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Title: The Rhetoric and Reality of Mother Love among Younger-Generation Korean American Women from a Feminist Pastoral Theological Perspective

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2017

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Abstract: In Korean American culture, emphasis regarding the concept of mother love is often placed on the mother’s self-sacrifice for the sake of a better life for her child. This rhetoric of self-sacrifice is a social construct that was shaped within a patriarchal and Confucian-based culture. This dissertation explores from a feminist pastoral theological perspective the contemporary mother love rhetoric that informs younger-generation Korean American women’s mothering. Using a cultural-political version of the revised correlational method, the dissertation focuses on the theme of self-sacrifice in relation to equal regard and mutuality in the context of being a Korean American mother. It is conducted in four movements. First, it examines the traditional, Confucian-based concept of moseongae, a term that simply means ‘mother love’ in Korean but that carries a nuanced interpretation. It surveys how self-sacrifice was emphasized as the mother’s role in the Joseon dynasty and then reinforced as “instrumental” and “self-sacrificial” during the period of industrialization and modernization in Korea. It also describes how the rhetoric of self-sacrifice was strengthened among Korean American mothers in their experience of immigration. Second, it explores the contextual factors of being a younger-generation Korean American woman. Drawing upon the concepts of women mothering and racialized mothering, it demonstrates various ways younger-generation Korean American mothers respond to the Korean cultural aspects of mothering. Then, it engages Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s feminist pastoral theological work on motherhood as well as Unsunn Lee’s intercultural dialogue on Confucianism, feminism, and Christianity to articulate ways in which the current mother love rhetoric is disempowering to women. Drawing upon the above explorations, the study articulates, challenges, and reconstructs the concept of mother love and suggests alternative ways to look at mother love that are beneficial for younger-generation Korean American women. The study envisions (1) mother love being treated as an “intensively interested” love, (2) mothering as a journey to finding the self in the context of family and community, and (3) the community being involved in rejecting the ongoing patriarchy that resides in the traditional concept and the practice of mother love.

Url: https://www.gtu.edu/2017-2018-gtu-graduates

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Authors: Shim, Shijung

Institution: Graduate Theological Union

Department: Liturgical Studies

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Race and Ethnicity

Countries: United States