'Blue-eyed' foreigners tired of racially tinged language

A collage of eyes with different colors / gettyimagesbank

When Paul Courtright got a Korean-translated edition of his book, "Witnessing Gwangju," the publishers made an odd change when translating the title, which became "5.18 Blue-Eyed Witness."

The former Peace Corps volunteer pointed out that his eyes were in fact gray, but the publishers were set on this new title.

"The publishers felt that the title would resonate with a Korean audience," he told The Korea Times. "My book was the first memoir by a foreign witness and they felt that it would be important to draw attention to this fact by a title that let everyone know I was a foreigner."

He admitted that the descriptor, albeit inaccurate, didn't bother him, as he remembered being described with more annoying terms during his 1979-82 stint in Korea, such as "round eye," "big nose" and "monkey."

Courtright is not the only foreign recipient to be bestowed with honorary blue eyes by Koreans. Robert Fouser, a scholar who has published several Korean-language books, has occasionally been labeled as a "blue-eyed defender of the hanok."

"I don't like it and still don't really understand it," said Fouser, whose eyes are also brown. "Why assign an eye color to me that I don't have? Why talk about my personal appearance?"

This practice, which seems to be encountered most frequently in relation to aspects of Korean traditional culture or heritage, seems to serve for code for white foreigners — regardless of eye color — who show an exceptional interest in or aptitude for some aspect of Korean culture, which is a surprise, usually good, and they are welcomed, but as outsiders. It sometimes bothers foreigners, not just for who it targets but also who it excludes.

Fouser said he often tells Korean journalists interviewing him not to describe him that way. They are usually willing to honor his wishes, but this often leads to them explaining that the descriptive is "being used as a sign of affection," he said.

However, he sees it slightly differently, as Korea picking out "one of the good foreigners."

"I think that it's used to suggest that a white foreigner is not a threat," he said. "White foreigners who have some interest in Korean traditional culture are perceived as less threatening because of some perceived sympathy and understanding."

He noted that he most often has received the label in content about his interest in and advocacy for traditional Korean architecture, rather than in his work on Korean language education. "Most likely this was because hanok is visual and associated with traditional Korean culture while Korean language education was more abstract and less 'traditional,'" he suggested.

He also remarked that the label is used more frequently with women than men.

Hilary Vanessa Finchum Sung, an ethnomusicologist and performer of the haegeum, a traditional Korean string instrument, also sees the descriptor as applying mostly to women. Despite having blue eyes herself, it makes her uncomfortable as well.

"Just generally, I think this kind of descriptor is gendered and both an exoticization of the foreigner and an emphasis on the strangeness of the individual in relation to something Korean," she said. "Such a descriptor both idealizes the foreigner (as a blue-eyed 'other', this represents the ideal foreigner, the desirable foreigner of European descent; or, let's just say 'white') and exaggerates the 'weirdness' of the foreigner engaging in, for example, traditional arts — a realm that, for a long time, has been considered the exclusive realm of Koreans. Drawing on the latter, it emphasizes the 'Koreanness' of the particular thing that is being engaged with by the foreigner and underscores its belonging to Korea."

The way that this term singles one out is a problem for Jocelyn Clark, who has often been called the "blue-eyed evangelist of traditional Korean music," which she considers discouraging and demotivating.

"Has anyone ever called me 'blue-eyed' to exclude me or cause me harm? No. But has that term been invoked to inadvertently characterize the last 30 years of my work as a kind of cute novelty act? The answer to that would be yes,” she said. "These moments have prompted me to think deeply about my performance life and what I may be doing to cause an observer to see me in this light."

Clark, whose eye color is best described as hazel, also highlighted the linguistic and historical basis for the term.

"I learned many years ago in conversations with my hanbok designer Seomi Jung, that Korean words for colors don’t translate precisely to the color the English speaker might be thinking of," she said. "I’m not sure if blue is even the correct English translation for the byeok (碧) of byeokan (碧眼), one of several Korean words used for blue eyes.”

She said this Sino-Korean term, as well as "jeong’an" (靑眼), may denote more respect than the pure Korean "pureun-nun."

"Whenever I catch myself feeling uncomfortable because of something someone said to or about me, I try to look closer to discover what may have been meant, rather than getting too attached to my own emotional reaction," Clark said. "So, in this case, the question is: what is the whole thing a Korean speaker might have in mind when using the term 'blue-eyed'? The answer cannot be found without exploring Korea’s colonial past and a resulting desire, at least among older Koreans, to reinforce and protect Korea’s national borders and identity. One way to do that is to pay respect while keeping someone — or some state, like Ming China — at arm’s length. The more I consider these kinds of historical complexities, the clearer it becomes that, as much as I don’t really like being called a 'blue-eyed evangelist,' it really isn’t about me."

Blue eyes / gettyimagesbank

Historical racial stereotypes

Terms like "blue-eyed" can bring to mind harmful or hurtful stereotypes that have an ugly history, long before last year's animated "Blue Eye Samurai" became a hit on Netflix.

"It brings up 20th century associations with eugenic ideas that played a part in the world wars that traumatized our grandparents," Clark said. "It’s hard to forget these early associations."

Descriptions of "blue-eyed" foreigners have been found in Korea during the late 1930s during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation. Exposing Imperial Japan, a website publishing translations of occupation-era articles about Korea, has so far shared three articles, all from 1938, about foreign women said to have blue eyes, all who are praised as having endorsed Japan's imperial domination of Korea. Two had joined pro-imperial women's associations, and a third was the former physician of Empress Myeongseong. The site's curator, a Japanese American who wished to remain anonymous, said he found two more examples, one being a professor at Keijo Imperial University (now Seoul National University), and the other an American high school teacher who visited the peninsula.

"That makes a total of at least five articles in less than one year describing 'blue-eyed' foreigners," the site's curator told The Korea Times. "Curiously, they are all described as 'blue-eyed,' and their coverage is all glowing and positive."

B.F. Starkey, is featured in 1938 Keijo Nippo as a "blue-eyed" pro-imperial model foreigner who joined the Patriotic Women’s Association in Seoul. Internet Archive

Japanese people's fascination with foreigners' blue eyes in that era can be seen in the popular 1921 children's song "Blue-Eyed Doll," as well as the "Friendship Doll" exchange of 1927, in which Japan received tens of thousands of dolls from the U.S. The dolls became known as "Blue-Eyed Dolls," even though many of them had other eye colors, according to Bill Gordon, a Japanese studies scholar who has researched the history of the dolls extensively.

The dolls were cherished for years, and those that still exist are considered precious. Very few survived World War II, when the Japanese government branded them "enemy dolls" and ordered their destruction.

"As a result of this order, many dolls were burned, stabbed, or destroyed in other cruel ways. American bombings of Japanese cities in 1945 destroyed other dolls, along with their schools," Gordon said on his website introducing the history of the Friendship Dolls.

It should probably not be overlooked that Japan in those days — and Korea as its colony — was aligned with Nazi Germany, a country that idealized the blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryan as a symbol of racial supremacy.

But the origin of "blue-eyeing" foreigners in Japan dates back even earlier, to at least 1839, according to the Japanese American blogger.

"In the Edo period (1603-1868), the Portuguese and Spanish were called the pejorative term 'Namban people,' presumably because they were considered 'bad' foreigners who attempted to convert Japan to Catholicism and colonize Japan like they did Brazil and Mexico," he said. "In contrast, the Dutch people, who were considered friendlier and non-threatening, were given preferential treatment in access to trade in their Nagasaki outpost for hundreds of years, were called by the more favorable term 'red hair blue eyes.'"

More inclusive language needed

Although the enduring practice of awarding favored foreigners with blue eyes likely certainly appears from such outdated prejudices, none of the "blue-eyed" interviewees reported feeling any ill-meaning intent in this eye-color fixation. However, most interviewed said the practice still should be ended.

"(The racial) hierarchy is deeply entrenched, so for most people it's become a subconscious norm," Fouser said. "I don't think people intend hurt or malice."

"While patience and understanding is called for, all these words that recall early 20th-century German/Japanese-style eugenics (blood-typing personalities, etc., etc.) should probably be retired," Clark said. "Ultimately, avoiding racial language raises everyone up."

She added that while she has to deal with this issue of eye color as a foreign figure in the traditional Korean music scene, such treatment is not afforded to many of her other foreign colleagues, including "Korean Americans and others who are working just as hard or harder than me within my discipline."

She, as well as Fouser and Finchum Sung, stressed that the issue is not just about "othering" provileged white foreigners like them, but also about excluding people of other ethnicities that are seen as less desireable.

"No other eye color is ever mentioned in regard to foreigners in Korea, i.e., there are no brown-eyed gugak evangelists," she said. "I mean, there are — but they are written about differently."

"I don't see too many articles or broadcasts about the Mexican woman who sings minyo, or the Cameroonian French woman who sings pansori," added Finchum Sung. "How are they described in the media?"

Fouser said that this practice of "blue-eyeing" certain foreigners reflects a hierarchy that places white people from "advanced countries" at the top, which he calls "painfully racist."

"The media needs to be inclusive about how it refers to foreigners because Korea has broad relations with the rest of the world and because the number of foreigners living in Korea is increasing and will continue to increase," he said. "I think it's fine for the media to highlight foreigners who are interested in learning about Korea but efforts should be made to diversify coverage and those covered should be discussed as individuals with interesting stories rather than as non-threatening, eccentric 'foreigners.' If it disappears from the media, then it will drop out of use over time."