어쩌다 ‘문화연구자’의 문화연구 편력 －시행착오에서 문화연구의 방향 찾기－

Abstract

What is cultural studies? This paper attempts to answer this question through a reflection on tmy personal experience as a ‘non-conformist’ cultural theorist. It may be feasible to define cultural studies in terms of problematic, theory (or theories), and research strategies. I have tried to grope for a personally right formulation, while maintaining distance with the mainstream cultural studies both in the United State and Korea. Given that mainstream cultural studies have embroiled themselves into theoretical sophistication at the expense of critical inquiry into the social reality, I have attempted to develop political-theoretical sensitivity to domestically legitimate problematics relying upon a broad spectrum of social-cultural theories. In terms of a research strategy, I would like to suggest experimentations with a variety of approach, ranging from intellectual-history, empirical journalism studies to collective qualitative research, all of which have contributed to my version of cultural studies in their own ways. I conclude my review with a suggestion that, for a sustainable model of cultural studies, we need to develop multi-level strategies in studying and teaching theories as well as viable research strategies for next generation of scholars.