한국 사회의 근대성과 기독교

Korean Modernity and Christianity: on the Making of ‘an’ Ideology

The aim of the essay is to argue how Christianity has influenced Korean modernity. Yet, the essay does not discuss the issues of Christianity in the Korean society, rather, the problem of ideological assimilation between Christian ideas and cultural practice. From this perspective, what the essay examines is the way in which the modern idea transfused by Christianity transforms Korean traditional ideas. In the nineteenth century Korea, there was an ideological crisis caused by the collapse of Confucian socio-political system and a demand for a new ideological mould. From this turmoil situation, the Korean intellectuals and people chose Christianity as an ideological fantasy to solve the problem of community. The important is that Christianity plays a key role to define the ethical category of modernity, while the western aesthetics representing in the figure of Barbie dolls stands for aesthetic-epistemological category. Therefore, in Korea, Christianity is not simply a religious belief, but rather a living norm for politico-economic life - Christianity consists of a perspectivism to manage the modern way of life in Korea. In conclusion, the essay suggests that the Christian belief without the existence of God is embedded into the logic of Korean modernity, and proves the way in which the ideology of moden society works as in its own principle.