Time to resuscitate the humanities

Kim Jong-hoi
The author is a literary critic and the president of the Korea Association for Digital Humanities.

A young man asked his grandfather why he reads books when he has the free sea of information and stories on the internet at his fingertips. After a moment of brooding, the elderly man led his grandson into his library. “These books, which have been with me since my childhood, carry special stories that cannot be found on the internet. They do not simply inform and educate, but talk to our souls,” he said.

The humanities are an academic field that studies aspects of human society such as language, literature, arts, philosophy and history. Traditional humanities have now become as antiquated as the elderly man in the eyes of the young contemporaries of the digital age. But they bear the old man’s wisdom.

The machine technologies of the internet and artificial intelligence can provide knowledge, but books help people build wisdom through the reading and awakening experience. The wisdom can guide a human’s life and social path to goodness. A state or communities are neglecting their duty if they disregard the humanities.

“Humanities in crisis” had been declared repeatedly throughout the 21st century. Skeptics believe the trend could never be reversed due to the needs of the age. Some proclaim the death of the humanities. Because the study explores human nature and life’s meaning, the crisis of the discipline in an age of scientific and technological dominance can be seen as a crisis of humanity. Scholars give mundane defenses against the decline of the humanities. One is to credit the field for helping Steve Jobs earn money and the other is to blame on vulgar materialism for the collapse of the humanities. But the lame excuses and defense help little to restore the field.

Events of confrontation and conflict dominate today’s news, and touching and worthy stories are rare to find. No one can deny that people’s lives have become dry and barren, regardless of their personal reasons. The lack of healthy common sense and a cultured balance owing to the deficiency in humanities education can be the primary reason. Despite the dismal consequences, our society is doing nothing about it.

To save the withering humanities and provide a turning point for future society, the government must take practical and systematic action instead of offering figurative speech. Humanities must be strengthened in school curriculums, and classes must draw greater understanding and interest in the studies from both the teachers and students. Culture and art must be supported and protected. Greater attention must be paid to artists, their interest groups, and museums and libraries.

Universities in Seoul are suspending French and German studies. Education authorities should be most proactive in fighting for the humanities. The education curriculum must be overhauled to increase humanities subjects and offer various classes to stimulate humanistic imagination and perspectives. Teachers should be given training on the humanities to upgrade their teaching and motivate learning.

The humanities have the force to rebuild and reinvent Korean society. The rise of humanism in Italy during the Renaissance spread across Europe and the world. The objective was to boost secular humanity based on classical idealism. Human beings stood at the heart of the long-lasting movement in the West as well as the East. As the ancient saying goes, “The scent of flower goes hundred miles, the scent of liquor thousand miles, and the scent of a human million miles.” We must resuscitate the humanities as a study of new culture and action.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.