SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis investigates visual representations of the Korean nation-state from the 1880s to the 1910s and their impacts on state and nation-building of the period. After the opening of ports in 1897, Korea faced the task of reconciling the traditional and new, both in the interpretations of the Korean nation-state and methods of visual representation. In this setting, this study explores the role of visual imagery in the authentication of information and intangible ideas, particularly in rationalising the various intertwining and at times conflicting visions of the new Korean nation-state. Thematic case studies of royal portraits, illustrations of historical figures, the Korean flag, imperial emblem, the map of Korea, and geographic landscapes are analysed in relation to core strands of nation-building that coexisted at the turn of the twentieth century. Through these cases, the research deciphers the relationship between the processes of the creation and re-contextualisation of representative images and the gradual formation of a modern Korean nation-state.