In his prize-winning essay, “Hwa-byung: The Han-Blessed Illness,” Wooyoung Cho taps a global skill set to shed new light on how culture shapes definitions of mental illness. His paper is an outstanding example of student-driven inquiry. I had never heard of the Korean culture-bound mental illness called hwa-byung when Wooyoung proposed this project. But even if I had, I would’ve had no idea where to find narratives about hwa-byung written by young men, let alone be able to translate them from Korean. (Are you curious yet?)
In his research, Wooyoung learned that scholarly studies of hwa-byung have focused on middle-aged women and interpreted their symptoms as reflections of Korea’s patriarchal social structure. When he discovered that today more young men are being diagnosed with hwa-byung, he wanted to understand the social causes of their distress. One way he gathered evidence was by searching a Korean online forum and reading posts by young men about their hwa-byung experiences.
When students in Marisa Milanese’s “Global Documentary” class read a draft of Wooyoung’s essay in a cross-section peer review exercise, they were understandably skeptical about his methodology. They asked for “a clearer understanding of why analyzing narratives is a credible method to gain insight into this illness.” Wooyoung responded with a revision that provided the theoretical framework necessary to explain the kind of authority those anonymous online posts have in the context of his project. He was wise to listen carefully to his readers. Marisa’s students pinpointed what readers from outside our class—including the WR editorial board—would need to be persuaded by his argument.
Wooyoung’s fascinating essay provides one small example of what international students contribute to a Boston University education. It was a delight to teach him and to learn from him.
—SARAH MADSEN HARDY
WR 150: Representing Illness