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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

A ‘Cultural Ambassador’to Increase Awarenessof Korea

2007 was an exciting year in my life. It was the first time that I got to spend a whole year in Korea, learn about its culture, and conduct fieldwork for my research. My main topic of investigation is material culture in musok (Korean shamanism). During the year, I got to know many mudang (Korean shamans), participate in their rituals and worship practices, and learn how they prepare and maintain their ritual paraphernalia. I also worked closely with musok artists and art dealers, who produce and sell the beautiful costumes, paper flowers, charms (bujeok), and altars that mudang use in their work. The Korea Foundation sponsored me during that year, and for that I am very grateful.

A room in downtown Seoul that belongs to the Foundation was my home for that year. The location was superb. Within walking distance, I could visit Prof. Yang Jong-sung, a senior curator of the National Folk Museum, who was my personal adviser. Walking 40 minutes uphill from my room, I could reach the famous shaman shrine, Guksadang, on Mt. Inwangsan, where many times I watched pilgrims perform personal rituals and pray to the gods of the mountains, the water, and the stars. Inwangsan was a good place to meet mudang without formal introduction.

Seoul’s palaces were also very close to my house, as well as the city hall square, where cultural events and festivals took place every week. Jongno road, where most stores that handle religious arts and crafts are located, was on my daily route anywhere. Walking to the great English-language book store, Seoul Selection, provided me with many needed books about Korean culture. It seemed as if the Korea Foundation chose my living quarters in complete accordance with my research interest.

Upon return to the United States, I began writing my dissertation, s of Worship: Material Culture in the Production of Shamanic Rituals in South Korea. Together with colleagues of the Folklore Department at Indiana University, we presented a panel about material culture at the Central States Anthropological Society Conference in Indianapolis. Later in 2008, I traveled back to my

home country, Israel, where I reside now. Korean culture is known very little here, as the more prominent East Asian cultures in Israeli media and academia are those of China and Japan. Korean culture raised the interest of the faculty of the Department of East Asian Studies at Tel-Aviv University, who invited me to talk at one of their departmental seminar meetings and also offered me to teach a course about tradition in Japan’s and Korea’s electronic media. The excitement and involvement of my Israeli students in their newly acquired taste for Korean culture resulted in interesting papers about Korean television series and films.

The online availability of many Korean cultural goods helped in their work, and enabled them to extend their knowledge of Korean culture beyond the course requirements. I also presented aspects of religious interaction in Korea during the conference “Monotheism in Asia: Inter-Religious Trends,” at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. In a way, I feel like a cultural missionary, talking about a little known aspect of the rich culture Korea has d over the centuries. I am glad that there is a growing audience in the West and in Israel for such topics, and hope to be able to continue my work here to promote awareness of this wonderful culture.

The Korea Foundation has been the most kind and helpful sponsor throughout my fieldwork in Seoul, and contributed to the warm feeling that me and my family share when reflecting upon the time we spent there. As for my professional quest in Korean culture research, while continuing to work with Internet materials and other digital media, I hope to go back soon in order to continue my observations and interviews with Korean culture professionals. The wealth of interesting research materials, the generosity and accommodation of the Korea Foundation, and the hospitality and warm welcome we received from the Korean people in general completes our wholesome experience of Korea and our longing to return.

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