HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES
2014 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SESSION IN KOREAN STUDIES
IS 211- Cultural Heritage Sites in North Korea
Elisabeth CHABANOL, Ph.D.
French School of Asian Studies (EFEO)
Ph.D. in Art History
DEA in Religious Anthropology
Master Degree in Archaeology
Master Degree in Museum Sciences
Associate Professor
Head of the Seoul Center of the EFEO
Contact: elisabeth.chabanol@efeo.net
Course description
Because of the recent history of the Korean Peninsula, Korean Studies, in
particular in Art History and Archaeology, widely forgot North Korea, and only
the geopolitical questions incited the interest of researchers. Since the beginning
of 2000s, with the politics of the Sunshine Policy driven by president Kim Daejung towards the DPRK, academic exchanges were sporadically able to take place
and South Korean studies on the subject began.
However, the access to the cultural and archaeological sites stays extremely
limited and depends on the evolution of the political situation on the Korean
Peninsula.
This course will present the important historic and archaeological sites of DPRK
and through them will consider the fundamental questions connected to the
cultural heritage and its preservation: through the notion of yujôkhwa
(patrimonialization). The political stakes in the development of a cultural site
will be looked through the prism of history.
Methodology
Since the works in western language on the North Korean sites are rare, the
course will be mainly based on the data regularly collected on the ground since
January, 2003 by the instructor. Photos taken during her missions will illustrate
the discourse. The students are invited to read the general works indicated in the
bibliography. A visit at the National Museum of Korea to localize objects coming
from sites now in North Korea will take place at the end of the course.
Each student will have to present and discuss during the class the results of a
study (5 pages and photos) relevant to the subject of the class. Students will
choose the subject of their final research paper in accordance with the instructor.
Assignments and Grading
As the education is mainly based on visual data, attendance is required in the
class and during the museum visit.
The grade will be divided in:
Attendance (required): fail if more than four absences 30%
Participation in class
20%
Exam
25%
Final Project
25%
Bibliography
-
-
CHABANOL Élisabeth, « Study of the Archaeological and Historic Sites of Kaesông:
Status of research into the preservation of the site », Royal Asiatic Society,
Transactions, 80, 2005, pp. 35-58.
HUYSSEN Andreas, Present Pasts. Urban palimpsests and the Politics of Memory,
Stanford, Standford University Press, 2003.
SMITH Laurajane, Uses of Heritage, London/New York, Routledge, 2006.
YIM Haksoon, The Emergence and Change of Cultural Policy in South Korea, Seoul,
JinHan Book, 2003.
NORA Pierre, “Between Memory and History. Les Lieux de Mémoire,” The Regents
of the University of California, Representations, 26, Spring 1989, pp. 7-24.
Course Schedule
First week
General introduction on the history of the archaeological and
museographic institutions of the DPRK territory from the Japanese
Colonial period to today.
The laws framing the cultural heritage in North Korea
Second week
The Koguryô tombs and their registration on the UNESCO world heritage
list. Other sites proposed to the registration (Mts. Myohyang, Historical
Relics in P’yôngyang, Caves in Kujang area, Mt. Chilbo)
Third week
Le site de Kaesông, Koryô Kingdom capital, its history and the question the
Kaesông Industrial Complex
Fourth week
Tan’gun tomb, its discovery and its development as a touristic and political
symbol
The Mts. Kûmgang Mounts and its representation during History until the
South Korean touristic project
Fifth week
Final project papers presented in class by each student