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The Concept of Taste in South Korea: Historical, Aesthetical and Philosophical Aspects

The focus of this paper is on the Korean aesthetic model of taste. In order to investigate the origins of aesthetics in Korea and its current place in Koreans’ lives, it analyzes the key concepts of the Korean aesthetics and spiritual aspects of life for Koreans. In a way to exemplify this cultural system, traditional Korean food is presented as a conceptual representation of the aesthetic experience. Its role in integrating different aspects of meanings and values in everyday lives of Koreans is also discussed. The research subject is studied through the complex lenses: its association with both the gastronomic taste, which comprises organoleptic perception and aesthetic judgements, and the semiotic aspect of culture, represented by basic units thereof – words. The optics of the interdisciplinary outlook of this method suggests a new approach to viewing Korean aesthetic of taste. The research shows that scientific approach to aesthetics was first adopted in Korea in the 1930s under the cospicuous cultural influence of the Japanese colonial rule; the ideas formed at that time still remain important aesthetic concepts. The study proposes that meot should be viewed as the most important and representative concept in Koreans’ everyday aesthetic experience. The cultural and historical analysis of Korean gastronomic culture suggests there is a number of specific cultural and cosmogonic meanings that were typical of the royal cuisine during the Joseon era and demonstrates how certain Korean dishes are endowed with aesthetic and existential values today.