A Close Reading of Alexander Slawik’s Kulturschichten in Altkorea (1936)

Alexander Slawik (1900-1998), head of the Japanese Studies department at Vienna University from 1965 on, modelled his PhD thesis, Kulturschichten in Altkorea (Cultural Strata in Ancient Korea, 1936), closely after that of his friend and colleague Oka Masao (1898-1982), who dealt with the same questions concerning Japan. This paper provides a close reading and analysis of Slawik’s unpublished thesis, analysing and contextualizing his sources, outlining issues of interpretation, and delineating how Korea became an academic tool to deconstruct and objectify Japan. Asking how Slawik positions himself in the academic discourse, the paper scrutinizes the political inclinations of Slawik and his stance on imperialism. Korea became a significant “other” in Slawik’s understanding of Japan and was key in his understanding of area studies in general. Finally, the paper traces Slawik’s legacy in Korea. Even though Slawik had educated a handful of Korean students in Vienna, his work never received translation into Korean. Still, traces of his research and teaching can be found.