Varieties of Korean Studies, Now and Then: A Digital Intellectual History of Korean Studies, 2000-2023
Date:
This paper analyzes 2,897 academic papers from seven journals on Korean studies, published between 2000 and 2023. Utilizing bigdata analysis, we argue that Korean Studies have formed a heterogeneous ecology of knowledge with increasingly various scholars, topics, and related disciplines.
Author
Byungjun Kim, and June Jeon
Abstract
Despite its long and dynamic history, Korean Studies’ intellectual history has rarely been an object of scholarly analysis. A few existing historiographies of Korean Studies have centered around specific geographic realms and relied on qualitative analyses that demand further quantitative and contextual analyses. This paper aims to construct a multi-layered digital intellectual history of Korean Studies, and asks the following questions: 1) what does the intellectual genealogy of Korean Studies look like in academic databases? 2) How have major topics, contributors, and journals of Korean Studies been changed? and 3) How do Korean studies inside and outside of Korea differ from each other? To answer these questions, this paper analyzes 2,897 academic papers from seven journals on Korean studies, published between 2000 and 2023. Utilizing bigdata analysis, we argue that Korean Studies have formed a heterogeneous ecology of knowledge with increasingly various scholars, topics, and related disciplines. During the last two decades, Korean studies journals have attracted diverse contributors from various countries and institutions. Noticeably, their research topics have been diversified, spanning from Korean history, language, religion, and political economy to culture and society. The result suggests that Korean studies have been expanded and institutionalized as a multidisciplinary scholarly field, beyond merely regional studies. It implies the significance of scholarly diversity within Korean studies to further contribute to creative discussions among previously unconnected (broadly defined) ‘Koreanist’ scholars.
