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Sun-jeong Meets Science Fiction: Inhuman Others in 1990s SF Women’s Comics

  • Journal of Popular Narrative
  • 2023, 29(3), pp.11-38
  • DOI : 10.18856/jpn.2023.29.3.001
  • Publisher : The Association of Popular Narrative
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Interdisciplinary Research
  • Received : September 19, 2023
  • Accepted : October 19, 2023
  • Published : October 30, 2023

Kim Eun Joung 1

1가천대학교 문화콘텐츠기술연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper examines SF comics produced by female cartoonists in the 1990s to uncover the narrative features at the intersection of Sun-jeong manhwa and SF. A common theme among these comics is their portrayal of encounters with nonhuman entities. Therefore, this paper focuses on how nonhumans such as aliens, robots, androids and genetic mutants, were represented and plotted in SF Sun-jeong manhwa. Nonhumans are often depicted in human-like forms. This is primarily a result of the genre’s emphasis on aesthetics of capturing the characters’ hidden emotions. Due to this emphasis, nonhuman characters tend to resemble humans and seamlessly integrate into human society, thus avoiding typical sources of conflict. In addition, the melodramatic expression of emotions and the romanticism associated with yearning for unity with the other, which are considered essential narrative elements of Sun-jeong manhwa, provide a foundation for accepting nonhumans as akin to humans. The tragic romanticism found in SF Sun-jeong manhwa exposes social conflicts and injustices such as the abuse and exploitation of nonhumans. The sentiment of love, which extends one’s own suffering to encompass that of others, fosters acceptance of nonhumans as valid entities. In other words, SF Sun-jeong manhwa envision nonhumans as beings worthy of mourning and portray their deaths as mournable, so they advocate for a politics of inclusion and mourning for nonhuman entities through aesthetic expressions that highlight the precariousness of their existence. However, the encounter between Sun-jeong manhwa and SF has its limitations in that it does not lead to the development of various solidarities with nonhumans. Instead, it often focuses on narratives that demonstrate nonhuman’s humanness, ultimately reducing the genre to a form of human drama or failing to affirm differences with the other. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the SF Sun-jeong manhwa presented a preemptive possibility of moving towards posthumanism by transcending the instrumental relationship between humans, machines, and life. Such an assessment may offer insights into the role and influence of 1990s women’s comics in shaping a distinct genre of SF in South Korea.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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