| Abstract [eng] |
The title of the thesis is “Gender Roles in the Narratives of the Korean Nation Independence Movements in the Exhibitions of the Seoul Metropolitan Museums of the Period of Japanese Occupation in Korea“. Considering nationalism as a gendered phenomena, one might ask whether the roles of men and women differ in the national narratives that are being constructed by the institutions of power, such as museums. This paper focuses on the intersection between gender roles and nationalism in the national narratives of the Independence movements of colonial Korea that are constructed in the exhibitions of the four museums of Seoul Metropolitan area, namely Seoul History Museum, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, Seodaemun Prison History Hall and National Women‘s History Exhibition Hall. Although these institutions convey a message of the Korean nation unity and massive engagement in the resistance fights, in three of the four museums (except National Women‘s History Exhibition Hall) the narrative of heroic and action-oriented Korean men prevails, while women are depicted as one in the masses and are mostly absent in pro-activist groups. According to the quantitative analysis, the Korean women are also misrepresented and mainly obscure, whereas the Korean men hold a position as the central figures in the narratives of the independence fights of the colonial Korea. However, the data collected in National Women‘s History Exhibition Hall provides an opposite perspective while representing women as the active and prominent subjects of the national resistance movements and proves the fact that other museums deliberately decide on the exclusion of the Korean women from the national narrative(s). This paper could be useful for researchers studying the intersection of nationality and gender aspects, gender roles in national narratives and cultural memory formed in museums. |
