earticle

영어

This thesis aims to clarify the historical process in which dietary lifestyle changed structurally coupled with a global capitalist system. The paper will examine the changes in people's lifestyle after modernization, with emphasis on diets. The paper further scrutinizes the changes in production and distribution related to consumption. As sugar has been adopted for industrial and home uses, it significantly affected everyday life and promoted growth in modern manufacturing industries. First, the thesis researched how Korean sugar found an equilibrium price amongst the formation of the global sugar trade structure. Second, the thesis investigated the process in which sugar-manufacturing business penetrated a country like Korea, where no pre-modernized sugar culture had existed, and became a major industry after opening ports. Third, the thesis examined the symbolic meaning of sugar consumption in Korea, where the average income level was low. Through this analysis, it is shown that Korean sugar consumption culture was formed in a close national, capitalistic relationship with the global sugar commerce system. The consumption of sugar had expanded with industrialization of refinery and confectionery. With an increase in consumption sometimes inducing production, industrial policies subsidizing refineries and confectioneries were implemented. As processed foods became big industries, the dietary lifestyle shifted toward Western style. The characteristic taste of foods changed after sugar was added to food. Also, the increase in sugar consumption also implied the change in the social status of women from the oppressed to the modern, equal housewives.