National Narratives and Archaeology: Thoughts on Koreaness and Hellenism

George, M. (2008). National Narratives and Archaeology: Thoughts on Koreaness and Hellenism. The Review of Korean Studies, 11(2), 59-73, https://doi.org/10.25024/review.2008.11.2.003

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Abstract

This article attempts a comparative study of efforts by three countries to construct their respective national narratives (sequences of historical events) and support them with archaeological evidence. Korea, Greece and Cyprus, the last two included within the cultural sphere of Hellenism, are geographically distant and seem unrelated, since their historical destinies never touched before the mid-twentieth century. However, parallel circumstances in which the nation-building processes took place, similar aspirations, and interesting differences make their comparison illuminating. It is argued that all national narratives reflect modern preoccupations rather than historical realities. They are ruled by a more or less common set of parameters and the archaeological record can support these parameters in specific ways. Finally, the ways in which other countries have used archaeology and different narratives to manipulate in their turn the national identities of Greece, Korea and Cyprus are also studied.

keywords: nationalism, national narrative, archaeology, national identity

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Article Contents

Vol.11 No.2

National Narratives and Archaeology: Thoughts on Koreaness and Hellenism

Abstract

Reference

The Review of Korean Studies