South Korea is witnessing renewed public attention to books on humanities, with some observers suggesting it is a “revival of humanities.” However, many in the publishing industry cast doubts on whether the term “revival” would be fit to describe the current trend.

“It is not a revival since humanities has never been dead,” said Go Won-hyo, head of the humanities department in Munhakdongne Publishing Group in an interview.

“Rather than calling it a revival, ‘restoration of interest in humanities’ would be more accurate.”

What’s certain is that more readers want to learn about the humanities. According to a report by Kyobo Book Center, the biggest bookseller in Korea, the number of books sold in humanities areas rose by 9.4 percent in 2012 from a year earlier.

Kyobo’s bestseller data also reflects a greater interest in books on humanities as well. The number of humanities books on the list went up to 12 in 2012 from six in 2010. 



The bookstore franchise is implementing several arrangements focused on humanities.

Kyobo’s Gwanghwamun branch manager said he’s expanding the size of the bookstands for the history, culture and art sections and also is planning to hold events to promote readers’ interests in humanities. “Humanities Espresso” is part of such programs offering a channel between readers and writers of well-known books on history and culture.

Most noticeable in the trend is that people tend to prefer humanities books for beginners. “The books meet the need of readers who are interested in humanities yet don’t know where to start,” said Jung Hee-yong, head of the editorial department in Bookie, a publishing company.

“While it is a good sign that people are paying more attention towards the subject, it would be better if they were interested in books that contain more in-depth and self-reflective contents,” he added.

Celebrity writers are also helping revive the public interest toward humanities. Last year, when Michael Sandel visited to lecture on his theory in front of 10,000 students, two of his books, “What is Justice” and “What Money Can’t Buy,” dominated the national bestseller lists.

Despite the positive signs, experts said readers should be careful in approaching humanities.

“Many people think the study of humanities can be easily attained,” said Chung Duk-ae, professor of English Literature at Ewha Womans University. “People try to find answers quickly by reading some introductory books but what humanities stand for is the importance of reading, writing and thinking over a long period of time.”

A growing number of publishing companies are implementing programs to broaden the scope of humanities. Bookie, for instance, puts out “Precious Books” series which lists books in six genres that failed to made it to the bestseller list in the previous year and yet are recommended by 42 book editors from major publishers.

Munhakdongne is also pushing for a long-term project called “Munhakdongne Humanities Library,” a series of scholarly publications on humanities. The company is also publishing translated foreign books on humanities in a series titled “Ex Cultura” which kicked off last year with the first installment, “Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History” by political philosopher Susan Buck-Morss.

Munhakdongne’s Go Won-hyo said a cautious approach is in order.

“The current humanities trend reflects the public’s interest, but relying on it too much will result in generating too many shallow books,” he said. “Readers should be able to find the books that suit their tastes, which will lead to bolster the publishing market.”

By Jin Eun-soo, Intern reporter
(janna924@heraldcorp.com)