Papers by SEUNG SOO KIM
Journal of Korean Religions , 2017
Templestay, the cultural experience program accommodating foreign and domestic visitors to Korean... more Templestay, the cultural experience program accommodating foreign and domestic visitors to Korean Buddhist temples, is one of the most successful and popular heritage tourism products of contemporary South Korea. Noting the interwoven relationship between Korean Buddhism, the state's heritage policies, spiritual tourism, contemporary brand culture, and new digital media, this research explores how the branding practices and narrative of Templestay in digital spaces newly shape the presence of Korean Buddhism in the contemporary social world that is inevitably imagined and constantly (re)mediated. Despite Templestay's efforts to anchor Korean Buddhism in the locations of tradition, spirituality, the sacred, the self, and authenticity in the contexts of late-modernity and globalization, this research finds, the public presence of Korean Buddhism, mediated by digital media and branding practice, constantly oscillates between the secular and the sacred, the global and the local, modernity and tradition, tourism and spirituality, the market and the self, and commodity and authenticity. It is the dilemma of Korean Buddhism that the spontaneous employment of digital media and branding practices for sustaining and fixing its public presence in this highly mediated and networked social world, inevitably generates the ambivalence and in-betweenness of the mediated presence of Korean Buddhism.
Books by SEUNG SOO KIM
Digital Korea: Digital Technology and the Change of Social Life, 2018
Global Perspectives on Dialogue in the Classroom, 2021
This chapter introduces how a bible circle leader, also a student of post-structuralist thoughts,... more This chapter introduces how a bible circle leader, also a student of post-structuralist thoughts, attempted to build up dialogic relationships in and out of a Korean diasporic church based in Boulder in the United States. Self-deprecating humor, disrupting seniority built in Korean language, and sharing food, chat, and time are presented as the ways to initiate the dialogic relationships. This chapter provides a few implications for the classroom. First, a collective ritual in which the entire class can participate, like sharing small treats altogether, can enhance a communal sense of bonding and belonging in the class. Second, building dialogic relationships might require simultaneously cracking and subverting power relations surrounding educator and student. Lastly, if one ever learns from a religious community, (dialogic) relationship, which takes commitment in time, precedes dialogue.
In S. M. Hoover & N. Echachaibi (Eds.), Media and Religion: The Global View (pp. 159-179). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter., 2021
This case study raises a question of if and how terms such as democratization, modernization, and... more This case study raises a question of if and how terms such as democratization, modernization, and liberalization, easily associated with digital media use, are closely interwoven with the imperial and teleological social imaginary of the linear and universal History in whose singular timeline ‘Europe’ always and already precedes other non-European countries. In other words, there is a subtle resonance between the received understanding of these terms and the social imaginary of the linear and universal History, whose mediation and circulation, during the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy, Korean and international liberal online media significantly contributed to. Reminding of the significance of the imaginary to the (re)production of particular social reality and that of media technology and media-related practice to the mediation and circulation of such imaginaries, this case study illuminates a necessity to examine what social imaginaries are formed and thickened when journalists and/or intellectuals employ particular concepts and categories that presuppose a particular relationship between new digital media and social change. In this way, this case study shows how imperial formations can be predicated on the producing, mediating, and circulating of particular social imaginaries about religious subjects and history, especially by means of new digital media in the South Korean context.
Handbook of Religion and Society, Jul 2016
In this chapter we first explore the three primary domains into which scholars have divided the s... more In this chapter we first explore the three primary domains into which scholars have divided the study of media and religion: producers of media content, media content itself, and media effects. We then examine ways in which scholars have attempted to move beyond the instrumentalist approach to media, especially by taking a more cultural approach to the study of media. This paradigm shift in media studies coincided with the shift toward a new paradigm for the sociological study of religion advocated by Warner (1993). We next explore the emerging and dynamic world of digital media, which has profoundly affected both the study and practice of religion. We conclude with thoughts on directions for future research at the intersection of religion and media.
Book Reviews by SEUNG SOO KIM
Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture , 2016
Mission Invisible explores the question of how Canadian news coverage imagined, represented and g... more Mission Invisible explores the question of how Canadian news coverage imagined, represented and generalized Muslim communities right after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, particularly focusing on a twenty-day period (Sep. 11-30) of news coverage in The Montreal Gazette, the only English-language daily newspaper in Montreal, Quebec, which is "read by many of Montreal's Anglophone decision makers, including professionals, executives, politicians, and owners" (p. 25). The book is written by the late Ross Perigoe, who was an associate professor in the Department of Journalism at Concordia University in Montreal, and Mahmoud Eid, an associate professor at the Department of Communication, University of Ottawa. The core argument of this book is that The Gazette's news coverage, which mirrors the pervasive racist ideology of white supremacy and normalcy in most North American media, produced a misrepresentation of Muslim communities, which made their diversity and differences invisible and further racialised them as a homogeneously inferior, fundamentalist and thus dangerous Other threatening the civilized, superior and righteous West. The authors highlight that Muslims are racialised "not because of their physical features" but because of their religious faith, cultural membership and "their perceived ideological and socially constructed differences" (p. 54). The book demonstrates that The Gazette implicitly and
Thesis Chapters by SEUNG SOO KIM
This dissertation project has two case studies. The first case study captures the 2012 Lady Gaga ... more This dissertation project has two case studies. The first case study captures the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy and the 2015 knife attack on U.S. Ambassador in South Korea as the two symptomatic moments where social imaginaries of history, modernity and Korean Protestantism are being shaped, carried, mediated and circulated. This case study examines online news articles and photographic images circulated in digital social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, as a material site where these social imaginaries are glimpsed, conveyed, circulated and formed. The other case study is concerned with the neo-liberal branding of Templestay where the Korean government and Korean Buddhism together produce particular imaginaries of Korean tradition and Buddhism. It looks into the official English and Korean websites of Templestay and its social media services including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as a material site where the social imaginaries of Korean Buddhism are glimpsed, conveyed, circulated and shaped. Further, both case studies conduct interviews with those who systemically produce social imaginaries of Korean Buddhism (e.g. managers of PR team in Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism) and Protestantism (e.g. mainline religion journalists and columnists) and with the audience who are exposed, in a focus group interview setting, to the texts and visual images of the online news articles and websites which the case studies examine.
Noting the significance of the newly imagining, defining and writing Korean modernity and world h... more Noting the significance of the newly imagining, defining and writing Korean modernity and world history (Shome, 2014), this chapter examines Korean modern history as conditions that have been lived by ordinary Korean people and have significantly contributed to the shaping of the conventional understanding and imaginaries about modernity and Korean Protestantism and Buddhism. In other words, in order to look into social imaginaries on Korean Protestantism and Buddhism and their interwoven relationships with those on modernity, this chapter explores the question of which politico-economic events and forces have conditioned the formation of social imaginaries on Korean Protestantism and Buddhism in Korean modern history. Thus, it explores the interwoven relationships between some critical politico-economic conditions in Korean modern history and the two religions, while taking the risks of more or less selectively simplifying the complexities, dynamics and ambivalences of Korean modern history and of temporally identifying Korean modern history with the historical time which Korean people, in general, consider as their modern times: from 1876, when Japan began its project of colonial domination in Korea by opening up Korean ports, to the present.
This chapter discusses theories of modernity and social imaginary which both are the fundamental ... more This chapter discusses theories of modernity and social imaginary which both are the fundamental conceptual framework to bind, and think of, the two case studies altogether examining the branding of Templestay and the media representation of Korean Protestantism in the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy and the 2015 knife attack on the U. S. ambassador. First, theories of modernities are reviewed particularly focusing on the critiques of modernization theory and of the Eurocentrism and universalism embedded in it. The recent efforts to newly define modernity in a non-Eurocentric way are introduced. It is discussed what implications the trials have in thinking of Korean modernity where the two case studies are contextualized and historicized.
Then, I build up a theoretical framework to understand the working of social imaginaries in contemporary social worlds which are inevitably imagined, constantly (re)mediated, and thus multiply decontextualized and re-contextualized. The concepts of imaginary/imagination and social imaginaries are carefully explored as a form of social understandings through which people make sense of their existence, the world and social order in which they live. And it is argued that the concepts of circulation and mediation capture the image of process and multidirectionality characterizing the formation of contemporary social worlds that are held by particular social imaginaries. Lastly, it is explored how social imaginaries come to be embodied into social bodies and what implications of the embodiment of social imaginaries have in terms of the branding of Templestay and the media representation of Korean Protestantism in the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy and the 2015 knife attack on the U. S. ambassador
Imagining Religion and Modernity in Post-Colonial Korea: Neo-Liberal Brand Culture and Digital Space, Aug 22, 2016
The dissertation explores how the formation, mediation, and circulation of contemporary imaginari... more The dissertation explores how the formation, mediation, and circulation of contemporary imaginaries about Korean Protestantism and Buddhism are closely entangled with new digital media technology, neo-liberal brand culture, colonial history, and modern imaginary of universal, linear, and progressive history. It has two empirical case studies focusing on 1) secular liberal media’s coverage of Korean Protestantism in the events of the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy and the 2015 Knife attack on the U. S. ambassador Mark Lippert and 2) the branding of the spirituality and authenticity of Buddhism through digital media by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism which is the State-driven institution to brand not only Korean Buddhism but Korean tradition as a neo-liberal tourism product. To historicize the imaginaries about Korean Protestantism and Buddhism, this dissertation conducts a historical survey of the two religions in Korean modern history ranging from Japanese colonial regime to the neo-liberal formation of Korean society as well. In exploring the social imaginaries, the dissertation takes production, audience reception, and textual analysis altogether and makes each research perspective and method complemented by others.
Based on the multi-perspectival approach, the dissertation finds that Korean Protestantism is imagined as the irrational, inferior, and dangerous Other threatening the complete modernization and civilization of Korea, contrary to its being imagined as the symbol of Western modernity and civilization in the early modern Korea. Meanwhile, Korean Buddhism is ambivalently imagined and branded not only as a long-preserved spirituality and tradition but as a cutting-edge antidote to neo-liberal individuals’ selves corrupted and exhausted by late-modern technology and lifestyle, contrary to its being imagined as the symbol of the uncivilized in the early modern Korea. In the imaginaries and narratives about Korean Buddhism and Protestantism, the dissertation detects both Protestant semiotic imaginary dichotomizing spirit and matter, content and form, and the pure(unmixed) and the corrupted(mixed) and modern social imaginary of the linear and universal world history.
The dissertation contributes to the recent efforts to theorize digital media as in-between social space where people make affective and informative relationships with others and thus form loosely-structured, temporal communities sharing symbols, knowledge and sentiments and memories. The case studies explore how digital space comes to be a site where people collectively imagine and understand not only the two religions but Korean-ness, modernity and world history by circulating and sharing visual images, symbols and narratives. Second, it offers an empirical study demonstrating how digital media affords the branding of religion in a post-colonial social world intersecting with neo-liberalism. It is the imaginary and locale of ‘tradition’ in which post-colonial Korea and its alleged indigenous Buddhism find a communal source to brand themselves attractive and sellable to cosmopolitan consumers all over the world who search for authentic, exotic and spiritual experience to escape from late-modern technology and lifestyle. Third, it enriches the scholarly discussion about the significance of imagination, mediation, and circulation in the (multiple) formations of post-colonial modernity. It particularly illuminates how social imaginaries about ‘the modern’ in South Korea are being shaped in the encounters with, and the mediations and circulations of, images, symbols, and ideas associated with Korean Buddhism and Protestantism. That is, the dissertation not only reveals new locations and public presences of religion in the modern social imaginaries circulated in contemporary Korea but demonstrates how social imaginaries about “the modern” and those about religion are co-constituted in the post-colonial context of South Korea. Lastly, problematizing Eurocentrism underlying the social imaginaries circulated, it not only complicates what ‘the modern’ is, but demonstrates how ‘the modern’ comes to acquire hegemony at the levels of the imaginary, bodily sensation, sentiment, and habitus in contemporary Korea.
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Papers by SEUNG SOO KIM
Books by SEUNG SOO KIM
Book Reviews by SEUNG SOO KIM
Thesis Chapters by SEUNG SOO KIM
Then, I build up a theoretical framework to understand the working of social imaginaries in contemporary social worlds which are inevitably imagined, constantly (re)mediated, and thus multiply decontextualized and re-contextualized. The concepts of imaginary/imagination and social imaginaries are carefully explored as a form of social understandings through which people make sense of their existence, the world and social order in which they live. And it is argued that the concepts of circulation and mediation capture the image of process and multidirectionality characterizing the formation of contemporary social worlds that are held by particular social imaginaries. Lastly, it is explored how social imaginaries come to be embodied into social bodies and what implications of the embodiment of social imaginaries have in terms of the branding of Templestay and the media representation of Korean Protestantism in the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy and the 2015 knife attack on the U. S. ambassador
Based on the multi-perspectival approach, the dissertation finds that Korean Protestantism is imagined as the irrational, inferior, and dangerous Other threatening the complete modernization and civilization of Korea, contrary to its being imagined as the symbol of Western modernity and civilization in the early modern Korea. Meanwhile, Korean Buddhism is ambivalently imagined and branded not only as a long-preserved spirituality and tradition but as a cutting-edge antidote to neo-liberal individuals’ selves corrupted and exhausted by late-modern technology and lifestyle, contrary to its being imagined as the symbol of the uncivilized in the early modern Korea. In the imaginaries and narratives about Korean Buddhism and Protestantism, the dissertation detects both Protestant semiotic imaginary dichotomizing spirit and matter, content and form, and the pure(unmixed) and the corrupted(mixed) and modern social imaginary of the linear and universal world history.
The dissertation contributes to the recent efforts to theorize digital media as in-between social space where people make affective and informative relationships with others and thus form loosely-structured, temporal communities sharing symbols, knowledge and sentiments and memories. The case studies explore how digital space comes to be a site where people collectively imagine and understand not only the two religions but Korean-ness, modernity and world history by circulating and sharing visual images, symbols and narratives. Second, it offers an empirical study demonstrating how digital media affords the branding of religion in a post-colonial social world intersecting with neo-liberalism. It is the imaginary and locale of ‘tradition’ in which post-colonial Korea and its alleged indigenous Buddhism find a communal source to brand themselves attractive and sellable to cosmopolitan consumers all over the world who search for authentic, exotic and spiritual experience to escape from late-modern technology and lifestyle. Third, it enriches the scholarly discussion about the significance of imagination, mediation, and circulation in the (multiple) formations of post-colonial modernity. It particularly illuminates how social imaginaries about ‘the modern’ in South Korea are being shaped in the encounters with, and the mediations and circulations of, images, symbols, and ideas associated with Korean Buddhism and Protestantism. That is, the dissertation not only reveals new locations and public presences of religion in the modern social imaginaries circulated in contemporary Korea but demonstrates how social imaginaries about “the modern” and those about religion are co-constituted in the post-colonial context of South Korea. Lastly, problematizing Eurocentrism underlying the social imaginaries circulated, it not only complicates what ‘the modern’ is, but demonstrates how ‘the modern’ comes to acquire hegemony at the levels of the imaginary, bodily sensation, sentiment, and habitus in contemporary Korea.
Then, I build up a theoretical framework to understand the working of social imaginaries in contemporary social worlds which are inevitably imagined, constantly (re)mediated, and thus multiply decontextualized and re-contextualized. The concepts of imaginary/imagination and social imaginaries are carefully explored as a form of social understandings through which people make sense of their existence, the world and social order in which they live. And it is argued that the concepts of circulation and mediation capture the image of process and multidirectionality characterizing the formation of contemporary social worlds that are held by particular social imaginaries. Lastly, it is explored how social imaginaries come to be embodied into social bodies and what implications of the embodiment of social imaginaries have in terms of the branding of Templestay and the media representation of Korean Protestantism in the 2012 Lady Gaga controversy and the 2015 knife attack on the U. S. ambassador
Based on the multi-perspectival approach, the dissertation finds that Korean Protestantism is imagined as the irrational, inferior, and dangerous Other threatening the complete modernization and civilization of Korea, contrary to its being imagined as the symbol of Western modernity and civilization in the early modern Korea. Meanwhile, Korean Buddhism is ambivalently imagined and branded not only as a long-preserved spirituality and tradition but as a cutting-edge antidote to neo-liberal individuals’ selves corrupted and exhausted by late-modern technology and lifestyle, contrary to its being imagined as the symbol of the uncivilized in the early modern Korea. In the imaginaries and narratives about Korean Buddhism and Protestantism, the dissertation detects both Protestant semiotic imaginary dichotomizing spirit and matter, content and form, and the pure(unmixed) and the corrupted(mixed) and modern social imaginary of the linear and universal world history.
The dissertation contributes to the recent efforts to theorize digital media as in-between social space where people make affective and informative relationships with others and thus form loosely-structured, temporal communities sharing symbols, knowledge and sentiments and memories. The case studies explore how digital space comes to be a site where people collectively imagine and understand not only the two religions but Korean-ness, modernity and world history by circulating and sharing visual images, symbols and narratives. Second, it offers an empirical study demonstrating how digital media affords the branding of religion in a post-colonial social world intersecting with neo-liberalism. It is the imaginary and locale of ‘tradition’ in which post-colonial Korea and its alleged indigenous Buddhism find a communal source to brand themselves attractive and sellable to cosmopolitan consumers all over the world who search for authentic, exotic and spiritual experience to escape from late-modern technology and lifestyle. Third, it enriches the scholarly discussion about the significance of imagination, mediation, and circulation in the (multiple) formations of post-colonial modernity. It particularly illuminates how social imaginaries about ‘the modern’ in South Korea are being shaped in the encounters with, and the mediations and circulations of, images, symbols, and ideas associated with Korean Buddhism and Protestantism. That is, the dissertation not only reveals new locations and public presences of religion in the modern social imaginaries circulated in contemporary Korea but demonstrates how social imaginaries about “the modern” and those about religion are co-constituted in the post-colonial context of South Korea. Lastly, problematizing Eurocentrism underlying the social imaginaries circulated, it not only complicates what ‘the modern’ is, but demonstrates how ‘the modern’ comes to acquire hegemony at the levels of the imaginary, bodily sensation, sentiment, and habitus in contemporary Korea.