KJCKorea
Journal Central

This article aims to examine the aspects and meanings of the identity and culture of today’s young generation being represented, targeting webtoons. Webtoon is a genre that promptly consumes and captures contemporary social issues and discourses. As such, the recently published webtoon can be a medium to understand various phenomena related to the young generation of our time. The recent youth discourse talks about the core of the ‘20s phenomenon’ as the ‘sensation of not being fair’ and the discrimination and hatred derived from it. Referring to this, this article looked at texts dealing with employment issues of newcomers who graduated from local colleges. On the surface, <Story of job seekers> seems to convey the hope that regional university students will succeed in finding a job. However, by overlapping social success and internal growth, it depicts a young man who easily resolves the problem of discrimination and disgust toward others. Armed with a mask of authenticity, the main character symptomatically captures the phenomenon of covering up everyday hatred in the name of morality. <Nina’s Magic Drawer> depicts a young man who becomes addicted to the pleasures of the virtual world in order to escape from the reality in which even survival is difficult and anxious about the future without prospects. It presents a message that a sense of mutual connection and a relationship that cares for oneself and others can be an alternative value that overcomes fear and escapes from disgust and violence that have become pleasure. As such, the two texts have in common that they deal with the anxiety and disgust of young people, while conveying different thematic consciousness. What’s interesting is the way it handles authenticity. If <Story of job seekers> depicts a character who adapts to reality armed with false authenticity, <Nina’s Magic Drawer> says that self-identity is formed not in authenticity but in a relationship of mutual care. This gives implications for understanding the young generation after the loss of authenticity or seeking values ​​they should uphold. Although the two texts that represent the recent youth generation are different in terms of subject matter and delivery method, they are meaningful in that they allow a deeper understanding of the identity and worldview of today’s youth generation.

webtoon, young generation, regional university, fairness, authenticity, disgust