An Analysis of Cultural Hegemony and Placeness Changes in the Area of Songhyeon-dong, Seoul

Abstract

The History and Culture Park and the Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall will be built in Songhyeon-dong, Seoul. Political games from the Joseon Dynasty to the present greatly influenced the historicity of Songhyeon-dong. However, place analysis was limited to changes in landowners and land uses rather than a historical context. Therefore, this study analyzed the context in which the placeness of Songhyeon-dong changed according to the emergence of cultural hegemony using the perspective of modern cultural geography and comparative history. As a result of the analysis, cultural hegemony in historical transitions, such as Sinocentrism, maritime expansion, civil revolutions, imperialism, nationalism, popular art, and neoliberalism, was found to have created new intellectuals in Bukchon, including Songhyeon-dong, and influenced social systems and spatial policies. In this social relations, the placeness of Songhyeon-dong changed as follows. First, the founding forces of Joseon created pine forests as Bibo Forests to invocate the permanence of the dynasty. In the late Joseon dynasty, it was an era of maritime expansion, and as Joseon's yeonhaeng increased, a garden for the Gyeonghwasejok, who enjoyed the culture of the Qing dynasty, was built. Although pine forests and gardens disappeared due to the development of housing complexes as the population soared during the Japanese colonial era, Cha Gyeong's landscape aesthetics, which harmonized artificial gardens and external nature, are worth reinterpreting in modern times. Second, the wave of modernization created a new school in Bukchon and a boarding house in Songhyeon-dong owned by a pro-Japanese faction. Angukdongcheon-gil, next to Songhyeon-dong, was where thinkers who promoted civil revolution and national self-determination exchanged ideas. Songhyeon-dong, the largest boarding house, served as a residence for students to participate in the March 1st Movement and was the cradle of the resulting culture of student movements. The appearance of the old road is preserved, so it is a significant part of the regeneration of walking in the historic city center, connecting Gwanghwamun-Bukchon-Insadong -Donhwamunro. Third, from the cultural rule of the Government General of Joseon to the Military Government, Songhyeon-dong acted as a passage to western culture with the Joseon Siksan Bank's cultural housing and staff accommodations at the U.S. Embassy. Ancient and contemporary art coexisted in the surrounding area, so the modern and contemporary art market was formed. The Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall is expected to form a cultural belt for citizens with the gallery, Bukchon Hanok Village, the Craft Museum, and the Modern Museum of Art.