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Opening of Consumer Capitalism, Rise of the Middle Class and Birth of Losers in Korea - Focusing on Park Min Gyu’s full - length novel Last fan club of Sammi Superstars and Pavane for a Dead Princess -

  • DONAM OHMUNHAK
  • Abbr : 돈암
  • 2016, 29(), pp.125~154
  • DOI : 10.17056/donam.2016.29..125
  • Publisher : The Donam Language & Literature
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > History of Korean Literature
  • Published : June 30, 2016

Seo eun-kyoung 1

1연세대학교

Candidate

ABSTRACT

In 2003 Park Min Gyu made a striking appearance with unique appearance and outstanding narrative methods that broke up the genre tradition and has become a great writer with extensive winnings of various literature awards in Korea. At the same time, he enjoys popularity. Two full-length novels including Last fan club of Sammi Superstars and Pavane for a Dead Princess secured both literary value and popularity as they pointed out the key of capitalism with sarcasm and humor. Park’s literary interest from his debut lied in the life of individuals who were isolated from consumer capitalism. The reason why this study focused on the above two novels is because those could explain his literary journey. Park demonstrated how ordinary individuals internalized capitalistic logics by reflecting the culture and routine in 1980s at a time when consumer capitalism began in earnest in Korea. By pointing out that “wealth and beauty are the most powerful ideologies that reign over us”, he criticized rise of the middle class and logic of the growth of capitalism through Last fan club of Sammi Superstars and also criticized lookism of Korea through Pavane for a Dead Princess. Through the baseball play of ‘Sammi Superstars’, an always losing baseball team, the author remarked that the ordinary living of capitalistic society of winner-takes-all and raised a question of meaning of life falling to a loser. Park restored losers who occupied at the bottom of the law of the jungle as ordinary individuals through the process of looking the world from the perspective of ‘Sammi’ an always loser. And, Pavane for a Dead Princess is epoch-making as the set-up is to love an ugly looking woman. In a capitalism society where human body becomes a commodity, an ugly looking woman has to live as a loser like economic incompetency. His interpretation is sharp as he read violence of lookism society, where innate appearance decides many things, from the logic of capitalism. Ultimately, the above two works are stories of ordinary people who adapted themselves to the consumer capitalistic society that are driven by ‘shyness’ and ‘envy’ as fuel. Furthermore, Park revealed the essence of capitalism with sarcasm and humor and suggested solidarity and love as the solution of human salvation. It is a clearly novel idea considering his literary journey criticizing the capitalistic system.

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