Individuality in Korean Art
Considering the ancient art of Korea, unfortunately, not much is known. The country of Korea has been constantly shaped and reshaped by existing civilizations, namely, China. Korea's vulnerability geographically, has made Korea constantly throughout history open to many influences- namely China. Despite this overwhelming influx of alien influence from China, Korea's art forms indeed had maintained it's individuality. The Chinese and Korean peoples are very different; ethnically, and culturally. Therefore, even though Korea did attempt to mimic styles from the Chinese, it still maintained it's overall individualistic forms. In my paper I would like to emphasize the marked individuality of Korea. That throughout Korea's art history, Korea was not just another, "Chinese province."
Understanding the Korean people is important in understanding the individual nature of their art throughout time. Ethnically, the Korean people are a mixture of central Asian tribes, settling down, during the Neolithic times, on the peninsula of Korea. These tribes mixed with an already existing people, the jomons, a Caucasoid people. The uniqueness in this mixture can be seen in it's early Neolithic art. like its pottery with combed surfaces; typically found in Siberian areas, and rarely found in China. Koreans during the Neolithic times, have constructed dolmens. "These dolmens offer further confirmation of the north Asian origin of the early Korean peoples, especially since they are encountered frequently in northern Asia but have not been found in China." (3, Moes) It was this originating factor that founded the unique fundamental culture of Korea, "...early tribes from Manchuria, Mongolia and Siberia were the main a...
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... been shaped, by the likes of the Chinese culture, however, the Korean people, have kept its distinct art. It eloquently expresses the qualities of the land and its people When free from the entire need to imitate. Chinese models, Korean art abounds in vitality, directness, strength, joy and a beguiling naivet*. Unpretentious, directness, ruggedness, spontaneity, and appeal as well as uniqueness." (Moes, 20) Like its people, Korean art mirrors and fuses its past present and future, allowing distinct external influences, but always, undoubtedly allowing its originating self shine through. Through its indigenous central Asian origins to its influence from the Chinese, to inevitable Westernization.
Works cited:
Moes, Robert J. Korean Art. Universe Books, New York; 1987.
Swann, Peter C. Art of China, Korea and Japan. Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., New York; 1963.
Crash is an Oscar winning, American drama from 2004 written, directed and produced by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial tensions and the effect it has on people showing their daily lives in Los Angeles, California post 9/11. The film asks hard hitting questions about racism and shows harsh realities that are normally avoided. Has an in your face approach, very raw and heart heavy. Shows reality that is normally avoided. Crash actually evolved from a real life incident where Haggis had his porsche stolen outside of a video store in 1991 in Los Angeles. There are a variety of races in this movie, hispanics, blacks, whites, asians and a particular persian family. Instead of
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Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. “A Feminist Reading of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.” The Story and Its Writer. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
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The Republic of Korea emerged from Japanese colonialism as a Third World Country. Per capita income was under one hundred dollars, the little infrastructure the Japanese built was located in the North, and income inequality was staggeringly high. The future of the Republic of Korea (hereafter simply “Korea”) looked very bleak, even with United States foreign aid. Yet several decades later Korea had become one of the world’s largest, most modern economies run by a democratic government. The “Miracle on the Han,” the term for Korea’s stunning economic growth in such a short period of time, coincided with the lifting of millions of Koreans out of poverty and the
As the narrator’s mental state changes so does the way she perceives things around the house. The most prominent example of this is the imagery of the wallpaper and the way the narrator’s opinion on the wallpaper slowly changes throughout the story; this directly reflects what is happening within the narrator’s mind. At the beginning of the story the narrator describes the wallpaper as “Repellent...revolting... a smoldering unclean yellow” (Gilman 377). As the story continues the narrator starts to become obsessed with the wallpaper and her opinion of it has completely changed than that of hers from the beginning. Symbolism plays a big part in “The Yellow Wallpaper” too. This short story has a multitude of symbols hidden in it but there are specific ones that stand out the most. The recurrence of the wallpaper definitely makes it a symbol. An interesting interpretation is that the wallpaper represents women, in the sense that the 18th century woman was considered almost decorative and that is exactly what the purpose of wallpaper is. Another prominent symbol that runs parallel with the wallpaper, are the women the narrator would see in the wallpaper. The women appear trapped behind bars in the paper and one could argue that the women the narrator sees represents all women of her time, continuously trapped in their gender
Fukuoka, Yasunori “Koreans in Japan: Past and Present,” Saitama University Review, vol. 31, no.1, 1996.
Rene Descartes decision to shatter the molds of traditional thinking is still talked about today. He is regarded as an influential abstract thinker; and some of his main ideas are still talked about by philosophers all over the world. While he wrote the "Meditations", he secluded himself from the outside world for a length of time, basically tore up his conventional thinking; and tried to come to some conclusion as to what was actually true and existing. In order to show that the sciences rest on firm foundations and that these foundations lay in the mind and not the senses, Descartes must begin by bringing into doubt all the beliefs that come to him by the senses. This is done in the first of six different steps that he named "Meditations" because of the state of mind he was in while he was contemplating all these different ideas. His six meditations are "One:Concerning those things that can be called into doubt", "Two:Concerning the Nature of the Human mind: that it is better known than the Body", "Three: Concerning God, that he exists", "Four: Concerning the True and the False", "Five: Concerning the Essence of Material things, and again concerning God, that he exists" and finally "Six: Concerning the Existence of Material things, and the real distinction between Mind and Body". Although all of these meditations are relevant and necessary to understand the complete work as a whole, the focus of this paper will be the first meditation.
Confucianism, one of the most significant East Asian philosophies, had been present in the Korean peninsula since the 4th century and for many centuries had played a significant role in transforming the Korean society (Lipman 45). Despite its roots in the contemporary Ming China, Koreans adopted the fundamentals of the philosophy by interpreting the classical texts. (Lipman 45) Since the beginning of its existence in the peninsula, the philosophy was more important among the elite men, it promoted feudalism and filial piety, creating an inferior group of slaves, women and com...
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, more commonly known as Jelly Roll Morton, was born to a creole family in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Morton lived with several family members in different areas of New Orleans, exposing him to different musical worlds including European and classical music, dance music, and the blues (Gushee, 394). Morton tried to play several different instruments including the guitar; however, unsatisfied with the teachers’ lack of training, he decided to teach himself how to play instruments without formal training (Lomax, 8). ...
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In this interview Ben Bagley asks Theresa Han about the difference between Korean and American culture. Theresa is a teenager who recently moved to the United States so she has an excellent perspective for understanding the differences and similarities between these countries.