@article{ART002225370},
author={Kim, Hyeong-Seek},
title={People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”},
journal={Journal of Popular Narrative},
issn={1738-3188},
year={2017},
volume={23},
number={2},
pages={187-222},
doi={10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kim, Hyeong-Seek
TI - People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”
JO - Journal of Popular Narrative
PY - 2017
VL - 23
IS - 2
PB - The Association of Popular Narrative
SP - 187
EP - 222
SN - 1738-3188
AB - The contemporary era has been diagnosed by many as an age of catastrophes. Zombie narratives, which speak to this sense of catastrophe, force viewers to confront the bare facts of a world on the edge of ruin. Yeon Sang-Ho’s “Train to Busan” succeeded in breaking the notion that the zombie genre is difficult to present in Korea. Therefore, this study examines contemporary Korean society using Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of the “state of exception” and “homo sacer” in relation to Yeon’s “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station.” Yeon, it is argued, combines the characteristics of the “running zombie” and the “walking zombie” to convey zombies as both social and political beings, through the inversion between zombies and humans. In these films, zombies consistently resemble homeless people and runaway youths, reminding us that they are the others in our society, or, the homo sacers who are excluded from life. On the other hand, humans represent the ugly monsters of neoliberalism that seek to eliminate and destroy the others in extreme competition. This situation is because the state of exception in Korean society is gradually expanding and becoming permanent. The films of Yeon Sang-Ho depict both the ubiquitous state of exception and the ugly human figures that can become monsters within the state. In the films, characters constantly dream of returning to daily life, though these dreams always lead to inevitable destruction, suggesting that the state of exception will continue indefinitely. “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station” suggest that the state of exception is now full-scale due to systemic aspects of public power and selfish individuals who internalize the state. At the same time, Yeon offers some hope at the end of his films. While the hope in “Train to Busan” appears naïve, as the film ends with the survival of a pregnant woman and child, the finale of “Seoul Station” suggests the possibility of the other’s ability to overthrow the “potentias” that be and escape extreme situations of catastrophe.
KW - Yeon Sang-Ho;Train to Busan;Seoul Station;Zombie;the Other;Catastrophe;Neoliberalism;State of Exception;Homo Sacer
DO - 10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
ER -
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. (2017). People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”. Journal of Popular Narrative, 23(2), 187-222.
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. 2017, "People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”", Journal of Popular Narrative, vol.23, no.2 pp.187-222. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
Kim, Hyeong-Seek "People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”" Journal of Popular Narrative 23.2 pp.187-222 (2017) : 187.
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”. 2017; 23(2), 187-222. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. "People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”" Journal of Popular Narrative 23, no.2 (2017) : 187-222.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”. Journal of Popular Narrative, 23(2), 187-222. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”. Journal of Popular Narrative. 2017; 23(2) 187-222. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”. 2017; 23(2), 187-222. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
Kim, Hyeong-Seek. "People Who Cannot Go Back to Daily Life in Korean Society - A Study of Yeon Sang-Ho, Focused on “Train to Busan” and “Seoul Station”" Journal of Popular Narrative 23, no.2 (2017) : 187-222.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2017.23.2.006
