La X^e édition du Seoul Colloquium in Korean Studies, organisé par le Centre de l'ÉFEO à Séoul en collaboration avec la Royal Asiatic Society (Seoul Branch) et l'Asiatic Research Institute (ARI, Korea University), a lieu le 18 mai à l'ARI, Korea University. Benjamin Joinau, enseignant-chercheur à l'université Hongik à Séoul, intervient sur le thème "Constructing National Food: North and South Korean Cookbooks and the Standardization of National Cuisine".
The May 2017 session of the Seoul Colloquium in Korean Studies, organized jointly by the Seoul Center of the ÉFEO and RAS Korea, is held on Thursday May 18 in the Grand Conference Room of the Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University, beginning at 6:00 pm. The Colloquium is designed to offer an opportunity to present and discuss recent work or work in progress, by both faculty and students. May Presentation “Constructing National Food: North and South Korean Cookbooks and the Standardization of National Cuisine”  by Benjamin Joinau. In the context of national constructs, recipe books define an ideal corpus of national cuisine. The need for standardized recipe books started in Korea during the 20th century, when Korea was facing rapid modernization in the Japanese colonial context. Partition later opened a new dilemma: if Korean culture is one, so should be Korean cuisine – but in the context of the long partition and of the Cold War regime of opposition, the two States tend to require increased differentiation. These competing identities are well expressed in the different recipe books which have been published on both sides on an official or semi-official level. This study will be based on the detailed statistical analysis of the North Korean “Bible” of its own cuisine: Chosŏn ryori chŏnchip (Encyclopedia of Chosŏn Cuisine, 1994-2014, Pyongyang). We will proceed to a categorization of the types of dishes, as well as methods of cooking and main ingredients used in recipes. In order to have a synchronic comparison, recent data from South Korea will be included in the comparative analysis. We will analyze Hanguk ŭmsik kich’o chori (Basic Cooking of South Korean Dishes, Yoon Sook-ja, 2008, Seoul), because the author had her book translated in several languages, insisting on the fact that the recognition of Korean gastronomy on the international stage relies on the standardization of recipes. Through these thorough analysis, we will be able to proceed to an in-depth comparison of the way North and South Korea construct their national cuisine through such recipe books. 
Benjamin Joinau holds a doctorate in cultural anthropology specialized in Korean Studies. He is assistant professor at Hongik University, Seoul.


 séoul colloquium in korean studies