Buddhist Temple Food in South Korea: Interests and Agency in the Reinvention of Tradition in the Age of Globalization

(2008). Buddhist Temple Food in South Korea: Interests and Agency in the Reinvention of Tradition in the Age of Globalization. Korea Journal, 48(4), 147-180, https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2008.48.4.147

copy

Abstract

This article examines the cultural politics of Buddhist temple food in contemporary Korea. Almost forgotten by the general public, temple food has gained growing attention from the mass media since the mid-1990s. Tracing this development, it analyzes the complex interplay between popular concerns for health and economic security, and the converging and diverging interests of the state, business, and the Buddhist establishment in mobilizing cultural differences, to further larger national and transnational politics. This article argues that the reinvention of temple food as tradition serves not only to reaffirm the national identity and ease a collective anxiety about rapid social change, but also promotes national competitiveness in the global market. It also allows us to reexamine the postcolonial view of agency tied to consumption and pleasure, rather than intentional and organized action. Popular agency in this case is not so much rooted in the pleasure of consumption as in concerns for health and economic security. These concerns are also expediently appropriated by the better organized actors—the government, business, and the Buddhist establishment.

keywords: cultural politics, Buddhist temple food, reinvention of tradition, mobilization of cultural differences, popular agency, social change, cultural commodities, globalization, global market, collective identity, national competitiveness

Reference

Appadurai, Arjun, (1981) Gastro-Politics in Hindu South Asia, American Ethnologist

Appadurai, Arjun, (1988) How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India, Comparative Studies in Society and History

Appadurai, Arjun, (1996) odernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, University of Minnesota Press

Bak, Jae-bok, (2005) Hallyu, geullobeol sidae-ui munhwa gyeongjaengnyeok, Samsung Economic Research Institute

Bhabha, Homi, (1994) The Location of Culture, Routledge

Buswell Jr., (1992) The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea, Princeton University Press

Buswell Jr., (1992) Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul’s Korean Way of Zen, University of Hawaii Press

Buswell Jr., (2005) Currents and Countercurrents: Korean Influences on the East Asian Buddhist Traditions, University of Hawaii Press

Chang, K. C., (1977) Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, Yale University Press

10.

Davidson, Alan, (2006) The Oxford Companion to Food, Oxford University Press

11.

Daean, (2003) Maeum-ui sal-kkaji ppaejuneun sachal eumsik daieoteu, JoongAng M&B

12.

Daean, (2008) Siktak wi-ui myeongsang, Ancient Future

13.

General Affairs Office, (2006) Sachal eumsik-ui ususeong mit daejunghwa bangan, Seoul

14.

Goody, J., (1982) Cooking, Cuisine, and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology, Cambridge University Press

15.

Gusfield, Joseph, (1967) and Modernity: Misplaced Polarities in the Study of Social Change, The American Journal of Sociology

16.

Hobsbawm, (1983) The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge University Press

17.

Home Economics Department (HED), (2006) Sachal eumsik joribeop jeongni: jaryo mit joribeop tongil, Dongguk University

18.

Hongseung, (2003) Nokcha-wa chaesik, Uri Chulpansa

19.

Jeokmun, (2000) Jeontong sachal, Gungmin yeongyang

20.

Jeong, Se-chae, (2000) Sansa-e gamyeon teukbyeolhan sikdan-i itta, Mosaek

21.

Kang, Cheol-geun, (2006) Hallyu jeonmunga gangcheolgeun-ui hallyu iyagi: hally-ui geunwon-eseo miraekkaji, Ichae

22.

Khare, R. S., (1992) Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists, State University of New York

23.

Kim, Su-i, (2006) Hallyu-wa 21 segi munhwa bijeon: yonsama-eseo munhwa jeongchaek-kkaji, Cheongdong Geoul

24.

Kim, Yeon-sik, (1987) Sanchae yori, Hakwonsa

25.

Kim, Yeon-sik, (1995) Sachal eumsik-ui oesik sangpumhwa bangan-e gwanhan yeongu, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea

26.

Kim, Yeon-sik, (1997) Hanguk sachal eumsik, Uri Chulpansa

27.

Kim, Yeon-sik, (2002) Nun-euro meongneun jeol eumsik, Uri Chulpansa

28.

Klein, Naomi, (1999) Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, Picador

29.

Korea Buddhist Culture Enterprise Group (KBCEG), (2006) Hanguk sachal jeontong eumsik siltae josa saeop gyeolgwa bogoseo, KBCEG

30.

Korean Employers Federation(KEF)and the Chosun Ilbo, (2007) Jayeongeopja hyeonhwang gukje bigyo mit jeongchaek gwaje, KEF

31.

Petrini, Carlo, (2001) Slow Food: The Case for Taste, translated by William McCuaig, Columbia University Press

32.

Reinders, Eric Robert, (2004) Blessed Are the Meat Eaters: Christian Anti-vegetarianism and the Missionary Encounter with Chinese Buddhism, Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique

33.

Seonjae, (2000) Seonjae seunim-ui sachal eumsik, Design House

34.

Sterckx, Roel, (2004) f Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics and Religion in Traditional China, Palgrave-MacMillan Press

35.

Ulrich, Katherine E., (2007) Fights: Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Dietary Polemics in South India, History of Religions

36.

Wilk, Richard, (2006) Home Cooking in the Global Village: Caribbean Food from Buccaneers to Ecotourists, Berg Publishers

37.

Yi, Yeo-yeong, (2002) Jayeon geongang sachal eumsik, Yeollin Sowon

38.

Yu, Sang-cheol, (2005) Hallyu-ui bimil, Thinking Tree

바로가기메뉴

Article Contents

Vol.48 No.4

Buddhist Temple Food in South Korea: Interests and Agency in the Reinvention of Tradition in the Age of Globalization

Abstract

Reference

Korea Journal