the Korean Language. I will also talk about mis-translation of Korean to English.
For my first source, I found a short YouTube video that explains the history of the Korean Language briefly. It talks about the intention of King Sejeong when he created the Korean Alphabet "한글". This video also shows how each character resembles the shape of the mouth or tongue when it is pronounced. For example, the consonants "ㅁ,ㅂ,ㅍ" are a like because they are pronounced with the lips. I chose this YouTube video as my first source because it a good summary of the creation of the Korean Alphabet and this is a good start to learn about it. This video gives you enough information, but it also makes you want to learn more about it.
"How Korea crafted a better alphabet - History of Writing Systems #11 (Featural Alphabet)." YouTube, uploaded by NativLang, October 23, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9hzK0K1L4I .
Politeness & Language
The second topic that I have in mind is Politeness and Language. As I grow older, I noticed that the English language is can be very neutral compared to other languages. For example, we use "po" (an affix used when addressing elders) and "opo" (a more polite yes) in Tagalog and there is nothing like this in English. So for this topic, I would like to do a research on how politeness is showed through language in various countries and how it is sometimes hard to give it proper English Translation. I would like compare an Eastern language to a Western one and show how they use language as a sign of politeness. Also, I want to talk about how culture plays an important role in this topic.
Japanese is known for its honorific language. So for my first source, I chose an blog post by the company Venga that talks about the different levels of formal language in Japanese. The author explains how Japanese people use these honorific forms and that the relationship and the rank relative decides which type of formal Japanese to use. He also talks about the formal language used in business where there are 3 types of formal language: Sonkei-go (to show respect), Kenjo-go (to show respect by "downgrading yourself), and Teinei-go (to show politeness). I chose this blog post because I wanted to show that it is important to know how to use formal Japanese. It also shows how Japanese use language to explicitly show politeness towards their elders and seniors.
Shibayama, Kohta. "Levels of Formality in Japanese and How to Know When to Use Which." Venga, https://www.vengaglobal.com/blog/levels-of-formality-in-japanese-and-how-to-know-when-to-use-which/.
Final Topic
I chose the Korean Language as my final topic for my project because I think that it a subject that I would like to in depth research on. I am also interested in learning this language and I would like to learn more about the language and the culture. There are various things that I want to talk about for this topic. So, I will be doing a research on the history of the Korean language before and after the creation of the Korean Alphabet "한글". I will also talk about the development and the linguistic aspects of this attractive language. Plus, there are some other things that I want to do a research on, such as mistranslations and Korean Slang.
The Korean Language: a Cultural Legacy
Source #1
John B. Whitman
This source is an article written by Jackie Swift, a research in Cornell University, in September 7, 2017. The purpose of this article is to inform its readers about the history of the Korean language and how it is a cultural legacy for Korea. She cites John B. Whitman, a linguist and researcher, throughout the article because of his works about Korean culture and other East Asian countries. Swift talks about the development of Korea and how the neighbouring countries influenced their culture. China is a country that had significant impacts in Korea and we can see them in their language and culture. For example, Chinese influenced majority of the Korean vocabulary and the grammatical patterns. Swift then talks about the historical link of Korean and Japanese cultures. She cites Whitman to argue that Korea also had a huge impact in Japan, such as how Buddhism in Japan came from Korea. The main idea of this article is about how the Korean language and writing system establishes the Korean identity.
I find this article by Jackie Swift very interesting because she gives us a brief explanation on how the Korean language is the most important part of Korean Culture. She also does a little overview of the History of Korea and how their culture is influenced by other East Asian countries. I think this is a perfect first source because it talks about the history of Korea and their culture. This article will help me with advancing my research because it gave me ideas to search for, such as the influence of Chinese on the Korean language. Also, this article introduced me to John B. Whitman and I will be using his works as a key source for this project because it is focused on East Asian languages.
Swift, Jackie. "The Korean Language: A Cultural Legacy", Cornell Research, 7 September 2017, https://research.cornell.edu/news-features/korean-language-cultural-legacy.
“Koreans came up with a writing system that’s syllabic in its shape but uses the components of an alphabet."
- John B. Whitman
History of the Korean Language
Source #2 & #3
This source is an article from the Encyclopedia Britannica and it is written by Samuel E. Martin in August 14 2019. It was written to inform the readers about the Korean Language. It has two main sections: the linguistic history & writing systems and the linguistics characteristics. However, I am only focusing on the linguistic history and the writing systems for this article. Then, I also found an article written by Won-Young Kim called "Korean calligraphy". It was also published by the Encyclopedia Britannica in July 30 2009.
Martin summarizes the evolution of the Korean language, from how it started and how it is being used now. The author talks about 'Old Korean' which is an earlier form of the language which was used for names, places and to write poems. This form was used in the 10th Century during the Silla Kingdom. Then, there is the 'Middle Korean' which is another form of the Korean language. It was used to write Korean words in phonograms in 1103. In 1443, the official Korean writing system "한글" was created. It is also mentioned that South Korean and North Korean language is not exactly the same. They have some minor difference, such as spelling, alphabetization and vocabulary choice.
In this post, I added a short article called "Korean calligraphy" because it compliments Martin's article. Kim's article gives more and detailed information about how China influenced the Korean language, especially the Korean calligraphy. The author elaborates on how the usage Chinese scripture reflects the situation of Korea. Chinese scripture was probably used by Koreans since the 2nd or 3rd century CE. For example, Kim talks about the influence of the Tang Dynasty (China) during the unified Silla Dynasty (Korea) in 668-935 CE. This article shows us that Chinese culture had a huge impact in the Korean arts, such as calligraphy.
I think this two sources are very informative because they talk about the history of Korea and how they used to use Chinese scripture for their language. I learned a lot about the huge influence They are also a good introduction to the history of the Korean language before I get into research on just the creation of Hangul. This two articles gives us enough information on the majors impact of China in Korea.
Kim, Won-Young. "Korean calligraphy". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Jul. 2009, https://www.britannica.com/art/Korean-calligraphy.
Martin, Samuel E.. "Korean language". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Korean-language.
I inserted three different Korean newspaper from different years. We can see how their writing system changed: from using only Chinese scripture to mixing Hangul with it to just using Hangul.
The Creation of 한글
Source #4
This source is an article that talks mainly about the creation of the Korean alphabet. It is written by multiple editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica in 23 September 2020.
This article by Encyclopedia Britannica explains the creation of the Korean writing system. "한글" (Hangul) was created in 1443 by King Sejong during the Joseon Dynasty. It has 10 consonants and 14 vowels (I included a chart below ^-^). In South Korea it is called "한글" while in North Korea it is called "조선글" Chosungul. King Sejong developed this writing system to improve literacy because they were using Chinese characters as their main writing system. However, even though "한글" (Hangul) was adapted as the official Korean writing system, Chinese characters were still used until with it.
I chose this article because it shows the intentions and reasons of King Sejong with creating 한글. It also shows us the benefits and the improvements that it gave to the Korean Society. I think this article will be useful for my research because it helped me understand the importance that Koreans give to their writing system.
한글
(Korean Alphabet)
Here is a chart of the Korean alphabet. It is pretty simple and easy to learn!
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Hangul". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Sep. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hangul-Korean-alphabet.
Fun Fact!
Koreans have a national holiday to celebrate the creation of the Korean alphabet. It is called "한글날" Hangul Day South Korea and it is on October 9. However, this holiday is called "조선글날" Chosŏn'gŭl Day in North Korea and it is on January 15.
The Handbook of Korean Linguistics
Source #5
'The Handbook of Korean Linguistics' is written by Lucien Brown and Jaehoon Yeon in May 22 2015. It talks about the linguistic and historical aspect of the Korean Language in 5 different parts. However, I will only be using the Part 4 of the Book 'Varieties of Korean' and 2 of its subparts: 'Varieties of Contemporary Korean' and 'Linguistic Emblems of South Korean Society'.
I think this book will be important for my project. So, I chose it as one of my sources because it talks about many different interesting things about the Korean language. For example, it talks about the historical and linguistic evolution of the language. It also puts into consideration how the Korean society played a role with development of their language. Since I want to talk about the relation between South Korean media and the language, it is better to have a good grasp of the country's history.
Varieties of Contemporary Korean
This chapter talks about the different types of Korean nowadays and how they are created. Since it is spoken by roughly 74 million people on both North & South Korea. Internationally, there are about 7 million people who can speak it in countries, such as China, Japan, Russia, Australia and the United States. The most significant varieties of the language is the North and South Korean dialects. The author says that there is a linguistic gap between them. For example, they have different phonetics and phonology, but this does not stop them from understanding each other. There are other dialects on the Korean Peninsula, such as Jeolla Province and Gyeongsang Province dialects. The Jeju dialect, which has the least similarities with the 'standard' Seoul Korean, is classified as an endangered language by UNESCO because of the decline of the number of speakers.
Korean immigrants are mostly seen in English-speaking countries. Since English education has been receiving more attention in the country, Koreans go abroad to improve their English skills and/or continue their education in English. There is also an increase of marriages between Korean and other ethnicities. The author says these movements resulted to the increase of Korean speakers and international varieties of the language. Other variations are also discussed, such as gender variation, formal and informal registers and digital Korean.
Linguistic Emblems of South Korean Society
This chapter talks about how does the Korean language serve as a representation of the South Korean identity. Since language is a reflection of a a society, we can understand the linguistics emblems of this society by studying their linguistic sociality. Social structure, practice and ideology are things that are being analyze when studying linguistic sociality. The author identifies 4 linguistic emblems of the South Korean society. They are the honorific system of deference and demeanor indexicals, Hangul (Korean writing system), English language learning, and use of Korean language in popular media.
This part starts talking about the honorific system and speech styles in the Korean language. Speakers of this languages are used to these particularities because it also shows how they behave. Using honorific speech allows them to show "politeness, respect, etiquette and manner" (493) and it shows the South Korean social structure. This way of speaking has been used for a long time and it is now a part of the identity of the Korean language. The Korean writing system, Hangul, is also an "emblem of Korea's culture of science and innovation in the service of humanity" (495). The author says that "Sejong's Hangul is seen as a powerful shield, protecting the independence of Koreans from outside encroachments" (496). South Korea is a monolingual society and the Seoul dialect is considered the standard form. However, learning English in this country is becoming more common and this is contradictory to the Korean monolingualism. South Koreans are studying aboard to learn this language because they see the value of learning it. So, English education in South Korea becomes one of the linguistic emblems because it shows their inconclusive stance on globalization. Digital slang is the 4th linguistic emblem because it "highlights an important cultural dimension of the social behaviour" (500). It shows the linguistic practices of the South Korean youth.
Brown, Lucien & Jaehoon Yeon. "The Handbook of Korean Linguistics." John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p.459-508, 22 May 2015.
The Korean Wave (한류)
Source #6
BTS Concert at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (2021)
'The Korean Wave' is an academic journal written by Dal Yong Jin in May 26 2020 and it was posted on the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs website. The author describes the Korean Wave as "the rapid diffusion and export of South Korean popular culture to the global cultural markets". He talks about how this movement started within Asia in the 2000's. However, the influence of the South Korean entertainment and fashion industry continues to grow today thanks to the Internet. The authors states that the recognition of South Korean culture can be seen by the popularity of Korean music, films, comics and food. He specifically talks about BTS, who is a well-known South Korean boy group, and the movie 'Parasite' that received 6 awards during the 2020 Oscars. The Korean Wave also made a huge political and economic impact to the country. For example, the domestic economy boomed from the exportation of goods and services. It also elevated the image of the country and this will help them support their foreign policy goals.
I chose this article because I wanted to have a source that will explain the massive growth of the Korean Culture around the world. I think this academic journal is informative because it explains efficiently explains the Korean Wave and its contribution to their country. This will be very helpful to my project because it will help me establish that the recognition of Korean Media is just increasing as time goes by. And, this will lead to the growth of the popularity of the Korean Language.
Director and casts of 'Parasite' at the Oscars (2020)
Jin, Dal Yong. "The Korean Wave." Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 26 May 2020, https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/05/26/the-korean-wave/.
Korean Dramas on Netflix
Romance
Horror
Historical Drama
Thriller
Mistranslations of Korean Media
Source #7 & #8
"Translators, experts weigh in on 'Squid Game' subtitle debate" is a news article written by Victoria Namkung in the website of NBC News on October 6 2021. It talks about the subtitling issues of a popular South Korean Netflix show and why do we have to address it. It all started when Youngmi Mayer, a comedian and and co-host of a podcast who speaks fluent Korean, posted a TikTok video about her frustrations regarding the inaccurate translations. Mayer says in her video that some dialogues were flawed and it does not give justice to the real meaning and the culture behind it. Mayer believes that "there's so many big things missing from the narrative" because of these errors. Namkung mentions that the fact that translation is hard and it does not pay well might be the reason for these faulty subtitles. However, there are Koreans who think that the subtitles in 'Squid Game' are good enough. Denise Kripper, a translator, says that "the most perfect of translations still needs to be paraphrased or adapted if it doesn’t fit within those spatial limitations". Since there are not a lot of space in the screen, translators are obliged to shorten them.
I chose this article to show that despite the massive growth of South Korean media we can still have problems with it, such as mistranslations. It is also eye opening that human translators are not paid well despite having a very difficult job. I think it is good to know as a language student that this field of work is not easy at all.
Namkung, Victoria. "Translators, experts weigh in on 'Squid Game' subtitle debate." NBC News, 6 October 2021, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/translators-experts-weigh-squid-game-subtitle-debate-rcna2568.
Here's a video from Wired where a Korean Language Professor addresses the 'mistakes' and nuances that the English subtitles of 'Squid Game', a South Korean Netflix Show. This series is the most watched Netflix Show last year, so I decided to use this as a reference. I chose this YouTube video because it complements the news article and it serves as a visual support. I also think that it is more easier to understand the subtitle mistakes in the Netflix show by watching this video.
"Korean Language Professor Breaks Down Squid Game's Subtitles | Wired." YouTube, uploaded by WIRED, 29 October 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jy3Hz39CnU&list=WL&index=1.
Possible Thesis Statements
South Korean Media and the popularization of the Korean Language
South Korean media, such as Kpop and South Korean dramas, is gaining more attention today and it contributes to the popularization of the Korean Language.
Why is the Korean language becoming more popular these days?
The popularization of the Korean language is caused by the rapid growth of the South Korean entertainment industry internationally. Also, the Korean language is more easier to learn compared to Mandarin and Japanese.
Factors of Untranslatability
Source #9
This academic article is written by Amira D. Kashgary in January 2011. It talks about how some words cannot be translated between languages and the causes of untranslatability by using Arabic-English translation. Kashgary says that when translators do their job they would use the concept of equivalence because it provides "useful theoretical and pragmatic foundation for translation process". But, sometimes translators use non-equivalence because there are words and expressions that do not have direct translation. Untranslatability occurs when terms does not have an equivalent in other languages. These terms are usually conceptual and based on a culture. In this article, the author shows us Arabic-English the of use of non-equivalence translation because culture specific words in Arabic does not have English translations. For example, Islamic terms Allah (God), al salat (prayers) and al haraam (fobidden) use non-equivalent translation "because they cannot be appropriately translated by providing their dictionary equivalent" (Kashgary 52). Also, words that are from Arabic culture do not use this method because they can be "sematically complex" (Kashgary 53).
I chose this academic article by Amira D. Kashgary because I wanted something to follow up my previous post about mistranslation of Korean media. This posts talks about untranslatability of Arabic terms, which can also be applied into Korean. Some Korean words are heavily based of their culture and there are no direct English translation. It is very informative about how does the translation process work. It was good to know about the other translation alternatives that translators use to create the most appropriate translation.
Kashgary, Amira D. "The paradox of translating the untranslatable: Equivalence vs. non-equivalence in translating from Arabic into English." Journal of King Saud
University - Languages and Translation, Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 47-57, ISSN 2210-8319, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksult.2010.03.001.
Korean Words Without Direct English Translations
Source #10
Literal Translation:
Coy
Meaning:
"A person who hides their true colors and acts more differently around people of his/her interest."
(KoreanClass101)
Literal Translation:
Observant/Perceptive
Meaning:
"This word is used to describe someone who's able to comprehend that something is going on with someone."
(KoreanClass101)
Literal Translation:
Unbelievable
Meaning:
"I could mean 'What the hell,' 'I cannot believe it,' or 'beyond common sense' depending on the situation."
(KoreanClass101)
Literal Translation:
Filial Duty
Meaning:
"This means to devote yourself to your parents by taking care of them until they pass away."
(KoreanClass101)
"10 Untranslatable Korean Words", 28 June 2019, https://www.koreanclass101.com/blog/2019/06/28/untranslatable-korean-words/.
Which East Asian Language Is the Easiest to Learn?
Source #11
Simplest Grammar Structure?
Easiest
Writing
System?
"Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese" is a blogpost written by Steve Kaufmann on January 19 2021 and it is published on his website called 'the Linguist'. It talks about the differences between Korean, Japanese and Chinese and it also discusses his experiences with learning these languages. Kaufmann started learning Mandarin Chinese first in 1968 and he describes his learning as "intense and structured" because he had to learn it in a school in Hong Kong. Next, he started to learn Japanese independently and immersively because he lived in Japan for 9 years and he was able to practice it in real life situations. Kaufmann said that he decided to study Korean on his own because he has knowledge in Chinese and Japanese which influenced the language. He says that Chinese characters are important in these 3 East Asian languages because they can add to read. Then, he talks about the main differences between the 3 languages: writing system, grammatical structure and pronunciation. Chinese has the easiest word order (SVO) because it is similar to European languages. On the other hand, Japanese and Korean have similar sentence structure which is SOV. For pronunciation, Chinese is the hardest because it is a tonal language. There are 5 types of tones and each one of them can change the meaning of the character. Also, Kaufmann suggests us to find reading materials for these languages to practice our pronunciation and reading.
한국어
Korean
Phonetic Writing System:
한글 (Hangul)
Grammar:
SOV Sentence Structure
Grammatical Particles
3 Verb Tenses (Past, Present & Future)
Polite & Casual Form
2 Number Systems:
Native Korean
Sino-Korean
中文
Chinese
Chinese Pictogram:
漢字(Hanzi) Tradtional
汉字(Hanzi) Simplified
Grammar:
Easier Language Structure & Word Order (Similar to European Languages)
No Verb Tenses
No Agreements
Tonal Language
I first encountered Steve Kaufmann when I was doing a research on 'language learning in adulthood' during my previous semester. I came across one of his YouTube videos where he talks about how he learns languages as a senior. I really like watching his videos on YouTube because they are very informative and insightful. It is nice to see that someone in his age is still able to learn new languages. So, I chose this blogpost by Steve Kaufmann because I think this will help me with my project by showing the main difference between these 3 East Asian languages. I think this blogpost is useful because the author talks about his learning experiences with these languages as an English speaker. This will help me establish that the Korean language is overall the easiest one to learn because it has a good balance between a simple writing system and grammatical structure.
Kaufmann, Steve. "Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese." The Linguist Institute Inc., 19 January 2021, https://blog.thelinguist.com/difference-chinese-japanese-korean/.
Here's a video where Steve Kaufmann talks about his experiences with learning these East Asian languages. Plus, he gives tips and tricks on how to learn them more efficiently if you are interested in learning one (or all!) of these languages.
"Learning Japanese, Chinese and Korean compared." YouTube, uploaded by Steve Kaufmann - Lingosteve, 11 February 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSx7_FILIyI&t=314s.
Why College Students Want to Learn Asian Languages?
Source #12
This academic article is titled “Why College Students Want to Learn Asian Languages: A Comparative Study of Motivational Factors for the Selection of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese" and it is written by Jack Jinghui Liu and Setsue Shibata. This was published on the Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages in 2008. In this study, the authors are trying to know the reason behind the popularization of learning an East Asian language among college students.
Liu and Shibata noticed that higher level institutions are offering more less taught languages and the number of enrolments is higher than expected. The authors of this study show us what are the motivations of the students and what are the similarities/differences in motivation of studying a particular East Asian language. To answer their questions they did a survey that will determine the major motivations that college students have.
6 Motivational Factors:
cultural understanding, heritage-related factor, instrumental orientation, integrative orientation, achievement orientation, and administrative orientation
For college student who chose to learn Korean, the study shows that they are mainly motivated by heritage-related factor and achievement orientation. And just like the other language groups, cultural understanding and integrative orientation motivate these students.
I chose this academic article by Jack Jinghui Liu and Setsue Shibata because this will help me prove that learning Korean or any other East Asian language is becoming more popular these days. It also allowed me to identify the factors that motivates college students to learn them. This study is very informative and I will use it on my research as a proof of the popularization of the Korean Language.
Liu, Jack Jinghui and Setsue Shibata. “Why College Students Want to Learn Asian Languages: A Comparative Study of Motivational Factors for the Selection of
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.” Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, vol. 5, Jan. 2008, pp. 33–55. EBSCOhost, https://dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2070/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,uid&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.b6845accbd9d4925a32466ac930c2968&site=eds-live&scope=site.
The Power of South Korean Media
Source #13
This academic article is written by Agapi E. Matosian on December 2, 2021. "The Key Components of South Korea's Soft Power: Challenges and Trends" was published on the RUDN Journal of Political Science and it is about how the government of South Korea uses "soft power tools in implementing policies at various levels" (Matosian 1). It mainly talks about how the international exportation of the South Korean entertainment industry (Music, Film, TV Dramas and Fashion) can be an alternative of public diplomacy.
Joseph Nye defines the word Soft Power as " a set of tools that a state is using to create a sound reputation and a strong national image" (Matosian 2). The Republic of South Korea is able to keep a "positive image of their country in the eyes of the global community" by using the South Korean entertainment industry. More specifically, they use the K-Pop industry to attract global audience and investments. The author states that soft power "improves and monetizes the 'likability' " (Matosian 3) of a country. So, We see many K-Pop idols do good things, such as donating to charities, participating on conference and supporting social movements on social media. They use their platform to share awareness and educate others. The Korean Wave helped the popularization of South Korean culture around the world. The creative and eye-catching music videos of K-Pop and the well-written Korean Dramas are becoming known globally and this promotes the spread of the Korean Culture. With the rise of the South Korean media internationally, it increases the tourism of the country and this leads to better economy.
BTS @ UN Conference 2021
The most popular boy group of today gave a UN speech in 2021.
From Friends Merch
A portion of eaJ's merchandise sales went to the JED Foundations.
Matosian, Agapi E. “The Key Components of South Korea’s Soft Power: Challenges and Trends.” RUDN Journal of Political Science, vol. 23, no. 2, Dec. 2021, pp. 279–86. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-1438-2021-23-2-279-286.
Dark Side of the South Korean Entertainment Industry
Source #14
"Eating Disorders, Body Dissatisfication, and Self-Esteem Among South Korean Women" is an academic article written by Soyoung Kim on October 1, 2018. This was published on the Social Behavior & Personality: An international Journal". Kim's article is mainly talking about the experiences of South Korean Women with beauty standards and self-esteem. Being thin is a beauty standard that is valued in multiple Asian countries and this lead to the increase of eating disorders among women. Since they are constantly surrounded by women who are thin, skinny or small, other women get the impression that you have to wear a small size to be considered beautiful. Body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem are caused by the standard of being thin equals to beautiful. Kim emphasizes that this phenomenon starts in early adolescence. This article also compares the Western and South Korean beauty standards.
I chose this article because I want to talk about the negative side of the entertainment industry in South Korea. Plastic surgery and extreme diets are very popular over there because of their beauty standards. Both male and females have their own expectations that they want to achieve. I also like how the author focused on women because they are the most affected of these beauty standards. This academic article will be helpful for my research paper because this will talk about the ugly truth of South Korean entertainment.
Kim, Soyoung. “Eating Disorders, Body Dissatisfaction, and Self-Esteem among
South Korean Women.” Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, vol. 46, no. 9, Oct. 2018, pp. 1537–46. EBSCOhost, https://dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2325/10.2224/sbp.6801.
Culture Fetishization: What is a 'Koreaboo' ?
Source #15
An article called "Fetishization of Korean Culture: What K-Pop Fails to Reveal" is written by Alice Han. This was published on the Pepperdine Graphic Media website on March 9, 2021. Han talks about how the popularization of South Korean media helped boosting the consumerism and tourism of their country. However, the appreciation can be out of hand because people tend to "overly glamourize and fetishize the culture" (Han). Then, the author talks about the ugly side (intensive trainings, creating a personality and sexism) of the K-Pop industry that these type of people ignore. Han's article tells us that we should be well informed with things. Even if the South Korean entertainment industry looks fantastic on the surface, there will always be a dark side that we ignore.
Since people are becoming more aware of this 'exotic' culture, some tends to be obsessed about it. Like, there are people (koreaboos) who denounce their own culture and consider themselves as 'Koreans'. If you search it online then you'll know how they act and look as if they are 100% Koreans. I chose this article because I will be talking about the fetishization of Korean culture as a downside of the popularization of the Korean language. There is a difference between appreciating and being obsessed on a culture. Han's article is very informative on how bad can the obsession with Korean culture be. I also like how the author talked about the negative sides of the K-Pop industry, She reminds us that this lifestyle or occupation is not easy nor glamorous at all.
Han, Alice. "Fetishization of Korean Culture: What K-Pop Fails to Reveal.", Pepperdine Graphic Media, 9 March 2021, http://pepperdine-graphic.com/fetishization-of-korean-culture-what-k-pop-fails-to-reveal/.
So, What Have I Learned?
For my project in this class, I wanted to do a research on something I am genuinely curious about. I think that it is important for me to chose a topic that interests me because this will motivate me to do this work. Since I consume a lot of South Korean media, such as music, movies and series, I chose to do my research about the Korean Language. I started from the history behind the Korean language and from there I came across some articles about the rapid popularization of it worldwide. So, I wondered "what are the reasons behind this growth?". Is it because the Korean language is easier to learn compared to Japanese and Mandarin? or is it because of the South Korean entertainment industry?
For the past 10 weeks, I have been reading and doing research about the Korean language without any specific topic in mind. I started with learning about the history of the Korean language, such as the creation of 한글 (Hangul) and the influence of China. However, as I continued my research I decided that I want to know the reason behind the popularization of the Korean language. I realized that learning Korean is becoming more popular and I was one of the learners. So, I want to answer the question "why is the Korean language gaining more popularity these days?". I found academic sources that discussed and tried to answer this question. For example, the South Korean entertainment industry really paved the way for the popularity of the language internationally. Then, I learned about there is a bad side of this industry and it is being ignored. Since Korean artists are receiving more attention, they have to create another version of themselves that will be loved by the public. So, they have to follow the country's beauty and personality standards. By doing so, they are harming their mental health because they develop eating disorders and mental health problems. Also, Korean culture became a target of culture fetishization because of the attention that they are getting from around the world.
Through this research, I learned a lot about the Korean language and culture. The creation of 한글 (Hangul) is the favourite thing that I discovered because King Sejong created a simple writing system for his people to increase literacy. But also to prevent his people from being taken for granted by the rich and powerful ones. In this project, I also did a research on the popularity of Korean media around the globe. Like, I wrote about the achievements of BTS and the Korean film industry because they are the ones who lead to the popularization of their country's language. I also included the problem with translation when it comes to Korean dramas and some Korean words that do not have direct English translation. Then, I continued my research on how does this popularity affect the wealth and image of South Korea. One of the sources that I used talked about the good effects that the popularization of South Korean media in the international scene brings to their country. The last part of my research is about the dark side of this popularity that we do not see. I learned that eating and mental disorders are common among South Korean artists because of the pressure are put on them by society. Not only that, 'Koreaboos' are spreading around the world and they are fetishizing the Korean culture.
In conclusion, I learned a lot about the Korean language and culture by doing this project. I was also able to answer the question that I have in mind while doing this project. The popularization of the Korean language is not 100% good. Yes, it improved the image and the tourism of South Korea. However, it also welcomed new problems, such as the problematic side of the South Korean entertainment industry and culture fetishization.
THE END
Thank you for visiting my google site and for reading my research.
I hope that you learn a thing or 2 from my project.
- Natalja :)