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Methodological Approaches to and Research Agendas for Writing the Cultural History Modern Korean Bookstores - Focusing on Bookstores as Intellectual Spaces -

  • Journal of Humanities
  • 2025, (98), pp.005~038
  • Publisher : Institute for Humanities
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : July 4, 2025
  • Accepted : August 1, 2025
  • Published : August 31, 2025

CHEON, JUNGHWAN 1

1성균관대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Bookshops function as key agents and mediators of the publishing and reading culture, playing a central role in the process of book production, distribution and reception. Although the study of the cultural history of bookstores in South Korea had traditionally received limited scholarly attention, academic interest in the area has recently begun to grow. Nevertheless, research in this area remains in its early stages. This paper reviews key studies to date and explores methodological approaches to examining specific dimensions of the multifaceted phenomenon of bookstores and bookstore culture in an academic and systematic manner. In doing so, this study advocates for the adoption of both the perspective of cultural political economy (CPE) and the insights from intellectual history, among other approaches. This paper discusses the factors that shaped the emergence of modern bookstore culture and addresses issues related to the historical development of both bookstore culture and local bookstores through the lens of the spatiality of bookstores. It also examines the contemporary phenomenon of ‘independent bookstores’ in South Korea.

Citation status

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