574:310 Gender and Social Change in Korea
Prof. Suzy Kim
Email: suzykim@rci.rutgers.edu
Office: Scott Hall 336
Course Description
This course explores the shifting category of femininity and masculinity, women’s roles and their
experiences of social change in Korea from the late 19th century into contemporary times.
Concepts such as ‘new women’ surfaced in discourses at the turn of the last century, as gender
became the site in which notions of ‘tradition’ and the ‘modern’ came to be defined. Such
ideological struggles came to have concrete consequences for women during the colonial period
as women were mobilized like never before in public arenas as imperial subjects under Japanese
colonial rule. With the end of the colonial period, the battle over the ideal image of woman
continued in full force as both North and South Korea steamed full speed ahead towards
modernization. We will examine how gender intersects with political and economic
developments in modern Korea, including mediums such as films and short stories.
Course Goals
 Understanding of modern Korean history with a focus on gender relations.
 Introduction to gender studies and awareness of the way gender is constructed in different
historical periods.
 Research and writing skills using various research tools to make persuasive arguments,
written clearly and concisely.
Core Curriculum Learning Goals Met by this Course:
II.B.h: Social Science & History – Understand the bases and development of human and societal
endeavors across time and place.
II.B1.k: Historical Analysis – Explain the development of some aspect of a society or culture over
time, including the history of ideas or history of science.
II.C.o: Examine critically philosophical and other theoretical issues concerning the nature of
reality, human experience, knowledge, value, and/or cultural production.
Department Learning Goals Met by this Course:
Acquire in-depth knowledge of at least one East Asian language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean)
and the literature and culture of one or more of these countries; effectively use tools (reference
works, etc.) and technology appropriate to learning an East Asian language; and analyze issues
concerning East Asia and relate them to other areas in the humanities and social sciences
following an interdisciplinary approach.
Course Structure
Classes will include combinations of lectures, films, and discussions. Each week, students are
responsible for submitting written responses (2-3 paragraphs) before class, which should lay out
one’s critical understanding and analysis of the readings, and 1-2 questions or issues that could be
raised in class for discussion. See attachment for directions for weekly responses. Students will
take turns presenting these in class to facilitate discussion.
Course Requirements & Grade Distribution
1
Class Attendance, Participation 10%
Presentation & Weekly Responses 30%
Take-home mid-term essay (4-6 double-spaced pages) 30%
Final Paper (6-8 double-spaced pages) 30%
Course Policy
 Plagiarism: All written work should be composed in the student’s own words and the
ideas of others should be properly cited.
 Assignments: All reading and written assignments are required and should be done
before class. Late assignments will be deducted a full letter grade for each late day (i.e.
A to a B, B to a C…).
 Attendance: Regular class attendance is mandatory. More than 4 absences can result in a
failing grade for the course.
 Gadgets: All communication devices must be turned off for the duration of the class, and
laptops may be used only to take notes.
 Disabilities: Students with disabilities who are seeking consideration for services or
accommodations should immediately contact the Office of Disability Services at (732)
932-2848, 151 College Ave.
 Final note: This syllabus may be modified throughout the semester, and it is the
responsibility of each student to keep up to date of any and all announcements made in
class.
Required Texts (additional readings available online marked by an asterisk*)
 Elaine Kim & Chungmoo Choi eds., Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean
Nationalism (Routledge, 1998)
 Laurel Kendall ed., Under Construction: the Gendering of Modernity, Class, and
Consumption in the Republic of Korea (University of Hawaii Press, 2002)
 Katharine Moon, Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations
(Columbia University Press, 1997)
 Wan-Suh Park, A Sketch of the Fading Sun (White Pine Press, 1999)
Recommended Text for those unfamiliar with Korean history
 Bruce Cumings, Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Norton, 2005)
Class Schedule
Week 1: Introductions
1/19
Class Overview
Week 2: Gender & Modernity
1/24 What is gender?
 Joan W. Scott, “Gender: A useful category of historical analysis,” The American
Historical Review, vol. 91, no. 5 (December 1986) p. 1053-1075
 Chandra Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes: feminist scholarship and colonial discourses,”
Feminist Review 30 (Autumn 1988) p. 61-88
1/26 What is modernity?
 Laurel Kendall & Mark Peterson, “‘Traditional Korean Women’ – A Reconsideration,”
in Korean Women: View from the Inner Room (p. 5-17)
 Laurel Kendall, Introduction in Under Construction (p. 1-24)
2
Week 3: Women, Tradition, Modernity
1/31 Wife/Mother in Choson Korea
 Martina Deuchler, “Women during the Yi Dynasty” in Virtues in Conflict: Tradition and
the Korean Woman Today, ed. Sandra Mattielli (Royal Asiatic Society, 1977) p. 1-47
 Cho Haejoang, “Male dominance and mother power: the two sides of Confucian
patriarchy in Korea,” in Confucianism and the Family, eds. Slote & DeVos (1998) p.
187-203
 FILM REVIEW: Watch Chunhyangdyon (Dir. Im Kwon-taek, 2000) – How does
the film’s portrayal of Choson women differ from the readings?
2/2
Modernization Movement
 Hyaeweol Choi, “Women’s Literacy and New Womanhood in Late Choson
Korea,” Asian Journal of Women's Studies Vol. 6, No. 1 (2000) p. 88-115
 Park Yong-ock, “The Women’s Modernization Movement in Korea,” in Virtues in
Conflict: Tradition and the Korean Woman Today, ed. Sandra Mattielli (Royal Asiatic
Society, 1977) p. 99-111
Week 4: The Woman Question
2/7
The New Woman
 Insook Kwon, “The New Women’s Movement in 1920s Korea: Rethinking the
relationship between Imperialism and Women,” Gender and History 10.3 (1998): 381405
 Park Wan-Suh, Momma’s Stake 1 in Sketch of the Fading Sun (p. 94-137)
 In Class: Na Hae-suk
2/9
The Militant Woman
 Kenneth M. Wells, “The Price of Legitimacy: Women and The Kunuhoe Movement,
1927-1931,” in Colonial Modernity in Korea, Gi-Wook Shin & Michael Robinson eds.
(1999):191-220
 In Class: Guerilla Women
Week 5: Women and War
2/14 Wartime Mobilization (Imperial Motherhood & ‘Comfort Women’)
 Hyunah Yang, “Remembering the Korean Military Comfort Women: Nationalism,
Sexuality, and Silencing,” in Dangerous Women (p. 123-139)
 Anna Davin, “Imperialism and Motherhood,” History Workshop Journal 5 (1978): 9-40
2/16 Korean War (Experience of War)
 Park Wan-Suh, Momma’s Stake 2 & 3 in Sketch of the Fading Sun (p. 138-199)
 In Class: Comfort Women
Week 6: Gendered Bodies 1
2/21 Geopolitics of female bodies
 Katharine Moon, Sex Among Allies (1-103)
2/23 Geopolitics of female bodies (continued) [Pass out Mid-term essay questions]
 Katharine Moon, Sex Among Allies (127-160)
 In Class: The Women Outside: Korean Women and the US Military
Week 7: Gendered Bodies 2
2/28 Yanggongju
 Hyun Sook Kim, “Yanggongju as an Allegory of the Nation: Images of Working-Class
Women in Popular and Radical Texts,” in Dangerous Women (p. 175-202)
3/2
Reproduction
3

Cho Hyoung, “Fertility control, reproductive rights and women’s empowerment in
Korea,” Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 103-32 (1997)
Week 8: Women in South Korea
3/7
Capitalism
 Heidi Hartmann, “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More
Progressive Union,” in Women and Revolution, ed. Lydia Sargent (South End Press, 1981)
3/9
Industrial Soldiers [MID-TERM ESSAY DUE at the beginning of class]
 Seung-kyung Kim, “Big companies don’t hire us, married women,” Feminist Studies Vol.
22, No. 3 (Fall 1996):555-571
 Seung-kyung Kim, “Productivity, Militancy and Femininity: Gendered Images of South
Korean Women Factory Workers,” Asian Journal of Women’s Studies Vol. 3, No. 3
(1997)
 Park Wan-Suh, Poverty That is Stolen in Sketch of the Fading Sun (p. 58-72)
<Spring Break>
Week 9: Women in North Korea
3/21 Communism
 Nancy Fraser, “From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a ‘PostSocialist’ Age,” New Left Review, Vol. 212 (July/August 1995) p. 68-93
3/23 Revolutionary Mothers
 Hyun Ok Park, “Ideals of Liberation: Korean Women in Manchuria,” in Dangerous
Women (p. 229-248)
 Jon Halliday, “Women in North Korea: An Interview with the Korean Democratic
Women’s Union,” Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 17, no. 3 (1985): 46-56
 Kyung Ae Park, “Women and Revolution in North Korea,” Pacific Affairs 65, no. 4
(Winter 1992-1993): 527-45
Week 10: Convergence of the Left and Right
3/28 Nationalism
 Chungmoo Choi, “Nationalism and Construction of Gender in Korea,” in Dangerous
Women (p. 9-32)
 Seungsook Moon, “Begetting the Nation: The Androcentric Discourse of National
History and Tradition in South Korea,” in Dangerous Women (p. 33-66)
3/30 NO CLASS (Professor out of town for conference)
 FILM REVIEW: Instead of class, watch Sopyonje (Dir. Im Kwon-taek, 1993) – Do
you agree or disagree with Chungmoo Choi’s analysis of the film or do you have a
different take on the film?
Week 11: Masculinity
4/4
Part One
 June Lee, “Discourses of Illness, Meanings of Modernity: A Gendered Construction of
Songinbyong,” in Under Construction (p. 55-78)
 Seungsook Moon, “The Production and Subversion of Hegemonic Masculinity:
Reconfiguring Gender Hierarchy in Contemporary South Korea,” in Under Construction
(p. 79-114)
4/6
Part Two
 Elaine H. Kim, “Men’s Talk: A Korean American View of South Korean Constructions
of Women, Gender, and Masculinity,” in Dangerous Women (p. 67-118)
4
Week 12: Gender and Class
4/11 Gendered Mobility
 Nancy Abelmann, “Women, Mobility, and Desire: Narrating Class and Gender in South
Korea,” in Under Construction (p. 25-54)
 Roger Janelli and Dawnhee Yim, “Gender Construction in the Offices of a South Korean
Conglomerate,” in Under Construction (p. 115-140)
4/13 TBA
Week 13: Women’s Movement
4/18 Part One [One-Page Final Paper Proposal Due]
 Jeong-Lim Nam, “Women’s Labor Movement, State Suppression, and Democratization
in South Korea,” Asian Journal of Women's Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2002) p. 71-95
 Miriam Ching Yoon Louie, “Minjung Feminism: Korean Women’s Movement for
Gender and Class Liberation,” Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 18, No. 4
(1995): 417-430
4/20 Part Two
 Sueng-sook Moon, “Carving out space: civil society and the women’s movement in
South Korea,” Journal of Asian Studies 61(2) (2002): 473-500
 In-Sook Kwon, “How Identities and Movement Cultures Became Deeply Saturated with
Militarism: Lessons from the Pro-democracy Movement of South Korea,” Asian Journal
of Women’s Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2005)
Week 14: What’s Next?
4/25 Cultural Turn
 Joo-hyun Cho, “Intersectionality Revealed: Sexual Politics in Post-IMF Korea,” Korea
Journal (Autumn 2005) 86-112
 So-Hee Lee, “The Concept of Female Sexuality in Korean Popular Culture,” in Under
Construction (p. 141-164)
4/27 Third Wave?
 Haejoang Cho, “Feminist Intervention in the Rise of ‘Asian’ Discourse,” Asian Journal
of Women’s Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1997)
 Cho Haejoang, “Living with Conflicting Subjectivities: Mother, Motherly Wife, and
Sexy Woman in the Transition from Colonial-Modern to Postmodern Korea,” in Under
Construction (p. 165-196)
5/2
Final Reflections - TBA
5
GUIDE TO CRITICAL READING
Whenever you read a text you should ask yourself the following questions.
1. Is the text a primary or a secondary source?
 In important ways you read the two types of text differently.
2. What was the author’s basic intent in writing it?
 PRIMARY: What interests was the author attempting to advance / defend /
critique / oppose? Put another way, what “discourse” was s/he taking part in?
 SECONDARY: What position is the author staking out? What earlier
scholarly consensus is s/he agreeing or disagreeing with?
3. What initial questions does the author pose?
4. Why are answers to those questions important?
5. What is the author’s central argument and how forcefully is it stated?
6. What types of evidence does the author employ to support his/her argument?
7. Does the author’s argument rest on any unarticulated (and thus undefended)
assumptions?
8. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument?
9. Are you persuaded – do you agree with the author’s argument? Why, or why not?
GUIDE TO WRITTEN RESPONSES
Post your response on Sakai under Discussions for the corresponding week, including the
following components:
 Do NOT summarize, but demonstrate that you did the reading by engaging with
some of the main themes and issues that you found interesting and/or problematic.
In other words, share your comments, critiques and reactions by addressing:
 What are the main arguments / points of the reading you found interesting?
 Are there any problems with the arguments, and if so, what are they?
 Posit one or two questions or issues you would like to raise for discussion.
 Identify terms, concepts or words that you did not understand (even after using a
dictionary) and would like to go over in class.
6
Method of Assessment
The grading for this course is designed to evaluate student mastery of the course goals, focusing
on Korean culture and history that would be relevant to understanding gender in contemporary
Korea. The assignments require students to read and interpret texts as sources for the past and
present with a critical eye. Assignments also require students to write intensively, focusing on
constructing effective arguments using texts as evidence. Upon completion of the course,
students will be able to communicate verbally and in writing an understanding of Korean culture
and history, which will be assessed using the following assessment grid.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS ASSESSMENT GRID
A: Great
B: Good
C: Okay
D: Poor
F: Fail
Structure &
Organization
Clear introduction, thesis,
argument & conclusion
Argument & Content
Thesis supported by
evidence; convincing
arguments made with
credible evidence and
refutation of
counterarguments
Language
Use of clear sentences,
good wording, strong
voice
Mechanics
Spelling, grammar,
citation
7