No Choice but to Care

Performing Care to Survive in Korean Shamanism and Jeju Women

Authors

  • Minwoo Park University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.

Keywords:

Jeju, Korean shamanism, Korea, Religion

Abstract

Care has been theorized in the context of equality and ethics in academia, with an effort to dismantle the gendered interpretation attached to the concept. In this paper, I study care ontology of Korean shamanism to investigate the ambivalences in care performance that complicates rather than nullifies the gender dimensions. The history of survival embedded in Korean shamanism shows the establishment of peripheral authority in the near-death realms, which is often occupied by women.

I conduct a case study of Jeju shamanism that responds to the island’s historical trauma whose justice work is still in process. The harsh survival stories that Jeju women and shamans share indicate that care functions as ontology and performance, bringing healing power regardless of religious doctrines. I examine Lamentations of the Dead, an act in Jeju shamanic ritual, to observe closely its ambiguous qualities that facilitate interaction with discursive space and time. I attend to the performative aspect of the shamanic ritual, whose improvisational necessity enables radical care uncharted by governmental censorship.

Author Biography

Minwoo Park, University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.

Minwoo (Minu) Park is a PhD Candidate in the Joint Program of Theatre, UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Park studies performance of survival in postcolonial South Korea, on Korean historical trauma and performative survival modalities. Their dissertation is titled “Untying Pain: Healing Through Togetherness in South Korea,” which explores diverse aspects of confronting trauma, ranging from Korean shamanism and contemporary dance to collective activism and food performativity. Locating Korean shamanism at the center of Korean indigenous cosmology, Minu weaves trauma and affect, postcolonial and Indigenous studies with performance and activism in South Korea. They are a teaching associate for UCI’s Development of Drama series and is currently a Graduate Student Representative for Association for Asian Performance.

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Published

2022-12-13

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