Gyeongsang National University Overseas Research Center Publishes 'Eurasian Languages, Society, and History'

Cover of the book on Languages, Society, and History of Eurasia.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The Overseas Area Research Center of the Institute of International Area Studies at Gyeongsang National University published the 2021 research series "Languages, Society, and History of Eurasia" (Global Contents, 246 pages, 22,000 KRW).

Eurasia is a region where the West and the East, various religions, and diverse ethnic groups and languages coexist, and it became especially familiar to us after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine clearly shows that the post-Soviet space is having a negative impact beyond the region, affecting the entire world, making specific regional studies potentially global studies.

Jung Kyung-taek, director of the Institute of International Area Studies at Gyeongsang National University, explained the background of the series publication: "Since the end of 2019, due to the pandemic, international academic conferences and presentations were reduced or canceled, but we could not neglect overseas area research, so we decided to publish the series again this year following last year."

The series "Languages, Society, and History of Eurasia" contains research on the history, culture, language, and their convergence in the Eurasian region.

Professor Lee Jeong-min of the Department of History at Gyeongsang National University introduces the Battle of Toulouse in 721 (la bataille de Toulouse), which lost its luster in the Carolus Martel myth, and the frustrated dream of Aquitaine independence by Eudes I, Duke of Aquitaine.

Professor Jung Kyung-taek of the Department of Russian Studies at Gyeongsang National University points out that ethnic-linguistic conflicts in Eurasia arose and continue due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, which led to the formation of states centered on indigenous dominant ethnic groups in 14 countries besides the Russian Federation, the designation of these languages as national languages, discrimination against minorities including Russians and Russian speakers, loss of status and reduction of usage domains of Russian and minority languages, and further, the formation of a single-language society.

The first Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory in the Caucasus from 1991 to 1994, the second Karabakh War in September-October 2020, Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the ongoing Ukraine crisis and war, the January 2022 protests in Kazakhstan, and the deployment of Russian troops are clearly negative outcomes of the Soviet-era ethnic-linguistic policies, he states.

Professor Kim Jeong-pil of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Gyeongsang National University examined how Korean Sino-Korean words and Chinese vocabulary, which were previously homographs and synonyms, are gradually becoming homographs with different meanings, and conversely, how heterographs with the same meaning or near-synonyms are becoming mutual translations, attributing this to Korean-Chinese cognitive reasoning.

Research Professor Jung Young-joo of the Institute of International Area Studies at Gyeongsang National University analyzed English loanwords in modern Russian. The scientific technology and culture of the United States, the world's sole superpower, influence world languages through increased international exchanges, and similarly, English loanwords are increasingly present in the Russian vocabulary.

Professor Kim Bora of the Department of Russian Studies at Gyeongsang National University and student researchers extracted social media posts related to tourism in Vladivostok, Russia, based on keywords such as tourist attractions, shopping, accommodation, and restaurants, and analyzed tourism trends through frequency and sentiment analysis.

Based on big data analysis, the study aims to clarify changes in perceptions of travel to Vladivostok and propose efficient management and various strategies for Vladivostok tourism.

Based on these research results, suggestions were made on how to plan Vladivostok travel products in the post-COVID-19 era.

Instructor Park Ga-young of the Department of Convergence Studies at Gyeongsang National University conducted research focusing on the cultural and artistic utilization of Jinchi Pass, a disused tunnel on the Gyeongjeon Line in Jinju, which lost its function and was abandoned among representative modern industrial facilities.

Director Jung Kyung-taek said, "The series covers interdisciplinary content ranging from pure humanities such as history and language of the Eurasian region encompassing Korea, Russia, China, and France, to culture and big data utilization," adding, "We will continue to select topics rich in academic value that can interest both professional researchers and the general public, and proceed with academic presentations, lectures, international academic conferences, and series publication."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.