Minjung Theology and Art in South Korea: Origins, Legacy and current Christianity of the Korean People
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32870/mycp.v14i40.927Keywords:
Minjung, History of Korea, Christianity, Korean Art, TheologyAbstract
Minjung theology is a development of Korean Christianity. Studies on the Minjung often link it to the well-known Latin American theology of liberation and has even been seen as its Asian version. Despite these associations, the Minjung develops an indigenous theological reading of the historical struggles of the Korean people in which central aspects of their culture and traditional popular religiosity are re-evaluated. Recovering the contextual analytical theology category of Bergmann and Vähäkangas, this article suggests that Minjung theology is an original theological perspective based on native categories that are articulated to the experience of political oppression, suffered in the peninsula since the late nineteenth century. This theology is dynamic and heteromorphic. It has been able to adapt to the changes produced by the economic development and democratization of the country. The research behind this article is based on a qualitative case study with triangulation of methods and sources. The corpus of analysis consists of the theological texts Ahn Byung-Moo, Suh Nam-Dong and Suh Kwang-Sun, the woodcuts of Hong Song-Dam and Jeon Ho-Jang, documentaries by Kim Dong Won, In-depth interviews with Minjung references and observation participant in the actions of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology.Downloads
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