Eugene Kwon

Eugene is currently in the Combined Program in East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film/Media. He is a South Korean citizen but he has spent most of his life overseas in Europe, South and Central Americas, and the U.S. Before arriving at Yale, he worked as an interpreting officer (LTJG) in the Republic of Korea Navy Headquarter and Operations Fleet, acting as a liaison between American, Japanese, and Korean officers. During his service, he engaged in various activities related to film (production workshops, festival coverage, subtitle translation). At Yale, he plans to work on tracing the development of media theory during Japan’s pre-WWII era, a topic pertinent to both literary and media studies. He is particularly interested in the writings of the Kyoto School philosophers (Nakai Masakazu, Jun Tosaka, and others) and literary critics, a project that allows us to see how Japanese intellectuals attempted to establish a unique aesthetic theory within a local context. Other research interests include the history of visual culture and media in East Asia, modern Korean literature (aesthetic criticism/essay), and the intersection between anthropology and media studies.