Skin-Deep? The Politics of Black Korean Identity in Korean Literature and Film

Abstract

This paper explores the issue of Black Koreans in Korea that has long been invisible and silenced in South Korean history. By paying particular attention to the diverse visual images of Black Koreans literature, popular performance and film, in conjunction with the socio-political and historical condition of South Korea and narrative structures of popular stories, this paper demonstrates that the issue of Black Korean identity is not just a matter of “skin color,” or “skin-deep.” Instead, it argues, the socio-political and cultural construction of a Black Korean racial category was a significant mechanism for creating and substantiating the idea of an ethnically homogeneous South Korean nation.