Korean Village

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“Just south of the thirty-seventh parallel in Korea a long, jagged peninsula extends westward far out towards China into the Yellow Sea. At its extreme northwestern tip lies Sŏkp’o, a fishing and farming village of slightly more than a hundred households. This book is an attempt to describe the way of life of the residents of that village in terms of their membership in groups and the way they get along (or fail to get along) with one another as individuals.” Thus begins Vincent Brandt’s introduction to the first major study of a Korean village to appear in English. While living in Sŏkp’o (the name is fictitious) for nearly a year with members of his family, Brandt immersed himself in the social and economic life of the village as the “resident anthropologist, field worker, experienced sailor of small craft, and promoter of fishing ventures.” Enhanced by photographs, maps, and tables, this absorbing account focuses on the author’s overwhelming impression of the complexity and refinement of the village’s social organization.