Sebae (세배) Revisited and Identity Politics

[samedi]

When I mentioned sebae (세배) - the tradition of bowing to one's elders for the lunar new year - in an earlier entry I hardly thought that I would have further reason to write about the subject until next year. Guess that was a premature conclusion

Comments

[anonymous]

Yeah. They get confused if you speak the language. Especially because Koreans don't say 대한민국 (Republic of Korea) to describe their country (or even the shortened 한국 all that often). They say 우리나라 (literally, "our country"). What's really funny is that the gals on 미녀들이수다 say "우리나라" to refer to Korea. Because that's what you say in Korean.

In some ways, speaking the language does violate their understanding of you as a foreigner. And 외국인 doesn't really mean "foreigner," it means non-Korean person (sort of literally "other/out-land-person"), as Brian's article points out.

Being called Korean is an interesting feeling. I've blogged about it, if you're curious.

[samedi]

And 외국인 doesn't really mean "foreigner," it means non-Korean person (sort of literally "other/out-land-person"), as Brian's article points out.

外國人 may not always mean "foreigner" but there are certainly times when it can be interpreted that way. There was only one instance where I translated 외국인 in my post, and my use of 'foreigner' seemed acceptable due to the fact that (1) she asked me that question at a time when I didn't use any Korean in the classroom, so the linguistic association would have been harder to make, and (2) most of the people who read my LiveJournal are not familiar with Korean culture and norms, and may therefore have been confused had I typed Teacher, are you a non-Korean-person? as a translation. Plus, it was late and I didn't want to go into a deep deconstruction of the term at 3:00am (when I finally hit the 'submit' button for this entry.) ;)

Without specifically asking her which meaning she had intended at the time all we can do now is guess. Interestingly, the comments to that entry and this later blog

[notte0]

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do" (er, or something like that).

Here it's the same, younger kids (heck, even some of my friends), not having enough experiences with foreigners, will think that anyone speaking Cantonese is Chinese. They even think I'm Chinese because I happen to have a fake Chinese name to use when visiting Chinese doctors (easier for them this way).

Nowadays, it's very common to see expats with Chinese names, or at least, translations of their surnames as their "official" chinese names.

Out of curiosity, do you have a Korean name (or a Korean equivalent pronounciation of your name)?

[samedi]

With Hong Kong and Macau having been colonies of Britain and Portugal, respectively, it's very interesting to hear that someone speaking Cantonese might be enough to be considered Chinese. With Korea having made historical efforts to limit contact with the outside world (well, Europeans and Americans for the most part) it's a little easier to see why Korean language proficiency would be tied to identity

[storysinger81]

sorry... the Anon comment was me. I'm just at work...

Jaehan Waegukin

[ext_162579]

You and I are not only 외국인. We are 재한 외국인 (resident foreigners). This is a new term, introduced and defined by the Basic Act for the Treatment of Foreigners Residing in Korea (2007). We are not tourists. We are not students here for a semester. We are residents of the Republic of Korea, and the "han" in 재한 reflects that. We have different needs, and are accorded a different status so that our needs can be better met by the government, as we live, work and contribute to this society in which we have made our homes.

Re: Jaehan Waegukin

[samedi]

Thanks for the comment. I was unaware of the term 재한 외국인, so I appreciate you providing that extra information. It's nice to see that a category for 'resident foreigner' was established in recognition of the impact we have on society and society has on us within the Republic of Korea.

saebae and foeigners

[anonymous]

Some comments I can make