Prof Walraven's inspiration:
An old shaman stands barefoot on top of a pair of razor-sharp blades and speaks to a god called the Chinese General. Above her head, every thirty seconds, jet airliners pass on their way to and from the international airport of Seoul. Two different worlds, the past and the present some might be inclined to say. But it is all part of 21st-century Korea and it should be understood as such. The next day the shaman herself will travel by air to foreign countries, for a holiday or to perform a ritual. Alternatively, an executive from one of the big industrial conglomerates may come to visit her to ask for advice. In his studies of Korean culture from the fifteenth century to the present day he breaks away from dichotomies like modern and pre-modern, past and present, East and West.
Current research projects include:
- A study of Buddhism in the late Choson period focussed on Buddhist poetry in the kasa form from that period.
- A study of concepts of identity and Koreanness in oral and written literature of the late Choson period.
Education:
B.A. in Japanese Language and Culture, Leiden University (1969)
Research student, Depts. of Korean History and Cultural Anthropology, Seoul National University (1973-1975)
M.A. in Korean Language and Culture, Leiden University (1976)
Doctorate in Korean Language and Culture, Leiden University (1985)
Professional experience:
Teaching assistant for Japanese and Korean, Leiden University, Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies (1969-1973)
Part-time Lecturer, Dutch Department, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul (1974)
Lecturer in Korean Studies, Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies, Leiden University (1976-1978)
Assistant-Professor in Korean Studies, Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies, Leiden University (1979-1990)
Associate-Professor, Korean Studies Department, Leiden University (1990-1994)
Professor, Language and Culture of Korea, Leiden University (1994-present)
Visiting Professor of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris (2000)
Other professional activities:
President of the Association for Korean Studies in Europe (1995-1999)
Member of the Committee for Academic Affairs of the International Institute for Asian Studies (2000-present)
Overseas Director of the Kug; kungmunhakhoe (Society for Korean Language and Literature) (2003-present)
Member of the International Advisory Committee of the Korea Foundation (2004-present)
Member of the Editorial Board of the Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies (2005-present)
Member of the Northeast Asian Council of the Association for Asian Studies (2005-present)
Publications:
2003 Hamel’s World: A Dutch-Korean Encounter in the Seventeenth Century Vibeke Roeper & Boudewijn Walraven (eds.), with the collaboration of Jean-Paul Buys. SUN, Amsterdam, 192 pp.
2003 Chi Myŏngsuk & B.C.A. Walraven, Pomulsŏm-ŭn ŏdi-e: Nedellandŭ kongmunsŏ-rŭl t’onghae pon Han’guk-kwa ŭi kyoryu. Yonsei University Press, Seoul, 294 pp.
2001 “The Parliament of Histories: New Religions, Collective Historiography, and the Nation.” Korean Studies 25 (2): 157-178.
1999 "Popular Religion in a Confucianized Society", Culture and the State in Chosǒn Korea, Martina Deuchler and Jahyun Kim Haboush (eds.), Harvard University Asia Center - Harvard East Asian Monographs/Harvard-Hallym Series on Korean Studies 182, Cambridge MA, pp. 160-198 (main text) and 261-275 (notes).
1994 Songs of the Shaman: the ritual chants of the Korean mudang. Kegan Paul Int., London.