A complex feeling tugs at Koreans
2011-01-05 02:10 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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omonatheydidFor South Koreans han is as amorphous a notion as love or hate: intensely personal, yet carried around collectively, a national torch, a badge of suffering tempered by a sense of resiliency.
Seoul record store owner Kim Ji-yun tries to articulate the concept of han, a cultural term many South Koreans use to describe a feeling of hopelessness and remorse and whose meaning experts say is critical to understand the way South Koreans think.
For most of his life, record store owner Kim Ji-yun has battled against a feeling he has trouble describing; a mystery of the soul, a puzzle that many say helps define their culture — the ineffable sadness of being Korean.
The concept is known as han. And for the nearly 50 million South Koreans it's as amorphous a notion as love or hate: intensely personal, yet carried around collectively, a national torch, a badge of suffering tempered by a sense of resiliency.
"As a Korean, it's embedded in your DNA," said the ponytailed Kim, 46, pensively stroking his thin beard. "It goes far beyond everyday emotions like happiness or anger. It's a blockage, something that's tangled up and cannot be untied."
Ask anyone here to describe han and their first reaction is often a bemused smile, followed by contemplative silence. The idea, many insist, is far more easily experienced than explained.
South Korean poets, novelists and filmmakers have sought to capture the concept for which there is no English equivalent. The word "han" has a number of meanings in Korean; it's a common surname and the name of a major river that passes through Seoul. But it's the cultural use of the word, developed through ancient folklore, that has long had many here reeling.
Scholars have called it an all-encompassing sense of bitterness, a mixture of angst, endurance and a yearning for revenge that tests a person's soul, a condition marked by deep sorrow and a sense of incompleteness that can have fatal consequences. To die because of han, experts say, is to die of hwabyeong, or anger.
But han has also been described as a sense of hope, an ability to silently endure hardship and suffering in a relatively small nation with a long history of being invaded by more powerful neighbors.
Although there is little agreement among them on a precise definition, scholars acknowledge that han is central to the Korean character. For outsiders, grasping the notion is key to fathoming the Koreans themselves.
It's why many older people wail at funerals, lashing out at fate for the theft of a loved one. Han is also why many South Koreans are quick to bitterly protest against their own leaders or those of another nation. Conversely, it's also key to the acceptance shown by many South Koreans during a past marked by excruciating poverty.
In 2009, a Seoul newspaper columnist argued that han "can trigger the Korean heart to display an incredibly intense outburst of feelings and actions."
"Korea will forgive even the gravest sins," he wrote, "kill even for the smallest slights, or lament endlessly over a past han that one has endured or was subjected to, all depending on the shifting reminders of han."
Debbie Lee is one South Korean who says she feels the immense weight of her han. She works for the Danish Embassy here, for employers whose culture has coined a word for a notion that seems the opposite of han.
Hygge is described by the Danish as a sense of tranquility, the absence of anything irritating or emotionally overwhelming. Lee believes her own culture could do with a little bit of hygge.
"We may already have it, we just don't have a word for it," she said. "Like the Danes, we Koreans also try to socialize and relax with our family and friends. I guess we should also try to put a name to the feeling. It might make our lives more balanced."
For many, however, han continues to connote unresolved tensions. Korean American scholar Elaine Kim uses the word to describe the reaction of Korean victims of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
"The discussions were all about whites and blacks; Korean losses were shunted to the side," said Kim, a professor of Asian American studies at UC Berkeley. "For those who didn't speak English, there was no way to get their voice heard. The injustice was they weren't responsible for the problem and they couldn't solve it. As I see it, that's the definition of han."
Han has seen even more recent crossover use in American culture, scholars say.
In the TV series "The West Wing," U.S. President Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) voiced his own understanding of the notion. "There is no literal English translation," he says. "It's a state of mind. Of soul, really. A sadness. A sadness so deep no tears will come. And yet still there's hope."
Some South Koreans say the role of han now diminished.
"Our lives have improved dramatically over the last generation, so it has less meaning," Kim Young-sook, a grandmother of four, said as she shopped in one of the nation's most exclusive department stores. "I'm very happy these days. I no longer let han rule my life."
As he marked prices on a shipment of used vinyl records, music store owner Kim expressed a very un-han-like idea: a wish to one day be rid of his own han.
"I hope it can go away," he sighed. "But the Korean people just don't seem to have the capacity to banish what haunts them. For now, it's just a hope."
Source: latimes
Seoul record store owner Kim Ji-yun tries to articulate the concept of han, a cultural term many South Koreans use to describe a feeling of hopelessness and remorse and whose meaning experts say is critical to understand the way South Koreans think.
For most of his life, record store owner Kim Ji-yun has battled against a feeling he has trouble describing; a mystery of the soul, a puzzle that many say helps define their culture — the ineffable sadness of being Korean.
The concept is known as han. And for the nearly 50 million South Koreans it's as amorphous a notion as love or hate: intensely personal, yet carried around collectively, a national torch, a badge of suffering tempered by a sense of resiliency.
"As a Korean, it's embedded in your DNA," said the ponytailed Kim, 46, pensively stroking his thin beard. "It goes far beyond everyday emotions like happiness or anger. It's a blockage, something that's tangled up and cannot be untied."
Ask anyone here to describe han and their first reaction is often a bemused smile, followed by contemplative silence. The idea, many insist, is far more easily experienced than explained.
South Korean poets, novelists and filmmakers have sought to capture the concept for which there is no English equivalent. The word "han" has a number of meanings in Korean; it's a common surname and the name of a major river that passes through Seoul. But it's the cultural use of the word, developed through ancient folklore, that has long had many here reeling.
Scholars have called it an all-encompassing sense of bitterness, a mixture of angst, endurance and a yearning for revenge that tests a person's soul, a condition marked by deep sorrow and a sense of incompleteness that can have fatal consequences. To die because of han, experts say, is to die of hwabyeong, or anger.
But han has also been described as a sense of hope, an ability to silently endure hardship and suffering in a relatively small nation with a long history of being invaded by more powerful neighbors.
Although there is little agreement among them on a precise definition, scholars acknowledge that han is central to the Korean character. For outsiders, grasping the notion is key to fathoming the Koreans themselves.
It's why many older people wail at funerals, lashing out at fate for the theft of a loved one. Han is also why many South Koreans are quick to bitterly protest against their own leaders or those of another nation. Conversely, it's also key to the acceptance shown by many South Koreans during a past marked by excruciating poverty.
In 2009, a Seoul newspaper columnist argued that han "can trigger the Korean heart to display an incredibly intense outburst of feelings and actions."
"Korea will forgive even the gravest sins," he wrote, "kill even for the smallest slights, or lament endlessly over a past han that one has endured or was subjected to, all depending on the shifting reminders of han."
Debbie Lee is one South Korean who says she feels the immense weight of her han. She works for the Danish Embassy here, for employers whose culture has coined a word for a notion that seems the opposite of han.
Hygge is described by the Danish as a sense of tranquility, the absence of anything irritating or emotionally overwhelming. Lee believes her own culture could do with a little bit of hygge.
"We may already have it, we just don't have a word for it," she said. "Like the Danes, we Koreans also try to socialize and relax with our family and friends. I guess we should also try to put a name to the feeling. It might make our lives more balanced."
For many, however, han continues to connote unresolved tensions. Korean American scholar Elaine Kim uses the word to describe the reaction of Korean victims of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
"The discussions were all about whites and blacks; Korean losses were shunted to the side," said Kim, a professor of Asian American studies at UC Berkeley. "For those who didn't speak English, there was no way to get their voice heard. The injustice was they weren't responsible for the problem and they couldn't solve it. As I see it, that's the definition of han."
Han has seen even more recent crossover use in American culture, scholars say.
In the TV series "The West Wing," U.S. President Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) voiced his own understanding of the notion. "There is no literal English translation," he says. "It's a state of mind. Of soul, really. A sadness. A sadness so deep no tears will come. And yet still there's hope."
Some South Koreans say the role of han now diminished.
"Our lives have improved dramatically over the last generation, so it has less meaning," Kim Young-sook, a grandmother of four, said as she shopped in one of the nation's most exclusive department stores. "I'm very happy these days. I no longer let han rule my life."
As he marked prices on a shipment of used vinyl records, music store owner Kim expressed a very un-han-like idea: a wish to one day be rid of his own han.
"I hope it can go away," he sighed. "But the Korean people just don't seem to have the capacity to banish what haunts them. For now, it's just a hope."
Source: latimes
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 04:05 pm (UTC)unless my 10 years of formal chinese education has failed me :|
or the koreans took the word and spun their own meaning out of it.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 04:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 02:57 pm (UTC)Also, the phrase 'national psych' comes to mind XD
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 03:41 pm (UTC)i'm tied between 'are they like Japanese? nobody can understand them?' and 'is this an excuse to failures, deceptions and all those badc feelings?' ... yes, it pisses me off not understanding something :/
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 03:47 pm (UTC)my country has its own version, called "saudade".
shows how much the past influences the future..
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 03:51 pm (UTC)I would imagine the feeling is like being mute (silent/unable to be heard or communicate) and stuck between a rock (new/different) and a hard place (old/traditional) struggling bit by bit to get yourself loose (finding balance).
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 11:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 04:07 pm (UTC)it's sad that there's no english equivalent to such a simple emotion.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 05:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 03:48 am (UTC)ilhsfm
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 07:17 am (UTC)is
adorable
and amazing
edit: changed to appropriate icon
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 07:23 am (UTC)so frustrated when none of my fangirly friends knew about zino.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 07:38 am (UTC)do you have a tumblr? i spend a sizable amount of time reblogging and posting up zino pics
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 07:46 am (UTC)what's your tumblr? i believe i would have seen your tumblr around. i spend a sizable amount of time on korean search engines finding zino pics :D
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 07:49 am (UTC)mine's jinjjah
i found a really nice bunch on baidu but i ran out
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 07:59 am (UTC)oh man, there aren't many zino lovers around, are there? it's just the same few.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:04 am (UTC)i so wish he was more well known, too talented and adorable not to be
seriously if beenzino in a song i will love it
jazzyfact cd is coming in the mail ohoho
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:24 am (UTC)instead of buying jazzyfact i opted for byebyesea because i figured it would be easier for my friend who was visiting korea to buy it for me.
now i can only console myself by saying i do own something beenzino related! rocksteady has zino, yeah? :D
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:36 am (UTC)life's like is on yesasia i think, i was pretty surprised
gonna be taking pictures and everything, if there's lyrics i'll type those up too
a little bit of zino is better than no zino!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:45 am (UTC)AND I NEED FRIENDS LIKE THOSE OMG ;A;
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:48 am (UTC)but i can type it up if it just involves copying the character, it'll just be a bit tedious
yeh i'm pretty lucky to have a rl friend who also listens to a bit of khiphop
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:50 am (UTC)if you ever want lyrics or anything, let me know. i know enough korean to get by xD
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 09:13 am (UTC)i can't find any good pictures on naver aside from the image search, which ran out of pictures pretty quickly
do you do translations? :O
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 09:32 am (UTC)mainstream lyrics are fine, but nothing beyond that, unfortunately.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 09:35 am (UTC)oh well, gonna hope for someone to start up a korean hiphop translation site one day
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 04:00 am (UTC)That's how I always see it translated..I didn't realize it was a deeper concept.
Interesting!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 06:04 am (UTC)i explained the meaning of 행복 to
another simple word that has no exact english equivalent is 파이팅 or hwaiting, that you should know means something like do your best.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 03:21 pm (UTC)It's like that with all languages, there's always some words that can't be translated!
I still can't find a word that means "annoying" in Spanish..
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 05:48 pm (UTC)Also the use of Hygge seems kind of of in here. But I guess it's one of those words which is hard to translate. "Å hygge seg" means "To enjoy oneself" or "Having a good/cosy time". So I guess it's al about not taking everything so seriously.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 11:14 pm (UTC)idk, it's all very confusing (i've tried to explain 'koselig' to people who haven't lived in norway and they just can't grasp it)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 11:48 am (UTC)I've also tried explaining "koselig" to an american and a icelander once but even if they got the basic of the word they found it strange to bend into a setting.
Languages are fun thou, and it's cool finding similarities! (I stalked your profile right back. Are you Norwegian? ^^)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 10:42 pm (UTC)That reminds me of a nightmare I had when I was a kid that I still remember vividly to this day. I was getting in bed, and I saw my dad's shadow in the doorway to come tuck me in. But as he came closer I realized that he was a huge furry evil monster (the best I can describe it is kind of like Sully from Monsters Inc.), so I somehow managed to get around the monster and run down the hallway and I tried screaming for my mom but I had no voice. I was screaming so hard but no sound was coming out. Then the monster caught my heels and brought me down. And that's where it ended.
LOL. Kind of a pointless story, but I see what you mean. Han might be like pain or fear or sadness that you want to express or let go off, but there's something so impenetrable in your way that it can never escape. A pretty depressing thought...
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 09:25 pm (UTC)But it's really interesting to know these words that don't exactly translate into another language.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 09:51 pm (UTC)My mom tried to explain this to me the other day - Koreans share han, because everyone is so close together; you treat anyone you meet in Korea with the same warmth you would for a relative because you are a people, and who knows, you might even be distantly related. For this they are incredibly protective of each other, and believe that for instance an actor's/actress' image is the same as their actual personality, why they invest so heavily in national icons like Kim Yuna or Park Jisung, why their neighbors' pain is the same as their own.
I think that people want to get rid of han because it feels like a burden, but it's a sense of national identity that I don't think is going to go away anytime soon. (Did that help anyone? I have trouble understanding it myself...)
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Date: 2011-01-06 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:55 am (UTC)