The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea
This paper examines the social life of masks in colonial Korea with a focus on their use in hygienic practices. It argues that masks first appeared in the disease control scene in late 1919 when the Governor-General of Korea belatedly introduced preventative measures against the Spanish Influenza pa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Korean Society for the History of Medicine
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Uisahak |
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| Online Access: | http://www.medhist.or.kr/upload/pdf/kjmh-31-1-181.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811233840127016960 |
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| author | Jaehwan HYUN |
| author_facet | Jaehwan HYUN |
| author_sort | Jaehwan HYUN |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper examines the social life of masks in colonial Korea with a focus on their use in hygienic practices. It argues that masks first appeared in the disease control scene in late 1919 when the Governor-General of Korea belatedly introduced preventative measures against the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Since then, the central and regional hygiene authorities had begun to encourage colonial Koreans to wear masks whenever respiratory disease epidemics transpired. Simultaneously, Korean doctors and news reporters framed mask-wearing as something needed for family hygiene, particularly for trans-seasonal child health care, and advised colonial Korean women to manage and wear masks. This paper also reveals that the primary type of masks used in colonial society was black-colored Japanese respirators. Its design was the main point of contention in the debates on the effectiveness of masks against disease infection. Finally, it also highlights that the wide support of using masks by medical doctors and authorities was not based on scientific evidence but on empirical rules they developed through the pandemic and epidemics. The mask-usage practice would be challenged only when South Korean doctors reframed it as a “Japanese custom not grounded on science” at the height of postcolonial nationalism and the raised concern about the artifact’s usefulness during the Hong Kong Influenza pandemic of 1968. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:26:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-025814a615954ff98804114df7dbfca9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1225-505X 2093-5609 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:26:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Korean Society for the History of Medicine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Uisahak |
| spelling | doaj.art-025814a615954ff98804114df7dbfca92022-12-22T03:35:13ZengKorean Society for the History of MedicineUisahak1225-505X2093-56092022-04-0131118122010.13081/kjmh.2022.31.1812414The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial KoreaJaehwan HYUN0Institute of Liberal Education, Pusan National UniversityThis paper examines the social life of masks in colonial Korea with a focus on their use in hygienic practices. It argues that masks first appeared in the disease control scene in late 1919 when the Governor-General of Korea belatedly introduced preventative measures against the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Since then, the central and regional hygiene authorities had begun to encourage colonial Koreans to wear masks whenever respiratory disease epidemics transpired. Simultaneously, Korean doctors and news reporters framed mask-wearing as something needed for family hygiene, particularly for trans-seasonal child health care, and advised colonial Korean women to manage and wear masks. This paper also reveals that the primary type of masks used in colonial society was black-colored Japanese respirators. Its design was the main point of contention in the debates on the effectiveness of masks against disease infection. Finally, it also highlights that the wide support of using masks by medical doctors and authorities was not based on scientific evidence but on empirical rules they developed through the pandemic and epidemics. The mask-usage practice would be challenged only when South Korean doctors reframed it as a “Japanese custom not grounded on science” at the height of postcolonial nationalism and the raised concern about the artifact’s usefulness during the Hong Kong Influenza pandemic of 1968.http://www.medhist.or.kr/upload/pdf/kjmh-31-1-181.pdfmasksjapanese respiratorsspanish influenzacolonial koreafamily hygienethe social life of thingsthe effectiveness of masks against epidemics |
| spellingShingle | Jaehwan HYUN The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea Uisahak masks japanese respirators spanish influenza colonial korea family hygiene the social life of things the effectiveness of masks against epidemics |
| title | The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea |
| title_full | The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea |
| title_fullStr | The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea |
| title_short | The Emergence and Development of Hygienic Masks in Colonial Korea |
| title_sort | emergence and development of hygienic masks in colonial korea |
| topic | masks japanese respirators spanish influenza colonial korea family hygiene the social life of things the effectiveness of masks against epidemics |
| url | http://www.medhist.or.kr/upload/pdf/kjmh-31-1-181.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jaehwanhyun theemergenceanddevelopmentofhygienicmasksincolonialkorea AT jaehwanhyun emergenceanddevelopmentofhygienicmasksincolonialkorea |