Robert Fouser’s return to Korea marks highlight for Korean studies community
American linguist and writer Robert Fouser’s semi-regular visits to Korea have become a high point for the Korean studies academic community. The independent academic, known for his advocacy of traditional architecture preservation, urban history and Korean language pedagogy, tends to visit Korea at least a couple times a year, during which he participates in various events such as lectures, book talks and walking tours, which may be held in either English or Korean.
For this visit, Fouser will be active with Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea, giving one lecture and leading two walking tours.
On Tuesday, Fouser will give a lecture titled “Searching for the Perfect Writing System: Hangeul Reform Proposals in the 20th Century.”
“In this lecture, I examine various attempts to reform Hangeul that were attempted during the 20th century,” Fouser said in an online invitation. “Reforms focused on three aspects: linear writing, revised graphemes and new typography design.”
These attempts were intended to modernize the Korean writing system, Hangeul, touted for its many advantages, including ease of learning and scientific basis. But advocates of change wanted to reform it, bringing it more in line with alphabetic Western languages and also making it more adaptable to new technology, such as typewriters and later computers.
“The reform proposals, in their search for perfection, drew heavily on various, often conflicting, perceptions of Hangeul’s position among writing systems of the world,” he said.
The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. Entry costs 10,000 won or 5,000 won for students and is free for RAS Korea members. Attending online via Zoom is also available. Visit raskb.com for more information.
Fouser’s final tour for this visit is titled “Exploring Seoul’s Industrial Heritage and High-Tech, Multicultural Present.” On June 8, he will lead a walk through Gasan Digital Complex and Daerim-dong.
Gasan Digital Complex was once part of the Guro Industrial Complex, but most of the factories disappeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“Adjacent to the former industrial complex, some areas reveal the factory-town cityscape that developed during the period of rapid industrialization,” Fouser said in an online invitation. “These areas now have a high concentration of foreign laborers who work in small factories and service industries throughout Seoul.”
The area also houses G Valley Industrial Museum dedicated to the area’s history.
The walk will go through nearby Garibong Market, where Fouser will analyze the services provided to the foreign workers living in the area.
He will lead the way through Guro Digital Complex to Daerim-dong, which is home to the largest Chinatown in Seoul.
The tour starts at 1 p.m. Joining costs 40,000 won or 30,000 won for RAS Korea members.
Fouser first came to Korea in the 1980s to study the Korean language at Seoul National University. He lived in Japan from 1995 to 2008, where he taught foreign language education at Kyoto University and developed the Korean language program at Kagoshima University. From 2008 to 2014, he returned to Seoul to teach Korean as a second/foreign language education at Seoul National University. He is currently an independent scholar based in Providence, Rhode Island.
He is the author of six books in Korean, including “The Spread of Foreign Languages,” “Exploring Cities with Robert Fouser,” “Thoughts on Learning Foreign Languages and “Why Do Cities Preserve History?” He is also the translator of “Understanding Korean Literature” (1997) by Kim Heung-gyu and a co-author of “Hanok: The Korean House” (2015). He writes regular columns for various media outlets in Korea and serves as deputy editor of Koreana.
Visit raskb.com for more information.