In the field of history, the knower’s perspective is not only inseparable, but also necessary to acquire knowledge. Historians select, arrange, emphasize, focus and omit certain events of history that fit their own “personal equations”, which include personal interests and idiosyncrasies. Such personal equations have led to different interpretations and accounts of the same events. The accounts on the Korean War of South Korea and North Korea present contradicting perspectives. The Korean War in South Korea is usually referred to as the ‘6.25 War’, which reflects the date of the commencement of the war. On the other hand, North Korea officially refers to the Korean war as the ‘Fatherland Liberation War’, which is seen as a heroic bloodstain …show more content…
Language is the ‘material’ of knowledge and the structure of language affects the speaker's view or perception. “Whorfianism”, or linguistic relativity suggests that “language influences our minds in different ways not because of what language allows us to think but rather what it habitually obliges us to think”. Hangul, also known as the Korean language, reflects the hierarchical society of Korea where an individual is identified by his or her relative status in the societal structure rather than individualities. Therefore, “the relationship between a speaker or writer and his or her subject and audience is paramount in Korean grammar”. Speakers and writers have to constantly think about his or her status in relation to the subject referent or audience, deciding when to use honorifics or certain speech levels. When talking to a person superior in status, such as an elderly or a teacher, one would use jondaenmal, or polite speech, by using honorific nouns, verbs and suffixes that are appropriate to the situation. Whereas when talking to a person equal or inferior in status, such as a minor or a friend, one would use banmal, or informal speech, by dropping particles or suffixes. Hoch’ing, ‘term of address’, is also important in the Korean language. One should consider the paternal and maternal system and marital status of a designated kin member in kinship terminologies. A paternal aunt would be called gomo, while a maternal aunt would be called imo and an unmarried uncle would be addressed as samchon, but once married would be referred as