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The Landscape of Real Estate and the Cultural Preference for Apartment Living

  • Journal of Popular Narrative
  • 2025, 31(2), pp.51~78
  • Publisher : The Association of Popular Narrative
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Interdisciplinary Research
  • Received : May 14, 2025
  • Accepted : June 19, 2025
  • Published : June 30, 2025

Song Chi Hyuk 1

1세종대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to examine the transformation of residential environments and the desires of Korean society in the 1990s through the representation of apartment complexes in television dramas. Since the 1990s, the so-called “myth of invincible real estate” has played a pivotal role in shaping the life goals of Koreans, establishing homeownership as a primary objective in life. Consequently, the acquisition of an apartment has become integral to defining the life cycle of the Korean people. Apartments, as commodities that encapsulate the Korean society’s collective desire for real estate, have exerted far-reaching influence not only on residential life but also on the overall structure of modern Korean society, contributing to the formation of contemporary lifestyles.* This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea.(NRF-2022S1A5B5A17049595) Focusing on this aspect, this study explores how Korean television dramas of the 1990s represented large-scale apartment complexes as ‘landscapes’ reflecting the social desire for real estate. Hierarchically structured apartment complexes visualized shifting perceptions regarding real estate and urban redevelopment during this period. Viewers experienced a sense of illusionary identification with the residents of these complexes, enabling them to internalize middle-class aspirations. Furthermore, the boundary of the apartment complex metaphorically captured generational transitions within Korean society, where older and younger generations coexisted. Through the spatial reorganization of residential areas, these large-scale apartment complexes became experimental sites for reconfiguring the norms of Korean society. They served as arenas for transforming perceptions of community and home life, thereby reshaping modern lifestyles. Through this process, apartments came to function as critical sites of public control, offering viewers a means to internalize social order and discipline. The widespread adoption of apartment housing warrants further attention, particularly in light of the fact that the experience of having one's own room from childhood has been closely linked to the individualized memories and cultural tastes of younger generations. Since the 2000s, as the younger generation has cultivated a fragmented sense of home and family—symbolized by studio apartments and single-person households—the discourse surrounding apartments demands both synchronic and diachronic analysis to fully grasp its cultural implications.

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* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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