Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T00:48:42.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

21 - The Korean Diaspora

from Part Five - Language Diasporas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2022

By
Joseph Sung-Yul Park
Edited by
Salikoko S. Mufwene  and
Anna María Escobar
Salikoko S. Mufwene
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Anna María Escobar
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Get access

Summary

Several conditions of the Korean diaspora offer unique opportunities for the study of language contact. These include the diverse routes and sites of migration that have defined the movement of overseas Koreans throughout the past century; the relatively strong linguistic and cultural homogeneity of Korean society and the prominent role that the Korean language plays as an index of Korean identity; and the recent shift from long-term migration towards flexible, short-term migration that characterizes the Korean diaspora today. This chapter addresses these issues through a survey of the history and sociolinguistic conditions of the Korean diaspora. After an overview of the Korean diaspora’s historical and geographical context, it considers the general trends of language maintenance and attrition in various Korean communities around the world. It also considers how language ideology serves as an important condition for the language maintenance of diasporic Koreans, as well as the more recent rise of flexible migration and shifting linguistic practice in the Korean diaspora.

Keywords

Koreadiasporamigrationlanguage contactlanguage maintenancelanguage attritionlanguage ideologymultilingualism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
Volume 1: Population Movement and Language Change
 , pp. 670 - 689
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abelmann, Nancy & Lie, John. 1995. Blue dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles riots. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bae, Sohee. 2013. The pursuit of multilingualism in transnational educational migration: Strategies of linguistic investment among Korean jogi yuhak families in Singapore. Language and Education 27.5.415–31.Google Scholar
Bae, Sohee. 2014. Anxiety, insecurity and complexity of transnational educational migration among Korean middle class families. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 24.2.152–72.Google Scholar
Brown, Lucien & Yeon, Jaehoon. 2015. Varieties of contemporary Korean. In The handbook of Korean linguistics, ed. by Brown, Lucien & Yeon, Jaehoon, 459–76. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Google Scholar
Cameron, Deborah. 2012. The commodification of language: English as a global commodity. In The Oxford handbook of the history of English, ed. by Nevalainen, Terttu & Traugott, Elizabeth Closs, 352–61. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Caprio, Mark E. & Jia, Yu. 2009. Occupations of Korea and Japan and the origins of the Korean diaspora in Japan. In Ryang & Lie 2009, 21–38.Google Scholar
Chapman, David. 2004. The third way and beyond: Zainichi Korean identity and the politics of belonging. Japanese Studies 24.1.29–44.Google Scholar
Cho, Grace M. 2008. Haunting the Korean diaspora: Shame, secrecy, and the forgotten war. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Choi, Lee Jin. 2014. Fragile bilinguals: Rescaling “good” and “bad” South Korean bilinguals. PhD dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Choi, Lee Jin. 2016. Performing “authentic” bilingualism: Authenticity, novel respelling forms, and language ideology in South Korea. Multilingua.Google Scholar
Chung, Erin Aeran. 2009. The politics of contingent citizenship: Korean political engagement in Japan and the United States. In Ryang & Lie 2009, 147–67.Google Scholar
Daswani, Girish. 2013. The anthropology of transnationalism and diaspora. In A companion to diaspora and transnationalism, ed. by Quayson, Ato & Daswani, Girish, 29–53. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Em, Henry H. 1999. Minjok as a modern and democratic construct: Sin Ch’aeho’s historiography. In Colonial modernity in Korea, ed. by Shin, Gi-Wook & Robinson, Michael, 336–61. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Gao, Fang. 2010. Bilingual education among ethnic Koreans in China: Ethnic language maintenance and upward social mobility. Chinese Education & Society 43.1.82–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heller, Monica. 2010. The commodification of language. Annual Review of Anthropology 39.1.101–14.Google Scholar
Hübinette, Tobias. 2005. Comforting an orphaned nation: Representations of international adoption and adopted Koreans in Korean popular culture. Stockholm: Department of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University.Google Scholar
Jeon, Mihyon. 2008. Korean heritage language maintenance and language ideology. Heritage Language Journal 6.2.206–23.Google Scholar
Jo, Hye-young. 2001. “Heritage” language learning and ethnic identity: Korean Americans’ struggle with language authorities. Language, Culture and Curriculum 14.1.26–41.Google Scholar
Kang, M. Agnes. 2003. Negotiating conflict within the constraints of social hierarchies in Korean American discourse. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7.3.299–320.Google Scholar
Kang, M. Agnes. 2015. Social aspects of Korean as a heritage language. In The handbook of Korean linguistics, ed. by Brown, Lucien & Yeon, Jaehoon, 405–18. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Kang, M. Agnes & Lo, Adrienne. 2004. Two ways of articulating heterogeneity in Korean American narratives of ethnic identity. Journal of Asian American Studies 7.93–116.Google Scholar
Kim, Ann Y., Lee, Jin Sook, & Lee, Wona. 2015. Examining Korean American parent-child relationships through bilingual language use. Journal of Family Communication 15.3.269–87.Google Scholar
Kim, German N. & King, Ross (eds.). 2001. Koryŏ Saram: Koreans in the former USSR, special edition of Korean and Korean American Studies Bulletin 12.2/3.Google Scholar
Kim, Jinhee. 2011. Korean immigrant mothers’ perspectives: The meanings of a Korean heritage language school for their children’s American early schooling experiences. Early Childhood Education Journal 39.2.133–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Ross. 2006. Korean dialects in the former USSR: Reflections on the current state of research. Bangeonhak 3.127–53.Google Scholar
King, Ross & Yeon, Jaehoon. 1992. Jungang asia hanindeului eoneo--golyeomal. Hangeul 271.83–134.Google Scholar
Kroskrity, Paul V. (ed.). 2000. Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar
Kroskrity, Paul V. 2004. Language ideologies. In A companion to linguistic anthropology, vol. 33, ed. by Duranti, Alessandro, 496–517. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Lee, Jin Sook. 2002. The Korean language in America: The role of cultural identity in heritage language learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum 15.2.117–33.Google Scholar
Lee, Jin Sook & Shin, Sarah. 2008. Korean heritage language education in the United States: The current state, opportunities, and possibilities. Heritage Language Journal 6.2.153–72.Google Scholar
Lee, Mun-Woong. 2004. Chonglyeongye jaeiljoseoninui saenghwalsegye: Inlyuhagjeog jeobgeun. Hangugsahoegwahag 26.1/2.163–224.Google Scholar
Lo, Adrienne. 2009. Lessons about respect and affect in a Korean heritage language school. Linguistics and Education 20.3.217–34.Google Scholar
Lo, Adrienne, Abelmann, Nancy, Ah Kwon, Soo, & Okazaki, Sumie (eds.). 2015. South Korea’s education exodus: The life and times of early study abroad. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Lo, Adrienne & Kim, Jenna Chi. 2012. Linguistic competency and citizenship: Contrasting portraits of multilingualism in the South Korean popular media. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16.2.255–76.Google Scholar
Maher, John C. & Kawanishi, Yumiko. 1995. On being there: Korean in Japan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 16.1–2.87–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Min, Pyong Gap. 2000. Korean Americans’ language use. In New immigrants in the United States: Readings for second language educators, ed. by McKay, Sandra Lee & Wong, Sau-Ling Cynthia, 306–32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Min, Pyong Gap. 2011. Koreans’ immigration to the US: History and contemporary trends (Research Report No. 3). The Research Center for Korean Community, Queens College of CUNY.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Oegyobu]. 2015. Jaeoedongpojeongchaeg mich hyeonhwang. Available at www.mofa.go.kr/travel/overseascitizen/index.jsp?mofat=001&menu=m_10_40&sp=/webmodule/htsboard/template/read/korboardread.jsp%3FtypeID=6%26boardid=232%26tableName=TYPE_DATABOARD%26seqno=356334, accessed August 30, 2016.Google Scholar
Mitsui, Takashi. 2013. Sigminji joseonui eoneo jibae gujo: Joseoneo gyubeomhwa munjeleul jungsimeulo, trans. by Kyounghwa, Lim. Seoul: Somyung.Google Scholar
Seongae, O. 2010. Cheongdo geoju joseonjokui eoneo neunglyeokgwa eoneo taedo. Hangukhakyeongu 23.181–212.Google Scholar
Park, Joseph Sung-Yul. 2017. Transnationalism as interdiscursivity: Korean managers of multinational corporations talking about mobility. Language in Society 46.1.23–38.Google Scholar
Park, Joseph Sung-Yul & Lo, Adrienne. 2012. Transnational South Korea as a site for a sociolinguistics of globalization: Markets, timescales, neoliberalism. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16.2.147–64.Google Scholar
Park, Seong Man. 2011. The role of ethnic religious community institutions in the intergenerational transmission of Korean among immigrant students in Montreal. Language, Culture and Curriculum 24.2.195–206.Google Scholar
Patterson, Wayne. 1988. The Korean frontier in America: Immigration to Hawaii, 1896–1910. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Patterson, Wayne. 2000. The Ilse: First-generation Korean immigrants in Hawai’i, 1903–1973. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, Suin. 2012. Language of migration: Self- and other-representation of Korean migrants in Germany. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Ryang, Sonia. 1997. North Koreans in Japan: Language, ideology, and identity. Boulder, CO/Oxford: Westview.Google Scholar
Ryang, Sonia. 2009. Introduction: Between the nations. Diaspora and Koreans in Japan. In Ryang & Lie 2009, 1–20.Google Scholar
Ryang, Sonia & Lie, John (eds.). 2009. Diaspora without homeland: Being Korean in Japan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schieffelin, Bambi B., Woolard, Kathryn A., & Kroskrity, Paul V. (eds.). 1998. Language ideologies: Practice and theory. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schmid, Andre. 2002. Korea between empires, 1895–1919. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Seol, Dong-Hoon & Skrentny, John D.. 2009. Ethnic return migration and hierarchical nationhood: Korean Chinese foreign workers in South Korea. Ethnicities 9.2.147–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shin, Gi-Wook & Choi, Joon Nak. 2015. Global talent: Skilled labor as social capital in Korea. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Shin, Hyunjung. 2012. From FOB to cool: Transnational migrant students in Toronto and the styling of global linguistic capital. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16.2.184–200.Google Scholar
Shin, Sarah J. 2005. Developing in two languages: Korean children in America. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Shin, Sarah J. & Lee, Jin Sook. 2013. Expanding capacity, opportunity, and desire to learn Korean as a heritage language. Heritage Language Journal 10.3.357–66.Google Scholar
Shin, Sarah J. & Milroy, Lesley. 2000. Conversational codeswitching among Korean-English bilingual children. International Journal of Bilingualism 4.3.351–83.Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael. 1979. Language structure and linguistic ideology. In The elements: A parasession on linguistic units and levels, ed. by Clyne, Paul R., Hanks, William F., & Hofbauer, Carol L., 193–247. Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society.Google Scholar
Son, Jeonghye. 2008. Korean residents in Japan and their Korean language in multiple language contacts. MA thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Song, Jiyoung. 2015. Twenty years’ evolution of North Korean migration, 1994–2014: A human security perspective. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies 2.2.399–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Song, Juyoung. 2016. Language socialization and code-switching: A case study of a Korean–English bilingual child in a Korean transnational family. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsuda, Yukio. 2000. The maintenance of the Korean language and identity in Japan. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 30.1.219–27.Google Scholar
Yoon, In-Jin. 2000. Forced relocation, language use, and ethnic identity of Koreans in Central Asia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 9.1.35–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoon, In-Jin. 2012. Migration and the Korean diaspora: A comparative description of five cases. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 38.3.413–35.Google Scholar
Yoon, Kyong. 2016. Korean migrants’ use of the internet in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Zhen’ai, Wen, Liting, & Li, Guanghe. 2015. Trilingual education in China’s Korean communities. In Trilingualism in education in China: Models and challenges, vol. 12, ed. by Feng, A. & Adamson, B., 47–64. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.Google Scholar
Zhou, Qingsheng. 2004. Population behaviors and language maintenance: A case of the Korean-speaking community in China. Collegium Anthropologicum, 28(Supplement 1).83–96.Google ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×