ABSTRACT
Compressed modernity has five specific dimensions constituted interactively by the two axes of time/space and condensation/compression (see Figure 1.1).11 Time involves both physical time (point, sequence and amount of time) and historical time (era, epoch and phase). Space involves physical space (location and area) and cultural space (place and region). Condensation denotes the phenomenon that the physical process required for the movement or change between two time points (eras) or between two locations (places) is abridged or compacted.12 Compression is the phenomenon whereby diverse components of multiple civilizations which have existed in different areas and/or places coexist in a certain delimited time-space and influence and change each other.13 The phenomena generated in these four dimensions, in turn, interact with each other in complicated ways and further generate new social phenomena. Let us briefly illustrate each of the five dimensions of compressed modernity. Dimension [I] can be exhibited by the fact that South Korea has abridged the duration needed for its transition from poor agrarian society to advanced industrial economy through a few decades of explosive industrialization and economic growth. South Koreans proudly call this “compressed growth” (apchuk seongjang). More broadly, South Koreans are considered to have experienced “compressed modernization.”14 Dimension [II] is related to the fact that the successive domination of South Korea by external forces (Japan and the US) and South Koreans’ own effort to aggressively bring in or replicate various elements of Western civilization have radically reshaped the spatial configuration of the country. In particular, South Korea’s major cities have almost instantly become physical arenas for replication of Western cultures and institutions.15 Skipping the usual geographic requirement for inter-civilizational exchange like the Silk Road, an abridgement or dismantlement of space has taken place in the course of South Korea’s Westernization. Dimension [III] involves the phenomena of intense competition, collision, disjointing, articulation, and compounding among traditional, modern and postmodern elements within a compact socio-historical context.
