Jongmyo as urban heterotopia: sacred memory and otherness in hypermodern Seoul

초록

This study reinterprets Jongmyo Shrine - a UNESCO World Heritage site and the ritual space of the Joseon Dynasty - within the context of hypermodern Seoul through Foucault's theory of heterotopia. It explores how Jongmyo spatially embodies notions of otherness and sacred memory within the contemporary urban fabric. Focusing on the shrine's spatial configuration and ritual order, the research examines how these elements collide with and are juxtaposed against the urban norms of efficiency and visibility. The study employs Foucault's concept of heterotopia and its subsequent expansions in urban and heritage studies as its theoretical framework. It analyses Jongmyo's spatial structure, ritual system, historical placement, and its relationship to the modern city. Furthermore, by comparing it to East Asian Confucian spatial traditions - such as the Tai Miao in China and the Shinto shrine system in Japan - the study identifies both the particularities and transregional parallels of Jongmyo's spatial logic. The findings reveal that, although centrally located in Seoul, Jongmyo maintains a horizontal and secluded spatial order that defies the dominant urban values of speed, openness, and commodification. It spatialises sacredness, death, hierarchy, and memory as forms of 'observable tradition', while simultaneously functioning as a political space of potential rupture within the everyday flow of urban life.

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