Page 49 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

Spirit of Postmodernism

Entering the 1990s Korean society experienced a new stream of sub-culture, so-called

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Sinsedae Munhwa [Culture of a New Generation]. Korean sociologists assert that it is
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postmodern culture. The Generation X or Baby Busters culture in the United States is the first

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generation to bring postmodern assumptions to all aspects of life; Sinsedae [New Generation]
in Korea formed a corresponding sub-culture in the contemporary Korean culture milieu.

Anthropologist Okpyo Moon described that culture related studies, especially research on sub-

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cultures, flourished from the ends of 1980s and into 1990s. It is important, therefore, to grasp

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Jae Hong Park, “As Appraisal Study of Common Consciousness and Sub-Culture of
Sinsedae,” Hankuk Sahoehak (Korea Sociology) 29 (Fall 1995): 660-61. There is debate on
“who is Sinsedae.” According to the age concept, Sinsedae are those who were born in the
1970s. By the attitude concept, those who exhibit attitudinal characteristics of Sinsedae
regardless of their ages should be classified as Sinsedae. Park, however, argues that Sinsedae are
those who are currently young people with Sinsedae’s characteristics in their attitude.

92 For an example, see Tae Wan Kim, ed, Hankuk Munwha Sahoe Sangwhang-Kwa
Whugi Hyundae (Cultural and social context in Korea and Postmodernity) (Seoul: Hyundae
Mihaksa, 1994).

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George Barna views the American population as five existing generations, using a
generation as a nineteen-year period. His five generations are Senior (born before 1926),
Builders (born 1927 to 1945), Boomer (born 1946 to 1964), Busters (born 1965 to 1983), and
Unnamed (born 1984 to 2002). George Barna, Baby Busters: The Disillusioned Generation
(Chicago: Northfield Publishing, 1994), 14-15. For slightly different years for generations, see
William Mahedy and Jenet Bernardi, A Generation Alone: Xers Making a Place in the World
(Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 1994), 10. They place the Busters as being born on or between
1961 and 1981. For a brief but helpful description of each generation, see Neil Howe and
William Strauss, “The New Generation Gap,” The Atlantic 270 no. 6 (December 1992): 67-87.

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Moon, “Korean Anthropology,” 127-29. Moon says that “toward the end of the 1980s
and into the 1990s, culture suddenly emerged as a concern of everyone. Culture-related articles
filled the pages of major newspapers and books with titles featuring the word ‘culture’…. Instead
of approaching Korean culture as an univocal integrated totality, various attempt have been made
to show distinctive characteristics of, say, the newly emerging urban middle class, the urban poor,
or youth culture.”