Communications in Humanities Research
- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences
Communications in Humanities Research
Vol. 11, 31 October 2023
Open
Access | Article
Analysis of South Korean Class Conflict Revealed by Elements of Lies and Violence in Cinema - Parasite as an Example
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Abstract
Since the implementation of neoliberal economic policies in South Korea in the 1990s, the huge gap between the rich and the poor has become a phenomenon, an acute social issue, and a frequent topic of film and television series, which has stimulated a series of topics and discussions critical of capitalism and anti-neoliberalism. This paper examines the class conflicts that exist in South Korean society in the context of the neoliberal economic system. It explores the representation of class conflict and the gap between rich and poor in South Korean film and television productions. This paper applies a case study approach to the film Parasite, through reviewing its narratives and the analysis of mise-en-scène, it deals with the elements of lies and violence to illustrate the class conflicts in South Korean society. The findings of this study highlight the presence of a severe class conflict in South Korean society, which is reflected in the immoral behavior of the lower-class characters in Parasite, as well as in the violent declaration of war within the lower class and towards the upper class.
Keywords
South Korea, class conflicts, Parasite, violence, lies
References
1. Yoonkyung Lee, Labor after Neoliberalism: The Birth of the Insecure Class in South Korea [J]. Globalizations, 2015, 12(2), p.3, https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2014.935087
2. Lisa Laman, Parasite: What The Scholar’s Stone Really Means, Feb 16, 2020, https://screenrant.com/parasite-movie-scholars-stone-meaning-fake-hollow/
3. Kelly Y. Jeong, Gender and class in Parasite in The Soft Power of the Korean Wave (1st ed.), Youna Kim (ed.), Routledge, 2021, p. 87, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003102489
4. Yoonkyung Lee, Labor after Neoliberalism: The Birth of the Insecure Class in South Korea [J]. Globalizations, 2015, 12(2), p.7, https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2014.935087
5. S. Nathan Park, ‘Parasite’ Has a Hidden Backstory of Middle-Class Failure and Chicken Joints, Feb 21,2020, https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/21/korea-bong-oscars-parasite-hidden-backstory-middle-class-chicken-bong-joon-ho/
6. Kelly Y. Jeong, Gender and class in Parasite in The Soft Power of the Korean Wave (1st ed.), Youna Kim (ed.), Routledge, 2021, p. 81, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003102489
7. Milo Sweedler, Gendered Violence, and Climate Insecurity in Neoliberal Korea: Burning and Parasite[J].Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 2023: p.20, https://doi.org/10.1080/10509208.2023.2183737
8. Yavuz Akyildiz and Elif Şeşen, The Brutal Face of the Violent Game of the Capitalist Competition: SquidGame, SineFilozofi, 2022, 7:14, p.284, https://doi.org/10.31122/sinefilozofi.1127686
9. Kyung Hyun Kim, Hegemonic Mimicry: Korean Popular Culture of the Twenty-First Century [M]. Duke University Press, 2021, p.191
Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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- Volume Title
- Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries
- ISBN (Print)
- 978-1-83558-045-5
- ISBN (Online)
- 978-1-83558-046-2
- Published Date
- 31 October 2023
- Series
- Communications in Humanities Research
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-7064
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-7072
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-7064/11/20231366
- Copyright
- 31 October 2023
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited