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| I love the name for chapter 4... |
This thesis examines whether the interrelationship of family and gay identity in South Korea is
best understood as one of conflict, pitting a traditional, national, and filial constraint against a
presumed global, progressive, and individualistic freedom, or whether it requires (or perhaps, in
the narratives themselves, already provides) a different, more recursive understanding. This thesis explores the recursivity between gay identity and filial piety among college students in contemporary Korea while also providing a critique of a global gay paradigm that others may argue
infiltrates Korean gay discourse. The aim of this ethnography is not just to collect the stories that
these young South Korean college men tell about their experiences of being gay and a son, but to
trace how my position as a researcher and a friend are shaped by my experiences with other gay
Korean men and how those positions are intimately tied to this ethnography as a whole.
This is the longest academic work I've found at more than 200 pages. From a quick scan, it looks like a very interesting read. However, since today is the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, I've already had a large glass of wine and now moving on to a gin and tonic. No way I'm going to be reading all of this tonight. I'm just happy I can share it with my readers.
