Representing foreign brides

: Koreanisation, ethnic nationalism, and masculinity in South Korea

Abstract

Cross-border marriage has been a feature of South Korean (henceforth Korea) life for more than three decades. Despite the increasing numbers, marriage migrants continue to face significant barriers to integration into Korean society. This thesis argues that racialised ethnic nationalism in Korea, understood as the belief in a “pure-blooded” single ethnic nation, together with patriarchy, are key to understanding the discrimination and challenges experienced by marriage migrants, and explores this with reference to various institutions associated with marriage migration in Korea.

Cross-border marriage in Korea has developed significantly since its inception in the local governments’ Rural Bachelor Marriage Support Campaign. Today, it is highly institutionalised and systematised. Institutions such as cross-border marriage brokerage agencies and NGOs sit at the heart of Korea’s marriage migration system and play a crucial role in shaping public understandings of marriage migration and cross-border unions. Their representational practices reflect, reinforce, or challenge broader ideologies of nationalism and gender. This thesis investigates how these institutions engage with these ideologies, and the logics that underpin their tendencies to reproduce or challenge them.

Drawing on i) media research on marriage broker advertisements, ii) participant observation with an NGO project responding to brokers’ promotional materials, and iii) semi-structured interviews, the study demonstrates how these institutions construct and circulate images of marriage migrants. The findings highlight that marriage brokers Koreanise foreign brides by racialising them and imposing particular gender roles, practices tied to the interests of subordinated Korean men in restoring their beleaguered masculinity. NGOs, drawing on their roots in the Korean feminist movement, recognise and attempt to challenge many of these practices, while being less attuned to how marriage migration is shaped by men’s vulnerable masculinities.

Overall, the thesis shows how representations of marriage migrants are closely linked to the interests of various actors and are embedded within the wider structures of Korean ethnic nationalism and patriarchy.

Date of Award	3 Oct 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Katharine A H Charsley (Supervisor) & Bridget Anderson (Supervisor)