Establishing the Jeju Studies Archives and Jeju Intangible Heritage Materials

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province established the Center for Jeju Studies on August 12, 2011, and an affiliated organization to Jeju Research Institute was founded on October 11, 2011, to contribute to local community development and academic promotion through Jeju Studies.From its opening, the Center for Jeju Studies has focused on systematically collecting research materials relating to Jeju Studies and establishing a database for them, alongside preserving, maintaining, and promoting them at home and abroad through the utilization of the Jeju Studies Archives System.The Jeju Studies Archives allows scholars and the public to share information on Jeju Studies by providing academic materials and more through the website. Its purpose lies in integrating, exchanging and globalizing Jeju Studies materials alongside the assetization of knowledge through Jeju Studies-related material utilization and additional value increase.The materials that can be utilized most effectively among those established include Jeju intangible heritages such as Jeju haenyeo, Jeju folk songs, and Jeju shamanic rituals, shrines, and their narrative myths.Globalizing Jeju intangible heritages accords with the establishment of regional studies and the goal of regions to correspond and respond to globalization. Intangible heritage materials most strongly embody regionality, the spirit of local people, and fully represent the identity of the region. Materials imbued with local culture as well as people’s identity can be globalized in terms of cultural diversity. Therefore, locally distinctive cultures can be recognized around the world and this makes it necessary to develop the logic for the glocalization of the materials and to systemize local cultures in an interdisciplinary fashion.The purpose of this article is to identify the material value of Jeju intangible heritages, identify the current condition of the archive establishment, and propose plans for future utilization with the hope that the Jeju Studies Archives can be positioned as an established space for materials for the sustainable preservation of Jeju intangible heritages.