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The performance and future direction of studies relating to the “Contact Zone” in the ancient history of Korea

  • 중앙사론
  • 2017, (45), pp.141-161
  • Publisher : Institute for Historical Studies at Chung-Ang University
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

Kim, Sun Joo 1

1중앙대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study examined the approach of studies relating to the “contact zone”, or boundary, in the ancient history of Korea; the study grasped future tasks and the direction of investigation of this ancient history. There have been previous studies on this contact zone in the ancient history of Korea; some academic articles use the phrase “contact zone” in their titles, while others mention it in their tables of contents or their contents. There are also studies that do not use the term “contact zone” but which regard it in a similar critical way. The contact zone in the ancient history of Korea largely means the boundary between states. The subjects of investigation are addressed with a focus on such problems as the sphere of influence or the border line. Therefore, we focused on areas in which territorial wars occurred in an intensive way among the ancient Three States or on areas in which military conflicts with Chinese dynasties occurred. For the most part, the border was approached as a concept of a military demarcation line related to the belongingness of the territory. But a problem has recently been raised as to boundaries between states in ancient times, and people have begun to take notice of the historical meaning of the borderland. Therefore, some suggest that the border should be reinterpreted as a composite space in which heterogeneous cultures met and fused rather than as an area of military conflicts. The concept of the contact zone has still not been established in the ancient history of Korea. The establishment of what the contact zone actually was should precede attempts to understand it. There is also a need to set the category of the borderland. And based on this understanding, there is a further need to develop a concrete understanding of the function or historical meaning of the ancient border. There is also a need to study the specific actual situation in the contact zone, that is, the contact zone community, and to extend related study to the internal border as well as the external border.

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