Funeral Rites in Contemporary Korea
The Business of Death
Buch in deiner Nähe kaufen
Beschreibung
This book explores 21st century Korean society on the basis of its dramatically transforming and rapidly expanding commercial funeral industry. With insights into contemporary Confucianism, shamanism and filial piety, as well as modernisation, urbanisation, the division of labour and the digitalisation of consumption, it is the first study of its kind to offer a sophisticated, integrated sociological analysis of how the commodification of death intersects with capitalism, popular culture and everyday life in contemporary Korea. Through innovative analyses of funeral advertising and journalism, screen and literary representations of funerals, online media, consumer accounts of using funeral services and other sources, it offers a complex picture of the widespread effects of economic development, urbanisation and modernisation in South Korean society over the past quarter century. In the aftermath of the Korean “economic miracle” novel ways of paying respect to deceased kin have emerged;using Max Weber's concept of “pariah capitalism”, Gil-Soo Han shows how the heightened obsession with and boom in the commodification of death in Korea reflects radical transformations in both capital and culture.
This book explores 21st century Korean society on the basis of its dramatically transforming and rapidly expanding commercial funeral industry. With insights into contemporary Confucianism, shamanism and filial piety, as well as modernisation, urbanisation, the division of labour and the digitalisation of consumption, it is the first study of its kind to offer a sophisticated, integrated sociological analysis of how the commodification of death intersects with capitalism, popular culture and everyday life in contemporary Korea. Through innovative analyses of funeral advertising and journalism, screen and literary representations of funerals, online media, consumer accounts of using funeral services and other sources, it offers a complex picture of the widespread effects of economic development, urbanisation and modernisation in South Korean society over the past quarter century. In the aftermath of the Korean “economic miracle” novel ways of paying respect to deceased kin have emerged; using Max Weber's concept of “pariah capitalism”, Gil-Soo Han shows how the heightened obsession with and boom in the commodification of death in Korea reflects radical transformations in both capital and culture.
Winner of Korean Education Minister’s Book Prize 2020
Illustrates how rapid shifts to funerary practices in South Korea over the past quarter century are linked to socioeconomic transformations Offers the first critical sociological English-language analysis of the modern funeral business in Korea Constructs meaningful, material bridges between screen representation and traditional culture in everyday life
Autor*in
Gil-Soo Han
Themen in »Funeral Rites in Contemporary Korea«
Funeral rites Funeral service industry Representation of funeral rites Funeral service conglomerates Modernisation of Korea Korean capitalism Urbanisation in Korea High suicide rate in Korea Representations of suicide in Korea Pariah capitalism Rapid economic development in Korea Films depicting funerals Funeral advertising Ossuary in Korea Filial piety