Transmission and vernacular practice in the Korean wedding : a three generational case analysis

Abstract

South Korea has undergone one of the most compressed social and economic transformations in modern history, a shift vividly reflected in the evolution of its wedding ceremonies. This thesis investigates the generational transmission and transformation of Korean wedding practices, challenging the view that modern changes represent a mere loss of tradition. Utilizing a theoretical framework that integrates Abrahams’ concept of “vernacular authority,” Dundes’ “text and texture,” and Lévi-Strauss’s “bricolage,” this study explores how individuals navigate the tension between institutional mandates and lived realities. Employing a qualitative methodology centered on a three generational narrative corpus—including in-depth interviews with eight participants and self-ethnography—the research traces the shift from marriage as an absolute familial duty in the first generation to a site of negotiation between Westernization and tradition in the second, and finally to a radical expression of individual autonomy in the third. The analysis reveals that contemporary wedding practices are not a chaotic mixture of styles but a structured “revoicing” where participants creatively adapt available cultural fragments to meet contemporary needs. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the Korean wedding is a dynamic process of vernacular practice rather than a static artifact, demonstrating how ritual change serves as a profound indicator of shifting social structures and individual agency in a rapidly modernizing society.