New Horizons
Womanist Humanism: Subversion and Destabilization of the Predominant Image of "Dalit" in Meena Kandasamy’s Poetry
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kamal ud Din
This paper explores Indian feminism, particularly, Dalit womanism in the poetry of Meena Kandasamy, the first Dalit woman poet writing in English, in the light of Alice Walker’s ”Womanism.” Her poetry is the fight against existing social, political, and religious norms that not only are hostile to but also dehumanizing to the "marginalized"—woman. The focus of her voice of protest and resistance is against gender inequality, violence against Dalit women in particular, and systematic subjugation and denigration of Indian woman. Her poetry is clear-sighted, fearless, and a scathing attack on the perpetuation of the social, political, economic, and religious exploitation, injustice, and oppression of women and minorities. Her poetry not only exposes, but also denounces social mechanisms, arrangements, customs, and institutions that act as covert modes of establishing and perpetuating the subjugation of women. Kandasamy, in her poetry, censures the male-dominated society of the South Asian region that deprives women of their basic rights as human beings. Women are denied the right to make decisions about their own lives and are not even considered worthy to be treated as human beings, rather they were and still are, viewed as the "Others." Hers is a mordant attack on the social malaise of the systematic domination of the female sex. Through her witty arguments and polemical style, she subverts and destabilizes the predominant culture and retells Hindu mythology from the feminist and liberal humanist perspective.
The Emerging Relationship between North Korea and South Korea: Concerns about Potential Human Rights Violations
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jinman Kyonne
In April 27, 2018, President Moon of South Korea met with the North Korea leader, Jong-un Kim, for the first time in a demilitarized zone in South Korea territory. Many experts are optimistic on the newly-formed relationship between South Korea and North Korea. They are predicting a more united future. This study explores the human rights violations that may occur within that potential union by critically comparing the two countries' cultural and political systems.
Social Media and Its Effects on Young People in Our Society: How Self-esteem Changes
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Young Yoon Yoon Won
Little has been discussed about the deleterious effects of social media and the need to examine various angles of social media to identify their inherent problems. Therefore, this research set out to uncover what groups in our society are more susceptible to negative outcomes of social media and its contents. Having administered a translated Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale (RSES) together with other survey questions to 103 young people in Korea, correlation analysis, independent samples t-test, and regression analysis were conducted. The results revealed that gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were primary factors associated with the social media users’ self-esteem, and the two variables (gender and SES) accounted for differences in self-esteem. Finally, the same RSES was administered to the participants before and after they watched an upsetting social media posting, and a paired sample t-test was conducted. Though no difference was found in the overall self-esteem score, the participants showed a change in self-esteem with one question in RSES when the questionnaire was broken down and analyzed.
