London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

The Shaman Sorceress

Based on Kim’s story The Portrait of a Shaman, it tells the story of Eulhwa, a female shaman, whose son tries to save her from her world of spirits and demigods and convert her to his own Christian beliefs. The conflict between mother and son, with its shattering conclusion, reflects the deeper conflict between the … [Read More]

Shamanism: The Spirit World of Korea

From the publisher’s website: A series of psychological and anthropological studies about the oldest and the most fascinating religious tradition of Korea. Contents Acknowledgments – R. Guisso Preface – CS. Yu and R. Guisso Korean Shamanism – A Bibliographical Introduction – Kim In-hoe Tr. Yoo Young-sik An Introduction to Korean Shamanism – Chang Chu-kun Tr. … [Read More]

Folk Art and Magic: Shamanism in Korea

From the dust jacket: Just what are the secrets of Shamanism’s survival in Korea for over five millennia? Even after sixteen centuries of suppression, first by Buddhists for a thousand years, then by Neo-Confucianists who ruled Korea for five centuries, finally by missionaries who regarded this folk faith as “the basest demonology,” Shamanism still persisted … [Read More]

Shamans, Housewives and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean Ritual Life

“I describe in these pages the system of belief and practice I found among women and shamans in and around Enduring Pine Village, Republic of Korea” (author) “This exceptionally well-written book is good reading, not only for specialists but also for beginning students interested in women, Korean culture, and shamanism.” –Journal of Asian Studies “Kendall … [Read More]

Korean Women: View from the Inner Room

From the preface: This collection of articles presents an amazing variety of female roles and certainly belies the stereotype of the powerless and dependent Korean woman. Korean women, whether ideologically confined to the inner rooms or cast out to the periphery of society, created for themselves positions of influence radiating across the narrow ideological and … [Read More]

Korea and her Neighbours: A Narrative of Travel, with an Account of the Recent Vicissitudes and Present Position of the Country

From the back cover of the Pacific Basin Books edition (Kegan Paul, 1985): Isabella Bird’s account of her journeys in Korea in 1898 represents one of the very rare accounts of that country in the latter part of the nineteenth century. At that time Korea was virtually a forbidden land and had only been open … [Read More]