Keywords in Korean national consciousness
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Soon Hee Fraysse-Kim
Abstract
This study identified keywords that trigger national consciousness (here termed “Weness”) of Koreans through an analysis of school textbooks using corpus-based techniques. The corpus is taken from Korean language textbooks compiled by the authorities and used in elementary schools in four Korean communities: in South Korea, North Korea, Korean Residents in Japan, and Korean Residents in China. Although the members of these four Korean communities come from the same ethnic stock, the current socio-political characteristics of each group are clearly different. Nevertheless, “Weness” in Korean mind-set, often expressed by the word wuli (we, our), suggests an immediate sense of homogeneity common across politico-social borders. Assuming that school textbooks are a linguistic reflection of a prevailing ideology, I show how this feeling is crystallized in a few special keywords frequently used in textbooks, and point out how Korean national identity is internalized and reproduced by school education.
Abstract
This study identified keywords that trigger national consciousness (here termed “Weness”) of Koreans through an analysis of school textbooks using corpus-based techniques. The corpus is taken from Korean language textbooks compiled by the authorities and used in elementary schools in four Korean communities: in South Korea, North Korea, Korean Residents in Japan, and Korean Residents in China. Although the members of these four Korean communities come from the same ethnic stock, the current socio-political characteristics of each group are clearly different. Nevertheless, “Weness” in Korean mind-set, often expressed by the word wuli (we, our), suggests an immediate sense of homogeneity common across politico-social borders. Assuming that school textbooks are a linguistic reflection of a prevailing ideology, I show how this feeling is crystallized in a few special keywords frequently used in textbooks, and point out how Korean national identity is internalized and reproduced by school education.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Perspectives on keywords and keyness 1
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Section I. Exploring keyness
- Three concepts of keywords 21
- Problems in investigating keyness, or clearing the undergrowth and marking out trails… 43
- Closed-class keywords and corpus-driven discourse analysis 59
- Hyperlinks 79
- Web Semantics vs the Semantic Web? 93
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Section II. Keyness in specialised discourse
- Identifying aboutgrams in engineering texts 113
- Keywords and phrases in political speeches 127
- Key words and key phrases in a corpus of travel writing 147
- History v. marketing 169
- Metaphorical keyness in specialised corpora 185
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Section III. Critical and educational perspectives
- A contrastive analysis of keywords in newspaper articles on the “Kyoto Protocol” 207
- Keywords in Korean national consciousness 219
- General spoken language and school language 235
- Index 249
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Perspectives on keywords and keyness 1
-
Section I. Exploring keyness
- Three concepts of keywords 21
- Problems in investigating keyness, or clearing the undergrowth and marking out trails… 43
- Closed-class keywords and corpus-driven discourse analysis 59
- Hyperlinks 79
- Web Semantics vs the Semantic Web? 93
-
Section II. Keyness in specialised discourse
- Identifying aboutgrams in engineering texts 113
- Keywords and phrases in political speeches 127
- Key words and key phrases in a corpus of travel writing 147
- History v. marketing 169
- Metaphorical keyness in specialised corpora 185
-
Section III. Critical and educational perspectives
- A contrastive analysis of keywords in newspaper articles on the “Kyoto Protocol” 207
- Keywords in Korean national consciousness 219
- General spoken language and school language 235
- Index 249
