Death in Korea – Folklore and Rituals Related to Understanding of the Underworld

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.95.05

Keywords:

folklore, Korea, death, rituals, underworld

Abstract

The main objective of the article Death in Korea – Folklore and Rituals related to understanding of the underworld is to analyze the meaning of death in traditional Korean culture. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to discuss original Korean beliefs related to the afterlife. The article will therefore present and discuss Korean folk stories related to the underworld, its inhabitants and the ways to get into it. To further emphasize the importance of death in Korean culture, the article will examine the rituals that ensure the proper passage of the deceased into the afterlife.

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Author Biography

  • Angelika Funek, Jagiellonian University

    In 2022 she obtained a PhD at the Jagiellonian University in the field of Culture and Religion, by defending the thesis Between the Gothic Novel and the Folktale –Demythologization of Lafcadio Hearn’s “Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things”. Currently, she works as an assistant professor at the Institute of the Middle and Far East at the Jagiellonian University, where she conducts classes on folklore, culture and societies of South and North Korea. She is also developing her studies on feminism in South Korea in the context of local music and movie industries. Additionally, she deals with the issue of representation of Asian minorities in American comic books.

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Published

13-06-2025

Issue

Section

Culture and Society

How to Cite

“Death in Korea – Folklore and Rituals Related to Understanding of the Underworld”. 2025. Politeja 22 (1(95): 73-86. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.95.05.