2015, Vol., No.56

Contemporary Architecture and Interspace of Communications -“Digital skin” and Sensual-Aesthetic Community of “Flesh”-

Kim Hwa Ja | 2015, (56) | pp.5~34 | number of Cited : 2

In recent times, the so-called “media façade” that combinesinformation-technology (IT), sensors, lighting, and arts has emerged as a newtrend in exterior decoration in contemporary architecture and has transformedthe stereotyped grid and dreary urban cities in modern architecture intosentimental and originative ones. This paper has examined how, under thesecircumstances, the splendid and dynamic “digital skin” of “media façade” hasbeen transformed into the interface of public interactive communicationsrather than being degraded into a brilliant display that experiments flashdesign, spectacles of exaggerated advertisements, and the effects ofcutting-edge audiovisual technologies. First of all, this study has examined thecharacteristics of “digital skin” based on, first, Merleau-Ponty’sphenomenological view of self-controlling order and the perceptual, symbolicorder of living things and, second, psychoanalyst Didier Anzieu’s view of theconcept of “skin” as a psychological wrapper – with the philosophy oftechnology by Gilbert Simondon, who emphasized a symbiosis between manand machinery and the importance of technological culture, as a medium ofreference. Furthermore, this study has figured out whether “digital skin” that transforms information in a boundary between the exterior and the interiorcan establish a community of genuine communications in relation to asensual common zone which is characteristic of Merleau-Ponty’s idea of theexistence of “skin.” As a result, this study has found that “media façade” ofcontemporary architecture not only shows diverse epidermal designs byreacting to the outside natural environment and by changing its patterns andcolors by itself but also functions as an interface of communications thatconveys messages by sensually interacting with the gestures of residents. Thestudy also found that, in order for “media façade” to function as a field ofsocial communications, it requires aesthetic experience with which it couldreflectively face the images or symbols of light produced by “digital skin”by maintaining a distance with which it can sustain multisensory space –reacting to a sense of touch with skin – but cannot be absorbed in it. Thisis based on a conclusion that only then “media façade” can offer one-sidedfantastic spectacles and maintain a distance with the experience of totallyimmersed in media screen that induces carnivalous absorption. In short, inorder to prevent the images of symbols of “digital skin” from being degradedinto volatile events and digital stresses, both “sensual and interactiveexperiences” and “quality contents” that can induce the participation ofresidents and consolidate them should be developed through interdisciplinaryresearch among the studies of arts and humanities. Besides, “digital skin”should be given equal opportunities in terms of not only sensual and pureaesthetic experiences but also access to information and utilization. Then,contemporary architecture will develop into an interface of communicationsand social platforms beyond the meaning of residence and will be able torealize its value of social communications. Besides, “digital skin” can helpcreate a new community of new social “flesh” by recovering the consolidation with the community of emotion – which lacks in the community of smartphones -- as it interacts with “media façade” through the medium of multisensory body.

Cyborg as a System and Digital Habitation

Yun-Sun Kim | 2015, (56) | pp.35~58 | number of Cited : 0

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Cyborg is generally defined as a creature that is part human, part machine. But this definition is ever becoming vague as biotechnological mutation andartificial life in imaginary space are categorized as cyborg with the rapiddevelopment of the cutting-edge science and technology. In consideration ofthe way of combination between human beings and machine, this paperdefines cyborg as a reproduced human being based on: a direct combinationof man and machine; a direct connection between man and machine; and anintegrated system of human being-machine-space. This study focuses on thethird, an integrated system of human being-machine-space, among the threehybrid types. It is because the people of today think the activities in virtualspace and their life as two different things and disregard the meaning ofvirtual space even though, in contemporary times, many activities are carriedout in the world of virtual reality including computers. With the realization of virtual reality through computers and Internetcommunications networks, people are experiencing virtual space as anextension of actual space. As man and machines naturally interact with eachother, people have crossed the border of reality and virtual reality, and havebecome cyborgs that experience virtual reality by extending their mind andsenses through the medium of machines. More importantly, man hasestablished a unique system with machines in the process of direct or indirectinteraction between the two, through which man can lead their lives in the artificially made virtual reality. In short, man leads his life in the system. Furthermore, contemporary man who is living in close connection withmachines finds it hard to live outside the system. Although men have not yetcombined their bodies with machines, they have naturally become cyborgsthat are unable to get out of the “system of man-machine-space.” Therefore,the meaning of virtual space is as significant as actual space for cyborgs. Then, can men reside in virtual space? How can we understand thehabitation in virtual space in comparison with the habitation in natural space?Only when we can answer this question can habitation in the digital zone benaturally endowed with the proper meaning of life. It is because electronicenvironment of virtual space that is formed through computers and theInternet blurs a distinction between reality and virtual reality in our dailylives and all the activities of human beings are being shared outside a borderof reality and virtual reality.

A New Search for Spatialization - With Focus on Portable Architecture -

Jintaek KIM | 2015, (56) | pp.59~94 | number of Cited : 3

As the contemporary people’s way of life is changing flexibly and rapidlywith the development of technology, residential space of today has come toshow a nomadic characteristic that is diverse and variable. The extinction oftraditional space and streets has also dismantled a boundary between theinterior and the exterior of residential space. Contemporary people, therefore,came to have a new nomadic way of thinking based on a nomadic lifestyle,free from the time-honored sedentary value systems and codes. This study,therefore, has raised a question of how we can figure out the concept ofspace and territory with the post-metaphysical thinking and then has chosenthe contents and projects of Portable Architecture as the concrete target ofanalysis. In order to carry out the project, we will borrow not only an idea ofHeidegger who explained the concept of space and things but also Deleuze’sidea of déterritorialization and reterritorialization. According to Heidegger, anexistential man as dasein exists by experiencing proximity and familiarityrather than isolated closeness and exclusiveness and his idea of space ismade with much focus on generating a meaning related to space. Meanwhile,settling the division of territory and constructing houses do not just boildown to the element of residence for Deleuze. According to Deleuze, theyare the generative events like the mental activities or artistic activities of human beings on one hand and the generation and creation of recurrence likethe case of “eternal return” mentioned by Nietzsche on the other. Therefore,we have to focus on the difference and the generation manifested in building,constructing, erecting, disconnecting, lowering, rearranging and moving houses,and rebuilding them after picking out a new location. In Heidegger’s concept,dasein personifies familiarity with space with difficulty and develops into amovement of opening a door to nature and life and of communicating withthem. This is a realm where the energy of generation and creation –mentioned by Deleuze – is sprouting endlessly. Therefore, it is thought thatDeleuze intended to explain the potential power of existence that is expressedpowerfully at a point where a nomadic character emerges rather thanidealistically yearning for the movement of spatialization in the romantic lifeof nomadism by borrowing the thoughts of Heidegger. This study hasattempted to make a philosophical investigation over the contents and projectsof Portable Architecture that can clearly show the nomadic character – inorder to develop the philosophical thinking into a critical philosophicalmovement that can help resolve real issues rather than letting it remainmerely in a movement of abstract ideas. It will be more important toexamine how Portable Architecture can help dasein to lead an existential lifeunder the diverse conditions of not only science and technology but alsoclimate change, energy, and environment and to form a network with space,rather than assessing the outcome of Portable Architecture in terms ofpractical dimension or economic profit. In other words, this study aims tofigure out how the existential beings who are experiencing the rapid changesof urban space form multiple identities, interact with it, and adapt to changesin their environment.

The Idea of Anger and Reward and/or Punishment of Heaven over Human Beings in the Thoughts of Chŏng Yagjong and Chŏng Yagyong -With Reference to True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven-

Jongwoo Yi | 2015, (56) | pp.95~120 | number of Cited : 2

The Changes of Paradigms in Chinese Education －Centering on Confucius’ Idea of Education－

Kim Dug-Sam , lee kyung ja | 2015, (56) | pp.121~148 | number of Cited : 2

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This study is aimed at examining Confucius’ idea of education that hasexerted an enormous influence not only on Chinese but also on East Asianeducation in general. This study will, first of all, focus on how theeducational changes promoted by Confucius led to a paradigm shift ineducation and how such a transformation exercised an effect not only oneducation but also on other external areas of politics, economy, and societywith regard to their social correlations. The final aim of this paper, therefore,is to figure out, based on these studies, the changes of educational paradigmsand their social correlations. The changes of educational paradigms instigated by Confucius were basedon a philosophical foundation that learning and enlightenment can beintegrated into one idea. Such changes also brought about the establishmentof private education, the following brisk activities of intellectual class, andthe subsequent promotion of knowledge and social changes. Inside the realmof education, the changes generated an integration of learning andenlightenment, pursuance of educational equality, implementation of a privateeducation system, and a sharing of knowledge. Outside the realm of education, it exerted diverse influences on social communities andorganizations, politics, economy, and culture. The Confucian idea of education raised by Confucius and his disciplesgave rise to the promotion of private education and expanded reproduction ofknowledge, thus leading to social changes. Such trends could be consolidatedand accelerated thanks to education and educational institutes. The idea ofConfucius, however, has taken a new turn amid the changes of modern andcontemporary periods some 2,500 years after its emergence. It is becauseintellectuals have lost the spirits and a sense of conduct upon whichConfucius and his followers made use of up-to-date and broad knowledge,developed old learning by incorporating the thoughts of many people, andattempted to settle the hitherto unsolved problems in society. This study has reaffirmed that educational changes and social changes areclosely related and deeply affect each other. When the relations are not smooth,however, society and education have to suffer from transformation. Although theexisting paradigms are denied and replaced by new ones with the accumulationof outcomes resulting from diverse attempts, the new ones cannot be sustainedpermanently but will undergo a process of generation, development, decline,and replacement. In conclusion, education should not only remain in passingdown the old and time-honored legacies but also take an active part inexamining new changes and in requirements and finding solutions.

An Apology for Hedonism -A Study of Pierre Gassendi’s Ethics-

Cho, Byeong-Hee | 2015, (56) | pp.149~182 | number of Cited : 0

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A Study of Ghosts and Consciousness of Reality in German Realism Literature -Focusing on "By the Fireside" by Theodor Storm-

Young Eun Chang | 2015, (56) | pp.183~216 | number of Cited : 0

This paper aims to examine By the Fireside (AmKamin, 1862), which isone of the earliest works by Theodor Storm (1817-1888) – a representativewriter of realism in Germany – and is one of the ghost stories that havenot been introduced to Korea. In By the Fireside, Storm opposed theromantic literary tradition of Germany and the return of literature to theunrealistic past and attempted to deromanticize literature by dealing with, inthe category of realism literature, “ghost stories” that had been regarded as a“reactionary tool” amid the political confrontations between restoration andreactionism after the 1830s. From the socio-historical perspective, the workreflects the political circumstances and the critical situations of 19th centuryGermany. The work contains the frustrations over the civilian revolution in1848, a sense of crisis in the wake of the Schleswig-Holstein War(Schleswig-Holstein Krieg) in the 1860s, and anxiety and fear of thecontemporary Germans. The structure of the narrative is a ghost story within the narrative(Binnenerzählugen) in the narrative society (Erzählgesellschaft) of story(Rahmenerzählung). The main characters of the story include an old man(alter Herr), his wife, and a young woman Clärchen. The story unfolds in apattern that the old man recollects and says to the audience at a tea-meetingsociety (Teegesellschaft) what he had experienced or heard – to be morespecifically eight ghost stories – for two days. Meanwhile, the old manintroduces the ghosts of the past to the audience and asks them to focus on“here & now” – the present and the actual situations. The “ghost stories” ofStorm enables the readers to recollect the culture-related memories that hadbeen cut off among the people in the midst of tensions of life and death. Asthe diverse aspects of realistic human life unfolded in relation to Storm’s“present” of the contemporary times, the accuracy of the stories beingrecollected is dealt with very importantly and is ruminated in the multilayerednarrative structures. As the amplified sense of fear and feeling of revulsionamong the audience are being expressed, the hitherto repressed emotions areemphatically exposed. Meanwhile, such unrealistic elements like the feeling ofrevulsion (das Unheinmliche) and the ghostlike thing (das Gespenstische) arereenacted in the fictional reality through the recurrent recollections. Besides,the relations between human souls and physical bodies are dealt with throughthe recollection of the dead ghosts, which is interpreted as an attempt torearrange the present situations by memorizing again the forgotten past thathad been severed between the past and the present. The narrative techniquesof “recollection” here have an important function in the formation ofconsciousness in which the narrator reaffirms the present situations of thenarrator who is the subject of recollecting the past, overcomes the severeconfrontations with the past linked to the future, recognizes the self-identityof the past and the present, and reconciles with the past.

A Moment of Revelation in “The Untold Lie”

Lee Jong-moon | 2015, (56) | pp.217~240 | number of Cited : 0

A Study of Comic Meaning in “ Don Juan or the Love of Geometry"

Hyeong Shik Kim | 2015, (56) | pp.241~274 | number of Cited : 0

Result and Limitation of the Postwar German's Social Welfare -Around Economic Crisis of the Weimar Republic and Its Unemployment Insurance Law-

Choi-SunAh | 2015, (56) | pp.275~302 | number of Cited : 0

After World War I, how to control inflation and stabilize currency valuewere two of the common matters of concern among all the European nationsthat participated in the war. Of those European nations, Germany experiencedthe most serious level of inflation. At that period, Germany adopted arepublic as its political system. The Weimar Republic, the country’s firstdemocracy in its history, was not well supported by Germans. It was becauseGermans thought that the newly created republic was blame for the nation’sdefeat in war and its aftermath. Despite its general image of “improvised democracy” resulting fromGermany’s lost war, the Weimar Republic made a lot of accomplishments inthe area of social welfare. After having overcome its crisis and entered intoa period of stability, the republic endeavored to expand the social welfarerights for workers. The history of the republic has so far been limitedlyinterpreted as a middle stage that partly opened a way for Nazism. Highunemployment rate and the world’s economic recession dealt a heavy blowcontinuously to the nation’s first republic based on parliamentary democracyand had something to do with Hitler’s grasp of power. Therefore, the economic crisis and social welfare policies of Germany afterWorld War I are the highly significant events in understanding the weaknessof sociopolitical structure of the Weimar Republic and the advent of statesocialism along with the Great Depression in the 1930s. This paper is aimedat examining the influence of Germany’s war-time fiscal policy on thepost-war Weimar Republic and, by delving into the “passive resistance”related to its war reparations, the economic crisis of Germany. The study willthen trace the history of social welfare in Germany in close consideration ofthe economic crisis of Germany and the “social welfare policies” carried outby the Weimar Republic.

European Integration and Cultural Identity

Hye Yang SHIN | 2015, (56) | pp.303~328 | number of Cited : 4

The plan to integrate Europe into what has become the enormouscommunity of the European Union (EU) was germinated in the early 1950sright after World War II and was rapidly facilitated after the reunification ofGermany in 1990. As a result, Europe has unified its market, completed thepolitical and economic integration, and adopted a single currency – the euro– among its member countries. Such a remarkable progress can be an objectof admiration for the people of Asia. The plan to establish “one Europe” hasa long history. The idea of European integration based on a peacefulagreement was suggested by Europeans during the period of the Thirty Years'War in the 17th century. Afterwards, intellectuals including philosophers andauthors dreamt of European integration as their ideal. Although the specificideas were different according to advocates, they mostly conceived a religiousand cultural European community based on Christianity. The European Unionas a politically and economically integrated system of today, however, fails toperform its role of culturally integrating the European countries with differentlanguages and cultures. Although the European Union attempts to establish anew cultural identity to cope with the image of new Europe, this designcannot be achieved only by polices alone. Many intellectuals have criticizedthat the European Union has not been able to properly deal with diversecultures and regional characteristics in terms of legislation and policyimplementation. This paper is aimed at figuring out, from the perspectives of major critics,who were the major advocates of the European discourses suggesting oneEurope as the ideal before the European integration and what has preventedEurope from establishing an ideal European Union in the process ofEuropean integration in the late 20th century. This study will put much focuson Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Robert Menasse, along with theirwritings, who criticized the non-democratic aspects and economy-centeredpolicies of the European Union. With regard to European discourses oncultural identity, this study will then examine: how literature interprets theconcept of ‘European literature’; what is the meaning of literary works –the regional cultural assets of Europe in each period – as the commoncultural legacy of Europe; and what is the characteristic of Europeanliterature and its relation to European cultural identity. Finally, this paper willpredict the creation of a space of transcultural communications based on thecultural identity of Europe in the contemporary times of global culture.

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2015, Vol., No.56