Lucien Brown & Daniel Pieper | The Semiotics of Koreanness in the Asia-Pacific

Lunchtime Seminar

Lucien Brown
Korea Foundation Associate Professor in Korean Studies, Monash University

Lucien Brown is the Korea Foundation Associate Professor in Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He conducts research in pragmatics and sociolinguistics, with a particular focus on Korean honorifics, kinship terms, politeness, and gesture.

Daniel Pieper
Korea Foundation Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Korean Studies, Monash University

Daniel Pieper is the Korea Foundation Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Korean Studies and the Director of Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He specializes in modern Korean language and literary history with a focus on vernacularization, linguistic modernity, and language ideologies.

Chaired by Nicholas Harkness, Modern Korean Economy and Society Professor of Anthropology; Director, Korea Institute, Harvard University

Abstract:
This talk examines two emblematic symbols of “Koreanness” that have travelled across the Asia-Pacific: the Han’gŭl script and the kinship term oppa. Using a social semiotic lens, we explore how these symbols are recontextualised in diverse local settings, generating both new meanings and contested debates. Han’gŭl’s adoption by the Cia Cia community in Sulawesi, Indonesia reveals tensions between Korean state-led promotion and locally rooted linguistic ideologies. Meanwhile, oppa circulates in Malaysian media and Singaporean branding as an attractive yet polarising symbol of Korean masculinity. Together, these cases highlight the dynamic but ambivalent nature of global Koreanness, which both transcends and reifies the nation-state while disrupting traditional linguistic and cultural hierarchies.

Generously supported by the Young-Chul Min Memorial Fund at the Korea Institute, Harvard University