Exploring Humanistic Layers of Urban Travel
Representation, Imagination, and Speculation
in TransfersSearch for other papers by Jooyoung Kim in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Taehee Kim in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Jinhyoung Lee in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Inseop Shin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
All currencies in US Dollar
Abstract
This think piece approaches urban travel from a mobility humanities perspective, using the example of Seoul, South Korea, a leading metropolis in Asia. The article demonstrates three modes of interpreting urban travel in Seoul: (1) representation by means of mobile video technologies embodying a paradoxical relationship of powers; (2) literary imagination confining a possible mobile community in a restricted region; and (3) philosophical speculation presenting “crossing the Han River” as a spiritual and emotional reproduction of the connection between, and consequential rupture of, heterogeneous territories. The article pays particular attention to the represented, imagined, and speculated dimensions of urban travel, which is understood as a physically practiced and cognitively elaborated production, rather than a predefined movement per se.
Contributor Notes
Jooyoung Kim is Assistant Professor in and Deputy Director of the Academy of Mobility Humanities at Konkuk University. Her research interests include Japanese literature, multicultural studies, and mobility humanities. Email: jooyoki@konkuk.ac.kr
Taehee Kim is Assistant Professor in the Academy of Mobility Humanities at Konkuk University. His research interests include mobilities based on philosophy and cognitive sciences. Email: thcomm@konkuk.ac.kr
Jinhyoung Lee is Assistant Professor in the Academy of Mobility Humanities at Konkuk University. His interests include the modern Korean novel and criticism in the colonial era, and mobility studies from the humanistic perspective. Email: gespenst@konkuk.ac.kr
Inseop Shin is Professor in the Department of Japanese Education and Director of the Academy of Mobility Humanities at Konkuk University. His interests in scholarship include East Asian literature, diaspora literature, and mobility humanities. Email: seoha@konkuk.ac.kr