Nam Lee to present on class polarization in Snowpiercer, Parasite on October 29

The Institute for Korean Studies will present a a lecture by Nam Lee, Chapman University, on Friday, October 29 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. online (registration required). Professor Lee will present "Class Polarization and Catastrophic Imagination in Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (2019)."

Abstract: Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (2019) are excellent films to engage with the theme of catastrophe in our contemporary era. Snowpiercer is a global sci-fi film in English-language, and Parasite is a local drama set in Korean realities; however, they are both about a catastrophe caused by class polarization. While Snowpiercer is a universal allegory of the current global capitalist system, Parasite is a fable that captures the Korean specificities of neoliberal capitalist society. This presentation will discuss how global and local catastrophes are imagined and portrayed in Bong Joon Ho’s films and how they reflect and address the collective fear and anxiety. The analysis of these two films will reveal the political nature of Bong’s films and the physical and moral catastrophe portrayed in the films.

Nozomi Tanaka to present on the acquisition of relative clauses on November 2

The Institute for Japanese Studies will present a a lecture by Nozomi Tanaka, Indiana University Bloomington, on Tuesday, November 2 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. online (registration required). Professor Tanaka will present "Subject Advantage in the Acquisition of Relative Clauses: The Case of Japanese."

Abstract: It is attested in many languages (e.g., English, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Korean) that children acquire subject relative clauses (RCs) (e.g., 男の子を追っかけてる女の子 ‘the girl that is chasing the boy’) earlier than object RCs (e.g., 男の子が追っかけてる女の子 ‘the girl that the boy is chasing’). This is called the “subject advantage” in relative clauses. Findings on Japanese RCs, however, have been mixed. While some studies have found a subject advantage, others report no asymmetry or even an object advantage. In this talk, I will present preliminary findings from our work with Japanese-speaking children and discuss how research on Japanese can contribute to the investigation of this phenomenon.

Hyo Sang Lee to present on durative constructions in Korean, Chinese, English on November 3

The Institute for Korean Studies will present a a lecture by Hyo Sang Lee, Indiana University Bloomington, on Wednesday, November 3 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. online (registration required). Professor Lee will present "Durative Constructions in Korean, Chinese and English from a Typological Perspective."

Abstract: All languages have durative constructions that typically represent the Progressive and the resultative meaning. In this talk, it will be demonstrated that the meanings represented by the comparable durative constructions in Korean, Chinese, and English can be best characterized as dynamic and static duratives. The constructions that are dealt with are: -ko iss- and -ŏ iss- in Korean, zai and zhe in Chinese, and ‘be+present participle’ and ‘be+past participle’ in English. It will be illustrated that the range of meanings represented by these durative constructions in the three languages manifest a continuum in the dynamic-static scale, as the dynamic durative meaning is more extended in English, while the static durative meaning is more extended in Chinese, and Korean exhibits an intermediate stage.