‘지방’사 연구를 둘러싼 지적 곤경과 그 탈피 ―근대 전환기 대구권 생활세계와 향리 연구의 중요성과 그 방향― = The Intellectual Predicament surrounding “Local” History Research and Its Transcendence : The Significance and Directions of Research on the Lifeworld of the Daegu Region and Hyangri in the Transitional Period to Modernity

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article examines the intellectual predicament surrounding “local” history research through an analysis of the lifeworld of the Daegu region in the transitional period to modernity. Moving beyond approaches that either supplement central-centered narratives or merely accumulate empirical data, it adopts a lifeworld-oriented framework to reconstruct urban transformation, everyday practices, and social networks at the local level.
Particular attention is given to the hyangli, conceptualized here as a local intermediary elite. The study argues that hyangli played a constitutive role in the emergence of Daegu as a modern urban center by mediating administrative operations, social relations, and the distribution of resources. Their agency was not peripheral but central to the making of modern urban order.
By foregrounding the structural position and historical role of the hyangli, this article suggests that research on local intermediary elites is essential for understanding urban growth and social change in late Chosŏn Korea. It further proposes that this analytical perspective can be extended to other regional centers, contributing to a broader rethinking of modern Korean urban history and the epistemological renewal of “local” history research.