Trends of Anthropological and Folkloric Methodologies of Localities in Korea

With the implementation of local autonomy in the 1990s, Korean society witnessed a significant increase in overall interest in local area, leading to a substantial shift in existing perceptions of the local and local culture. Previously, the local had been understood peripherally through a dualistic perspective that separated the central and the local. Now, they are perceived from a pluralistic viewpoint that respects the autonomy, uniqueness, and traditionality of local cultures, as well as from a relational perspective that views the regions as being on equal footing with the center. This study examines the background of this perceptual shift regarding the local from the perspectives of anthropology and folklore, and explores new research trends on the local and local culture. In this process, attention is given to the anthropological and folkloristic emphasis on the detailed description of everyday life culture as it unfolds in local settings, and how this responds to changes in the contemporary socio-historical context, approached from a theory of practice. Furthermore, this study discusses the potential for understanding the trajectory of local culture in a time of accelerated exchange and transformation among areas through the creation of multidimensional cultural maps that reflect temporal and spatial changes in regional cultural elements.