내셔널리즘 자장 안에서의 동아시아적 상상과 남성성의 강화: 현대 한국 장르영화를 중심으로

초록

The general equation of Genre films is composed of a process of creating a fantastic space and time imagining the exterior of symbolic order and then escaping from and suturing that place. The main character located in the center of this series of processes becomes the subject of creating a crack in the symbolic order and sometimes even re-builds the symbolic order that has been collapsed. However, the characteristics commonly found in the field of recent Korean Genre films seem to be a bit different from this. The characters in the movies such as <The Man from Nowhere>(2010, Lee Jung Beom), <Secret Reunion> (2010, Jang Hoon), <The Yellow Sea>(2010, Na Hong Jin), <The Berlin File> (2012, Ryu Seung Wan), <The Professionals>(2012, Choi Dong Hoon), <Traffickers>(2012, Kim Hong Sun), and <New World>(2012, Park Hoon Jung) are already standing at an exceptional location of symbolic order, in other words, the exterior of that, and begin to enter a universal location within the symbolic order as the narrative progresses. Also, in entering into a universal and symbolic order, the role of the ‘foreigner’ begins to stand out in which most of these foreigners are (East)Asians. They continuously resist from suturing into a symbolic order and their appearances and classes are described in various ways. They are located in the center of the conflicts of the Korean society in terms of solving these conflicts, then result in the exclusion and inclusion, as well as reconciliation and forgiveness, etc. of the society imagined to be universal like that of Korea. Through these characteristics, the matter on how Korea’s masculinity is being addressed for composing Korea’s society can be found, on the other hand the matter on how the Korean society refers to the (East)Asians can be found out as well. In an economic perspective after the IMF crisis, the men of Korea who have become redundant labor force postulate the exterior enemy and by otherizing them, they fight with the others who invade their territory while overcoming and strengthening their fallen masculinity. In other words, the masculinity of the Korean society makes an attempt of strengthening the nationalism centering the violence taking place in the relationship with the (East)Asians, and has the characteristics of again attempting to enter into the symbolic order of universality. This strengthening of masculinity becomes a new form of nationalism and furthermore, the others that constructed in this process develop into a racial aggression, or embrace to the other side, and sometimes even are created as a potential threat. Therefore, when the characteristics of nationalism and the anxiety of neo-liberalism meet within the field of Korean genre films in this day, the hostility towards the (East)Asians who are thought to be a threat to Korea’s economy and society, as well as the culture comes to the front. As a result, modern Korean Genre films regulate them as others and wipe them out as well as accept them as partners of nationalism, which indicates the constant concerns of how to respond to their threats.

키워드