The purpose of this thesis is to make a critical interpretation of the nature and implications of anti-Confucianism in East Asian political thought by examining the works of two representative anti-Confucianists, Fukuzawa Yukichi and Yi Kwang-su. In terms of its historical significance, Anti-Confucianism can be said to be equivalent to enlightenment thought in eighteenth century, Europe. Yet notwithstanding its importance, there have been few detailed studies of Anti-Confucian thinkers. This study is an examination of the work of two of the most important anti- Confucianist thinkers - Fukuzawa Yukichi in Japan and Yi Kwang-su in Korea. These writers both sought to attack Confucianism in the light of Western political ideas. In doing so, they employed two cardinal Western political concepts: liberal individualism and nationalism. Their theories contributed to a two phased assault on Confucian values: in the first phase, liberal individualism was used to undermine the Confucian emphasis on the family. But while this first wave of opposition weakened Confucianism, it did not destroy it. The second wave of opposition- however, based on nationalism succeeded in redirecting Confucian collectivism into an illiberal nationalistic form. In the writings of both Fukuzawa and Yi this study traces the path of each of these assaults. In both theorists' work, liberal individualism gave way to nationalistic sentiments, thereby exemplifying and contributing to the currents running through their respective societies, Japan and Korea. The thesis has five chapters. The first two chapters are an introduction to the nature of Confucianism. In chapters three and chapter four, which respectively deal with Fukuzawwa,'s and Yi's anti-Confucianism, discussion centres around the following themes: their conceptions of liberal individualism and nationalism; how they reinterpreted Confucianism in the light of their conception of liberal individualism and nationalism, and how they attempted to reconcile the two different demands of liberal individualism and nationalism in their anti-Confucianism. The conclusion of the thesis is that Fukuzaw a's and Yi's anti-Confucianism failed, in that their association of liberal individualism with nationalism led to a jettisoning of the liberal individualism in their later life. This resulted in an insufficient challenge to the Confucian legacy and a constraint on the growth of liberal individualism in the two countries.

This thesis will explore how orthographic efforts to consider Han'gŭl, the Korean vernacular alphabet, in the realm of sensuous perception distinguished the Korean script from mere written orality and made it into an autonomous object fit for nationalist appreciation. / text

This thesis consists of three case studies on Korean nationalism: the ‘Korean Wave,’ the relationship between technology and nationalism marked by the ‘iPhone fever,’ and ‘Hines Ward syndrome.’ The three cases and the scant attention paid to them are symptoms of both the profound changes in and the ascendancy of nationalism in contemporary Korea. Taking Korean nationalism as a discursive formation, not as a pathology or a necessary manifestation of national sovereignty, this study challenges the dominant concept of the Korean nation as a real entity. To examine these pertinent cases is an indispensable element in this study’s attempt to avoid the essentialized and fossilized understanding of the Korean nation and nationalism. By analyzing a wide range of discourses on the cases, this thesis seeks to capture the multilayered appreciation of Korean nationalism. The Korean Wave has been one of the most predominant discourses in which a set of heterogeneous cultural commodities, the Korean Wave, is represented as a demonstration of the Korean nation’s cultural potential. One of the purposes of this thesis is to deconstruct this naturalized link between culture and place. This study also rejects the deep-rooted belief in the relationship between technology and national development. Technology and science in Korea do not inherently belong to the pure realm of Truth. Technology and science have been reproduced and constructed as a driving force for and/or an indicator of national development, not only by the national elites but also by ordinary Koreans. Whereas Hines Ward as a marker of unstable boundaries of the Korean nation appears to pave the way for the elimination of long standing discrimination against mixed-blood (honhyeol) people, the unquestioned links between race and culture as well as place and identity are still prominent even in multiculturalism as an alternative to the label of honhyeol. Based on these findings, this thesis argues, despite the pronouncement of the popular globalization thesis envisioning the death of nations and nationalism, that Korean nationalism continues to exist as a center of everyday discursive practices. / text

The purpose of this thesis is to Investigate the relation between mega sport event, media and Korean nationalism in the context of globalisation. Attention is paid to the South Korean media coverage of the 2004 summer Athens Olympic Games. A process/figurational sociological perspective was implemented in making sense of the global-national nexus in the media coverage of the Olympic Games. In this examination, the way In which the media promote the notion of globalisation and reinforce the Idea of nationalism was addressed. The South Korean newspapers and television coverage were investigated In a qualitative manner, and thematic, discourse and visual/image analysis were carried out. Using an inductive thematic coding system, themes and types of media discourse of globalisation and nationalism were identified. The research findings showed that the media coverage of the Olympic Games contains elements of both globalisation and nationalism. While the notions of a global festival and global fraternity were frequently used in celebration of emergence of a global society at the Olympic Games by the media, nationalistic discourses and expressions also accounted for a significant portion of the media coverage of the Olympic Games. It was also found that other notions such as Olympic ideals, war on terror and capitalist ideology were also central elements of the media coverage of the Olympic Games. In addition, the research outcome also points out that a unitary Korean nationalism, which supports reunification of the divided Korea, is becoming a dominant form of discourse on inter-Korean relations within South Korea. Therefore, a unitary Korean nationalism is evident in the South Korean media coverage of the Olympic Games. Overall, the research findings suggest that a media version of the Olympic Games is both a supreme facilitator of globalisation and an ultimate identifier of the nation.

This thesis explores social and political identities in Choson Korea between the years 1567 and 1637, particularly during the Imjin War (1592-1598) and the Manchu Invasions (1627 and 1636-1637). During the Imjin War, the Japanese caused widespread destruction over the entire Korean peninsula and the Ming army entered the country. The Later Jin briefly invaded in 1627 and launched a large scale invasion in 1636. The Manchus overran Choson's feeble defenses and forced Choson to become a vassal state of the Qing Empire. Scholars are at odds over the form of socio-political identity during this period of foreign invasion. Some claim these wars created the 'Korean nation' for the first time, while others contend that no such socio-political concepts could have existed before the twentieth century. However, researchers often use the same philosophical approaches and merely select aspects of certain theorists' frameworks that best support their arguments. Both the theories and historian's methodologies are limited in their explanation of socio-political identity of the premodern Korean past and even more so for the time of the Imjin and Manchu Invasions. My research attempts to solve these theoretical problems by creating a 'fusion of horizons' between past and modern concepts of socio-political identity in order to explore the political and cultural environments of the Choson people before and during the wars (bildung). This is achieved firstly by relying on official government histories and individually written diaries that, together, create a more complete picture of former socio-political identity. Secondly, I propose understanding Choson by looking at the definitions of the king, state, people, culture, history, and foreign world using their own definitions from their own times.