The formation and transformation of the Korean art world: Struggling for autonomy and ascending from global periphery
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article analyzes the formation and transformation of the Korean art world through the dual lenses of functional autonomy and vertical autonomy. The Korean art world was shaped by colonial domination, Cold War, and authoritarianism, producing uneven, overlapping, and state-mediated processes of institutionalization. During the colonial and early postcolonial periods, the Korean art world lacked both functional autonomy from political power and vertical autonomy from the global artistic field. Democratization and globalization during the late twentieth century expanded both forms of autonomy, enabling artistic innovation and transnational engagement and facilitating Korea’s movement from the global periphery toward the semi-periphery. The cultural hierarchies structured around the intersecting oppositions of high–low and Western–traditional became less rigid as autonomy expanded, opening space for hybrid forms of creativity. By integrating theory of art world, artistic field, and global artistic field, the article contributes to a comparative sociology of art world.
Source: International Sociology
Author: Joon Han
Institution: Yonsei University
Language: English
Topic: Social and Cultural Dynamics
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Yonsei University
Award: G1649974760
OpenAlex ID: W7154570994