Faculty Project: Aurality and Social Practices of Reading in Korean Literature
Faculty: Associate Professor, Si Nae Park, Dept. of EALC
I applied for a Korea Institute Research Assistantship position with almost no hesitation. I was looking for summer work, and I knew I wanted to do something that dealt with Korean culture or history. As a Korean American raised by immigrant parents, I have always wanted to explore the culture in academic ways (compared to, say, simply living with my family or spending time with my Korean community) and from new perspectives that I have never before had access to. I applied for Professor Si Nae Park’s project on premodern Korean literature and the social aspect of reading in Korean literature because of my interest in the topic. I had never really thought to explore this topic before, and I thought it was a great way to learn more about an aspect of Korean culture that I had no prior exposure to. As a lover of Korean art, from music to movies to books, I was intrigued from the start and hoped I would receive the position.
Professor Park was so enthusiastic about me joining her project, and I knew from that initial conversation that I would have a great summer experience. She was so kind and understanding as she explained the contents of her project and what my main roles would be. She made sure to mention that the hours would be flexible, and communication with her would be plentiful as my old tasks wrapped up and new ones began. She was also so enthusiastic about attempting to incorporate my own interest in the performing arts into my work as well. My first task was to organize articles and book chapters in English having to do with the topic at hand. I recorded them in a spreadsheet with basic citation information, and I included a full citation of each item. I then located and downloaded each item and placed them into a Dropbox folder. I quickly learned how to navigate HOLLIS, locate items that are locked from general use through Harvard’s network, and cite different documents in Chicago style. I was practically an expert by the time I wrapped up this task!
I completed this task again with Korean language sources later on in the summer, where citations were written in Korean instead of English. I also was tasked with Romanizing each citation in the McCune-Reischauer Romanization system, which I had never learned before. I had always been interested in and fascinated by the different types of Romanization out there, and I had always wondered why certain spellings were so different from others. The Romanization of Korean names is a perfect example—Choi or Choe? Park or Pak? After learning the MR Romanization system, so many thoughts clicked into place, and I realized why some spellings I had grown up with are written and pronounced the way they are. Professor Park also informed me that knowing this Romanization system is very helpful for future jobs, as scholars are always looking for an extra set of eyes to look over their Romanization.
The last task I took on was creating a master timeline and table of contents of basically all of the premodern Korean literary works that have been translated into English that I could find. Professor Park sent me a list of websites, databases, and articles to look from, and I began recording anthologies, poetry collections, and many more with original Korean literary works. I then listed out each individual work (i.e. each poem, each short story) into a table of contents that scholars and others exploring this specific topic could refer to. I thought it was so cool that I would be able to compile a list like this, especially after Professor Park shared with me that many scholars overlook this topic in Korean culture and history under the assumption that there are not enough materials to explore. My 3000+ list of individual works says otherwise!
Overall, this research assistantship was truly a great experience for me. It was my first real introduction to the formal research process, and I enjoyed learning about this topic that had been so unfamiliar to me. The work can be done in person or virtually, and the hours are very flexible. Regardless of prior experience, I highly recommend this program to all!