Alex Taek-Gwang Lee
Lee Alex Taek-Gwang | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 February 1968 (age 57) Chilgok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea |
| Occupation | Professor, Cultural Critic, Writer |
| Language | Korean, English |
| Alma mater | Pusan National University (BA, MA), University of Warwick (MA), University of Sheffield (PhD) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | Script error: No such module "ko-translit". |
| RR | Script error: No such module "ko-translit". |
| MR | Script error: No such module "ko-translit". |
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Alex Taek-Gwang Lee (Hangul: 이택광; born February 29, 1968) Is a South Korean English scholar and a writer of cultural criticism on art, film, and politics. Lee is mostly known for introducing Slavoj Žižek, the Slovenian neo-Marxist philosopher and cultural theorist, to South Korea and his book This is What Cultural Criticism Means [이것이 문화비평이다] containing his ideologies on cultural criticism. Lee is currently active as a writer, cultural critic, and a professor of British and American Cultural Studies at Kyung Hee University, South Korea.
Lee’s main philosophical ideologies are influenced by Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jacques Lacan, Alain Badiou, Jacques Rancière, and Slavoj Žižek.[1][2] He actively engages in political critiques of capitalism, mostly in the South Korean and Asian context.
Early Life and Education
Lee Taek-Gwang was born in Chilgok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do on February 29, 1968, before growing up in Busan, South Korea. Since his youth, Lee has viewed himself as an 'alien' from Andromeda because of his habit of observing various phenomena from an outsider’s perspective.[3] Lee projected his 'alien' sentiments into his hobby of drawing where he recalls having achieved a prize for his artwork portraying himself as an astronaut in space who had failed to adapt to life on Earth.[4] His interest in drawing and art has been continued into his academic career where he incorporates art in his writings including Impressionists and Pre-Raphaelites [근대 그림 속을 거닐다] and The Age of the Impressionists [인상파, 파리를 그리다].
Lee spent his high-school years reading the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, being especially influenced by Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil. Apart from Nietzsche’s works, Lee also spent his time reading Romain Rolland’s Jean-Christophe and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.[5]
In 1986, Lee enrolled in Pusan National University (PNU) and studied English Language and Literature. During his undergraduate years, Lee spent his time reading works from Marxist philosophers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, and engaged in discussions with his friends on his philosophical readings. Lee participated in his first political activity taking part in the student-led demonstrations against President Chun Doo-hwan’s military rule. This marked a shift in his perception of taking action and public participation, where his ideologies were shaped to align with Sartre’s existentialist philosophy.[6] After graduating from his undergraduate studies in 1995, Lee re-enrolled at PNU, studying his masters in English Literature from 1996-1998.
In 1998, Lee began his second master’s degree studying Philosophy at the University of Warwick, and completed his doctorate of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the University of Sheffield in 2004.[7] During his time as a student in the United Kingdoms, his readings centered around art and literary aesthetics, where he was drawn to the aesthetics of modern French philosopher Jacques Rancière. Lee also worked as a correspondent for Gyosu Newspaper [교수신문] during his studies overseas.
Career
In 2005, Lee began his career as an assistant professor of cultural studies at Kwangwoon University, and shortly moved to Kyung Hee University in 2007 where he is presently active as a professor in the department of British and American Cultural Studies. Lee is also the founding director of the Global Center for Technology in Humanities and the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies at Kyung Hee University. [7] Lee has also worked as an academic advisor for art exhibitions at the Gwangju Biennale in 2017, and the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021.[8]
Lee is credited with introducing Slavoj Žižek and his ideologies to South Korea. Lee has written about his interview with Slavoj Žižek in his book Fail Better: Conversations with Zizek, Ranciere, Baumann, and Spivak (2013) [다시 더 낫게 실패해라], and collaboratively edited The Idea of Communism 3 (2016) with Žižek. [9] In 2013, Lee organized ‘The Idea of Communism Conference’ led by Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou as keynote speakers.[10][11] This was significant in South Korea, as it was the only Asian country the global-scale conference was hosted in.[11] During Badiou and Žižek's visit to Korea they joined Lee at the silent demonstration called “occupy with poems” by the memorial altar for the victims of the Ssangyong Motor Incident where they showed their support for workers dismissed from large corporations.[12]
Internationally, Lee has worked as a visiting professor in India (2019-2020), Taiwan (2021), United Kingdom (2023), and as a guest researcher in the Czech Republic (2025).
Controversy and Criticism
Žižek Controversy
During the ‘The Idea of Communism Conference’ in 2013, some critics considered Lee ’s organization of the conference as overly advertising in an attempt to sell Žižek and his Marxist ideologies to their audience. Lee responded that the purpose of academia is to spread the truth that one believes in, and that his engagement with Žižek and Badiou is part of his efforts in spreading ideologies which he believes would contribute to positive changes in the world. Lee also criticized his critiques, describing them as having an overly capitalistic perception of philosophy as a business.[13]
In 2015, Jang Jeongil wrote a review on Slavoj Žižek’s Trouble in Paradise: From the End of History to the End of Capitalism (2014). In his review, Jang alluded that Žižek’s criticism of the liberal left included leftist Korean intellectuals and their “perverse arguments” regarding the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015.[14]The review was then followed by a media dispute between Jang and Lee, in which Lee responded that Jang incorrectly interpreted Žižek’s writing and intentions. Lee criticised Jang for misunderstanding Žižek’s satire for sincerity, explaining that Žižek was rather criticising ‘fake leftists’ and ‘fake fundamentalists’ behind the Paris protests after the Charlie Hebdo shooting. Jang in turn criticised Lee for being too defensive of Žižek and having a eurocentric philosophy, labelling him as a ‘fake leftist’.[15]
WOMAD Criticism
In 2018, controversy arose concerning the Korean feminist website and group WOMAD. A member of the group stole a piece of holy bread distributed during the Catholic eucharist and intentionally burned the bread after inscribing it with a message considered offensive to the Catholic religion as an act of protest.[16] While many criticised this act of desecrating the sacramental bread, Lee commented that the protest was simply a “mere happening” and that the current protests by women are showing the path toward a future that the Korean society should pursue.[17] Lee’s comments on the controversy received criticism due to the contrasting nature to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, where he questioned the idea of unlimited freedom of expression. While Lee criticized the French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s satirical portrayal of the Islamic religion in their weeklies, his attitude towards the WOMAD member’s action considered offensive to the Catholic religion was viewed as comparatively more accepting. Some critics interpreted the differences between his two critiques and responses to the two events as showing bias in favor of Islam over Catholicism.[citation needed]
Works in Korean
Notable Works
This is What Cultural Criticism Means [이것이 문화비평이다]
This is What Cultural Criticism Means (2011) is one of three books by Lee that form a trilogy, alongside The Fate of Theories after Althusserianism (2010) [인문좌파를 위한 이론 가이드] and The Rudeness of Good News (2009) [무례한 복음]. In these works, Lee explores his views on the pedagogy of cultural criticism, and highlights the importance and role of cultural criticism. [18]
In This is What Cultural Criticism Means, Lee analyzes influential social issues in the South Korean context between the years 2004 and 2010. Lee then points out the cultural impact of how social media offers a platform which enables people to easily voice their opinions. He presents the question of how we should define cultural criticism within the context of this social media culture. He further questions if we could distinguish online reviews on these social media platforms from cultural criticism. Lee draws on Immanuel Kant and Walter Benjamin’s philosophy as he explores these questions.[19]
Through his book, Lee claims that cultural criticism reveals the structures of society, and how it shapes the future using culture as a form. He expresses his belief that anyone is capable of cultural criticism, and encourages that everyone should participate in cultural criticism.
Monographs[7]
- The Philosophy of Picture, 2021 [철학자의 아틀리에]
- Virginia Woolf Book Club, 2019 [버지니아 울프 북클럽]
- Red Ink: On What is Forbidden Today, 2018 [빨간잉크]
- The Meaning of Park Geun-Hye, 2014 [박근혜는 무엇의 이름인가]
- On Life, 2014 [인생론]
- The Utopia of van Gogh and Gauguin, 2014 [반 고흐와 고갱의 유토피아]
- Fail Better: Conversations with Zizek, Ranciere, Baumann, and Spivak, 2013 [다시 더 낫게 실패해라]
- The Witch Frame, 2013 [마녀 프레임]
- The Politics of 99%, 2012 [99% 정치]
- This is What Cultural Criticism Means, 2011 [이것이 문화비평이다]
- The Age of the Impressionists, 2011 [인상파, 파리를 그리다]
- The Fate of Theories after Althusserianism, 2010 [인문좌파를 위한 이론 가이드]
- The Rudeness of Good News: An Analysis of Korean Popular Culture, 2009 [무례한 복음]
- The Futurist Manifesto, 2008 [세계를 뒤흔든 미래주의 선언]
- Strolling About in the Waning Season of Medieval Age, 2008 [중세의 가을에서 거닐다]
- Nation, the Sublime Object of Korean Popular Culture, 2008 [민족, 한국문화의 숭고 대상]
- Impressionists and Pre-Raphaelites, 2007 [근대 그림 속을 거닐다]
- The Obscene Fantasy of Korean Popular Culture, 2002 [한국문화의 음란한 판타지]
- The Deleuzian Theatre of Philosophy, 2002 [들뢰즈의 극장에서 그것을 보다]
Works in English
Monographs
- Colors of the Concepts: Philosophers on Painting, (published by Anthem), 2025 forthcoming
- Communism After Deleuze, (published by Bloomsbury), 2025 forthcoming
- The Paradox of AI, (published by Routledge), 2025 forthcoming
- Made in Nowhere: Essays on Capitalism in Asia, 2025 (published by Sublation)
Chapters
- “Literature as a Global Theory”, Theory as World Literature (edited by Jeffrey R. Di Leo and Thomas Oliver Beebee and published by Bloomsbury, UK), 2025, forthcoming
- “Lenin and Artificial Intelligence”, Lenin: The Heritage We (Don’t) Renounce (edited by Hjalmar Jorge Joffre-Eichhorn and Patrick Anderson and published by Dajara Press, Canada), 2024
- “Worlding Cinema”, The Bloomsbury Handbook of World Theory (edited by Jeffrey R. Di Leo and Christian Moraru and published by Bloomsbury, UK), 2021
- “Walter Benjamin, Gilles Deleuze, and Mickey Mouse: Animation in the Age of Technical Reproductibility”, Thinking with Animation (edited by Joff P.N. Bradley and Catherine Ju Yu Cheng and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK), 2021
- “The Specter of the 1930s in Asian Nation-Building: Global Fascism, Colonial Biopolitics, and the Origins of Modern Asian”, Back to the ‘30s?” Recurring Crises of Capitalism, Liberalism, and Democracy (edited by Jeremy Rayner, Susan Falls, George Souvlis, and Taylor C. Nelms and published by Palgrave Macmillan, UK), 2020
- “The Ghostly Presence of an Untranslated Book: The Korean Reception of Race, Nation, Class”, in Balibar/Wallerstein’s Race, Nation, Class: Rereading dialogue for Our Time (edited by Manuela Bojadzijev and Katrin Klingan, published by Argument-Velag, Germany), 2018
Edited Volumes
- Deleuze, Guattari and Schizoanalysis of Postmedia (co-edited with Joff Bradley and Manoj NY and published by Bloomsbury, UK), 2023
- The Idea of Communism 3 (co-edited with Slavoj Zizek and published by Verso, UK), 2016
External Links
- Twitter: https://x.com/Worldless?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
- Blogs: http://fabella.kr/xe/blog1
- Online Columns: https://ch.yes24.com/Search/Index?q=%EC%9D%B4%ED%83%9D%EA%B4%91&sort=exact
- 네이버캐스트: 인상파 아틀리에 https://terms.naver.com/list.naver?cid=58860&categoryId=58860
References
- ↑ Lee, Alex Taek-Gwang (2024). "Deleuze's Unwritten Marx". philpapers.org. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
- ↑ Lee, Alex Taek-Gwang (2019). "Materialist Politics". philpapers.org. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
- ↑ Lee, Taek-Gwang (2011-07-13). "[이택광의 나의 철학수업] 살트르의 불꽃". Yes 24. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
- ↑ "우파의 불만 (새로운 우파의 출현과 불안한 징후들)" (in 한국어). Archived from the original on 2025-04-18. Retrieved 2025-08-16. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lee, Taek-Gwang (2011-06-21). "[이택광의 나의 철학수업] 그때 나에게 니체가 있었다". Yes24. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
- ↑ Lee, Taek-Gwang (2011-07-13). "[이택광의 나의 철학수업] 사르트르의 불꽃". Yes24. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Alex Taek-Gwang Lee Resume/CV | Kyung Hee University, Global Communication, Faculty Member". khu.academia.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ↑ "Alex Taek-Gwang Lee explores "Asia as a Method" at Kritika Kultura Lecture Series | News | Ateneo de Manila University". Ateneo de Manila University. Archived from the original on 2025-07-19. Retrieved 2025-08-15. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 기자, 김종목 (2013-10-01). "지젝팔이? 지젝, 바디우 생각 옳다 생각해 전파하려 할 뿐…'팔이'라고 말 하는 분들 생각이 자본주의적". 경향신문 (in 한국어). Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ↑ "Communists Meet Gangnam Style: Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek in South Korea". HuffPost. 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lee, Taek-Gwang (2013-10-12). "지젝과 바디우가 한국에 온 이유". 시사인. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
- ↑ "Leftist intellectuals from around the world see special importance in S. Korea". Hankyoreh (in 한국어). Retrieved 2025-08-12.
- ↑ 기자, 김종목 (2013-10-01). "지젝팔이? 지젝, 바디우 생각 옳다 생각해 전파하려 할 뿐…'팔이'라고 말 하는 분들 생각이 자본주의적". 경향신문 (in 한국어). Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ↑ "장정일은 지제크를 물구나무 세웠다". 한겨레 (in 한국어). 2015-03-16. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ↑ "이택광이야말로 어정쩡한 좌파다". 한겨레 (in 한국어). 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ↑ "Radical feminists in sick competition of cruelty - The Korea Times". www.koreatimes.co.kr. 2018-07-15. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
- ↑ ""종교의 보수성 과감하게 비판한 것" "여성 운동 논점 흐리는 행위 안 된다"". 서울신문 (in 한국어). 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
- ↑ "문화비평가가 되는 법 『이것이 문화 비평이다』 - 이택광 | 예스24 채널예스". ch.yes24.com (in 한국어). Archived from the original on 2025-06-25. Retrieved 2025-08-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "≪백뉴스≫ 문화 비평으로 한국 사회를 들여다보다". 백뉴스. 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
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