Editor's Note

Two interconnected Special Sections are at the core of this volume. The first is titled "A Transnational Reading of the Invention of Korea's Confucian Traditions," exceptionally guest edited by Daham Chong (Sangmyung University). The second is guest editor Bonnie Tilland's (Leiden University) superb "Portrayals of Motherhood in South Korean Popular and Practiced Culture." Confucianism and motherhood are notions and practices tied to the ideological perception of constancy, on the one hand, and the shifting epistemological norms based on cultural and historical exigencies, on the other. The authors of the two Special Sections question and explore various historical and cultural predicaments of Confucianism and motherhood in modern and contemporary Korea.

The Special Section on the invention of Confucian traditions begins with Daham Chong's meticulous account of the influence Max Weber had on modern Korean historians' comprehension of Confucianism-derived systems in late Koryŏ and early Chosŏn, namely the civil service examination. Young-chan Choi (University of Oxford) adroitly investigates the epistemological changes distinctly occurring in late nineteenth century Korea, in which Confucianism comes to be seen as inferior to the modernist understandings of the world stemming from Protestantism. The postliberation space is Kim Hunjoo's (Hanbat National University) research area, where the process of remaking Confucianism as a new tradition is carefully scrutinized in relation to the nation building process. The final piece in this Special Section is on literary culture. Owen Stampton's (University of British Columbia) sophisticated article probes into the tension between tradition and modern life as experienced by women characters in Yi Kwang-su's 1917 play Kyuhan, as well as discussing the birth of the modern stage in Korea.

South Korea's variegated cultural expressions of motherhood is the theme of the second Special Section. It starts with Ji-yoon An's (University of British Columbia) keen multilayered comparison of the notion of motherhood between Kore-eda Hirokazu's Broker (2022) and South Korean films from the 1990s and 2000s about the absurd aspects of marriage and family, films such as My Wife Got Married (2008). Turning to television, Young A. Jung's (George Mason University) engrossing article approaches motherhood as a totalizing system, as represented in South Korea's recent—and popular—television dramas such as Sky Castle (2018–2019). The incongruent surge of feminism is at the center of Barbara Wall's (University of Copenhagen) astute discussion of motherhood and mothering, as evoked by South Korea's 2019 television drama When the Camellia Blooms. The intricate and problematic relationship between motherhood, religiosity, and women's emancipation is covered in Andrew Logie's (University of Helsinki) fascinating piece on the religion Chŭngsando's (Jeung San Do) portrayal of its leader Ko P'allye, a woman who led a radical subaltern life in early twentieth century. Motherhood as depicted in the genre of webtoons is the subject of Bonnie Tilland's (Leiden University) innovative and appurtenant article, especially as it deals with the changing norms of parenting where humor becomes an important category of expression.

The volume also showcases excellent research articles and a review article. Hyosun Lee (Yonsei University) makes a critical intervention into the South Korean government's idea of a model refugee by pointing out the diverse trajectories of livelihood led by North Koreans in South Korea, as it is represented in literature and film. The topic of people's resettlement continues with Nur Aisyah Kotarumalos' (Seoul National University) highly relevant, interview-based research on Indonesian migrants in South Korea as they navigate the discriminatory landscape of the labor market. The contestation of memory regarding Syngman Rhee, as Rhee's life was "rediscovered" by the conservatives in the 1990s, is sharply investigated in Patrick Vierthaler's historical piece. Korean women's autonomy in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is splendidly explored in Kyrie Vermette's (University of British Columbia) study, which shows that Western missionary women's goals were often at odds with Korean women's independent aspirations. An outstanding review article on the history of han as discourse is by Kristjana Gunnars (University of Iceland).

The volume concludes with four pertinent book reviews. Hosub...