바로가기메뉴

본문 바로가기 주메뉴 바로가기

logo

ISSN : 0023-3900

Article Contents

Prev Next
e-Submission

Vol.52 No.4
Citation Share

The Concept of Sahoe (Society) in the Practice and Discourse of Sahoejang (Public Funeral) in Colonial Korea

Korea Journal / Korea Journal, (P)0023-3900; (E)2733-9343
2012, v.52 no.4, pp.36-59
https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2012.52.4.36

(2012). The Concept of Sahoe (Society) in the Practice and Discourse of Sahoejang (Public Funeral) in Colonial Korea. Korea Journal, 52(4), 36-59, https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2012.52.4.36
  • Downloaded
  • Viewed
PDF Download

Abstract

This article examines the collective ritual known as sahoejang (public funeral) in order to trace the shifting concept of what was understood as society during the colonial period (1910-1945). Major sources of information include original newspaper articles and discursive materials on the funerals of Yu Gil-jun (1914), Kim Yun-sik (1922), Yi Sang-jae (1927), and Yi Seung-hun (1930). Thirteen other sahoejang that took place in various local communities between late 1920s and early 1940s are also briefly examined. In examining sahoejang, in terms of both their practice and discourse, I analyze the trajectory of fluid and changing imaginaries and concepts on social boundaries, about who has social membership, who has the right to represent the membership thus formed, and what is considered socially valuable. I argue first that the notion of society during the colonial period stimulated imaginations and expectations about collective subjectivity of the colonized, and second that collective subjectivity was expressed through the formation of voluntary organizations and activities, which led to social solidarity, rallying of public opinions and leveling of traditionally hierarchical authorities.

keywords
society, state, local, sahoejang, collective subjectivity, minjung, lateral communication

Reference

1.

Academy of Korean Studies (AKS), ed. 2001. Hanguk minjok munhwa daebaekgwa sajeon (Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture). First revised and expanded edition. Seongnam: Academy of Korean Studies.

2.

Han, Sangkoo. 2002. “Ilje sigi jiyeok sahoe-ui ‘ijung gwonwi gujo’-e daehan yeongu siron” (A Discussion on the Study of the “Dual Power Structure” in Local Communities during the Japanese Colonial Period). Paper presented at the monthly forum of the Institute for Korean Historical Studies, Seoul, September 30.

3.

Kim, Gyeong-jae. 1930. “Olhae il-nyeon joseon-eun eotteoke dong-haenna”(How Did Joseon Operate This Year). Byeolgeongon (Another World) 35(December).

4.

Kim, Hyon-gyong. 2007. “Gongjeok gonggan-eseoui musi-wa moyok-ui uimie daehayeo” (On the Meaning of Disrespect and Insult in Public Spaces). Sahoe-wa yeoksa (Society and History) 75.

5.

Kim, Hyun-ju. 2005a. “Kim Yun-sik sahoejang sageon-ui jeongchi munhwajeok uimi” (The Political-Cultural Significance of the Controversy over Kim Yun-sik’s Funeral). Dongbang hakji (Journal of Korean Studies)132.

6.

Kim, Hyun-ju. 2005b. Yi Gwang-su-wa munhwa-ui gihoek (Yi Gwang-su and the Cultural Project). Seoul: Taehaksa.

7.

Kim, Hyun-ju. 2009. “1910 nyeondae cho maeil sinbo-ui sahoe damnon-gwa gonggongseong” (Social Discourse and Public Interests in the Maeil Sinbo in the Early 1910s). Hyeondae munhak-ui yeongu (Journal of Korean Modern Literature) 39.

8.

Kim, Hyun-ju. 2010. “Singminji-eseo ‘sahoe’-wa ‘sahoejeok’ gonggongseong-ui gwejeok” (The Trajectory of “Society” and “Social” Public Interests in a Colony). Hanguk munhak yeongu (Studies in Korean Literature) 38.

9.

Lim, Kyongsok. 2005. “Unyang Kim Yun-sik-ui jugeum-eul daeha-neun du gae-ui sigak” (Two Views on Dealing with the Death of Unyang Kim Yun-sik). Yeoksa-wa hyeonsil (History and Reality) 57.

10.

Park, Joo Won. 2004. “Dongnip sinmun-gwa geundaejeok ‘gaein,’ ‘sahoe’ gaenyeom-ui tansaeng” (Dongnip sinmun and the Birth of “Individual” and “Society” as Modern Concepts). In Geundae gyemonggi jisik gaenyeom-ui suyong-gwa geu byeonyong (The Reception of Intellectual Concepts and Their Transformation in the Enlightenment Period), by the Korea Culture Research Institute at Ewha Womans University. Seoul: Somyoung Publishing.

11.

Park, Myoungkyu. 2001. “Hanmal ‘sahoe’ gaenyeom-ui suyong-gwa geu uimi chegye” (The Reception and the Semantics of “Society” in the Last Years of the Great Han Empire). Sahoe-wa yeoksa (Society and History) 59.

12.

Park, Myoungkyu. 2003. “1920 nyeondae ‘sahoe’ insik-gwa gaeinjuui” (The Perception of “Society” and Individualism in the 1920s). In Hanguk sahoe sasangsa yeongu (A Study of the History of Korean Social Thoughts), by Kim Kyungil et al. Seoul: Nanam.

13.

Taylor, Charles. 2010. Geundae-ui sahoejeok sangsang (Modern Social Imaginaries). Translated by Yi Sang-gil. Seoul: Ieum. Originally published as Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004).

14.

Yun, Hae Dong. 2007. Singminji geundae-ui paereodokseu (The Paradox of Colonial Modernity). Seoul: Humanist.

15.

Yun, Hae Dong, and Hwang Byoung Joo, eds. 2010. Singminji gonggongseong(Colonial Publicness). Seoul: Chaekkwa Hamkke.

Korea Journal

e-Submission OA Policy