뉴스레터

The study of Korean studies in Western academia is focused on modern and contemporary times

Recently, Korean films, dramas, music, and other popular cultures have become popular, and universities in the West have opened Korean-related courses and Korean studies have developed greatly. However, Korean studies are still biased toward linguistics, literature, sociology, politics, economics, and international relations. In particular, the Korean history field focuses on the 20th century, including colonial rule, the Korean War, economic development and democratization movements, and Korea-US relations. Furthermore, the Korean history major of the pre-modern period in the West has been concentrated in the late Joseon Dynasty since the 18th century. More than 60 Korean-related panels are seen at the Association for Asian Studies annual conference in Hawaii, March 2023. However, there are only three panels before the 19th century and only one panel in the Goryeo period.

A Study on the History of Goryeo in Western Academics

There are always a few people studying the Goryeo period in Western academia. This is related to the characteristics of the curriculum of American academia focusing on modern and contemporary. In comparison, European academics showed interest in pre-modern Korea. However, the number of majors was still small, and it was focused on some fields such as certain periods, institutions, and religions(Buddhism). The majors of the Goryeo period in the West provided a new perspective different from the domestic academics. In the past, the change of Korean history was interpreted in connection with the emergence of new forces. However, Professor John B. Duncan of UCLA recognized the founding of the Joseon Dynasty as a process of completing the centralized bureaucracy that has continued since the founding of the Goryeo Dynasty. Meanwhile, Professor Edward J. Shultz of the University of Hawaii negatively evaluated the Goryeo military regime as an unusual time for Korean history. He argued that the tradition of Korea, which makes science the best value, was established at this time. Professor Juhn Y. Ahn of the University of Michigan presented a completely different argument about the policy of the late Goryeo and early Joseon, which admired Confucianism and rejected Buddhism. The book written by Duncan and Shultz has recently been translated into Korean and received attention from domestic academia.

However, the prospects of Western academia on the history of Goryeo are not bright. To study the history of premodern times, you have to have the reading ability of Korean, Chinese and Japanese. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and effort. However, graduate students in the West avoid pre-modern history due to problems such as employment. So the number of new scholars who will fill the position of retired scholars is decreasing. Fewer than half of the scholars who wrote the second volume of the Cambridge History of Korea (the Goryeo period) are active in Western academia.

The Perception of East Asian Researchers in Western Academic Society on 'Goryeo'

Most of the Western scholars interested in the Goryeo period are those who majored in the Song Dynasty, Georan, Jurchen, Mongolian Empire, Heian(平安) and Kamakura(鎌倉) periods in Japan. However, Western researchers who study Chinese history set China(Han Chinese) as the center of East Asian history and are not interested in the historical perspective and role of 'neighboring countries' such as Korea. Those who study the Song Dynasty utilize rich and diverse historical records. So they tend to undervalue the study of the Goryeo period, which depends entirely on Goryeosa, Goryeosa Jeolyo, and several literary collections. The sixth volume of the Cambridge History of Korea was written by leading Chinese history researchers from the West. The contents of the Goryeo period in this book depend on the books and papers of William Henthorn and Michael C. Rogers published in the 1960s, and there is no achievement in Korean academia at all. Furthermore, the problems in the compilation process and the 『history of Goryeo』 were not reviewed at all; the 『history of Liao』 and the 『history of Yuan』 could be confirmed and supplemented.

Scholars studying East Asia in Western academia know Goryeo as a country that has paid tribute to the Georan, Jin and Song Dynasty. And it is recognized as passive because of political interference of Mongolian empire. However, if we stick to the record that Goryeo has paid tribute in the study on the history of Korea-China relations, we can not expect a comprehensive understanding of the fluid and complex situation of the pluralistic international order and the pledge system in East Asia. The preconception that Goryeo was a royal vassal or tributary state that conformed to the Han Chinese-centered order is the result of not reflecting the studies of Korean academia that dealt with various factors such as politics, economic motivation, cultural exchange, security, and realism and pragmatic strategy of Goryeo in depth.

The necessity of studying the history of the Goryeo Dynasty

The Chinese and Japanese studies of the West have many researchers in various eras and fields. In the early days, they also studied with a focus on the modern and contemporary era. Then they studied in depth about the pre-modern era and tried to understand various experiences of history and culture of the traditional era in the process of modernization. However, those who study East Asia in the West learned about the history of Korea, especially the history of the Goryeo period, through the achievements and perspectives of Chinese and Japanese academia. In other words, the history of pre-modern Korea became the other and the surrounding by the biased view that it recognized as 'the East' of the West, China and Japan. The gap in Western studies on the history of the Goryeo period can lead to the confirmation of the prejudice that Goryeo imitated the advanced culture of the outside. Overcoming this is one of the most urgent tasks in the process of globalization of Korean studies. More investment and support are required to foster majors in the history of Goryeo Dynasty who will actively promote the achievements of domestic academia and conduct research from an independent perspective.