KJCKorea
Journal Central

Fredric Jameson once noted that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, a remark that underscores the entrenchment of late capitalism. In the present era, capitalism is perceived as the only viable political system, functioning as an ideology that silences both critique of the existing order and the search for alternatives. The Netflix drama The 8 Show can be read as an allegory of this late-capitalist governmentality. In the series, governmentality under late capitalism infiltrates the subject’s inner life by naturalizing and concealing its structural logic. First, the “topological” positional differences assigned to the participants on stage correspond to class hierarchies. Although this configuration produces severe inequality and discrimination, it is taken for granted as a natural and rightful order. Human-made and arbitrary rules are thus accepted as laws of nature, reifying unequal structures as immutable facts. Furthermore, throughout the game, no intervention that takes a human form ever appears. Only the impersonal and transcendent gaze of an omnipresent camera observes the participants. Having internalized this invisible gaze, they come to accept their situation and voluntarily perform a “show.” Such omnipresent disciplinary power obscures the object of resistance, dismantles solidarity, and ultimately ensures the perpetuation of the existing regime. The significance of The 8 Show lies not in offering consolation or a vision of resistance, but in compelling subjects to confront late-capitalist reality as it is.

Situated between the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Sixth Mass Extinction, the posthuman has become a pivotal concern in contemporary discourse. Theoretical approaches to the posthuman are commonly divided into two divergent strands: transhumanism and critical posthumanism. While the former frames the vulnerability of the human body as a biological limitation to be addressed through technological enhancement, the latter considers it a fundamental condition for reflecting on the ecological interdependence of all living beings. Typically, theater has been perceived as less suitable for the science fiction genre due to its spatiotemporal boundaries and technological constraints on staging digital effects, particularly when compared to novels or films. Yet, the performative essence of theater—its capacity to generate open-textured signification through embodied presence—offers a compelling vantage point from which to reconsider prevailing conceptions of the human and the world. Building on this premise, this study explores posthuman imaginaries in two plays by Tomohiro Maekawa [前川知大]—Before We Vanish (散歩する侵略者, 2005) and The Sun (太陽, 2011)—through the lens of critical posthumanism. The analysis unfolds in three main parts. The first part reframes the philosophical foundations of posthuman subjectivity and relational ontology, drawing on Rosi Braidotti’s posthuman trilogy. The next two sections examine how Maekawa’s plays unsettle binary distinctions between self and other, narrativizing transversal encounters among heterogeneous beings. The final section focuses on the media adaptations of these plays into film, novel, and television drama and evaluates the achievements of Creative Company LAS’s theatrical production of Before We Vanish (2019) and Company SIGA’s dance performance of The Sun (2023). Ultimately, this study proposes that posthuman criticism—by engaging with a multiplicity of narratives and challenging dominant fictions of reality—functions as an interpretive intervention that not only responds to the urgency of the planetary condition but also participates meaningfully in the Harawayan project of “reworlding.”

This study analyzes the evolutionary progression of Korean digital game narratives toward transnationalism, focusing on the paradigm shift where the core competitiveness of digital games pivots toward narrative depth and aesthetic value in the era of technological parity. Titles such as Lies of P and Sanabi, which depart from established Korean game conventions to pursue genre diversity and artistic merit, were designated as primary research objects. Early Korean gaming, premised on nationalism, utilized cultural archetypes to actualize the 'globalization of the most Korean thing.' This approach possesses policy significance for excavating unique traditional culture, yet was limited by the inadequacy of narrative reinterpretation and transformation, considering the digital game medium's characteristics and global universality. Subsequently, postnationalist works appeared, attempting to formally align with international standards according to the norms of globalization and capitalism. For instance, Lies of P, grounded in the universal narrative archetype of Pinocchio, conveyed an original theme commensurate with Posthumanism while following the Soulslike genre mechanics. These postnationalism games are significant for eliciting empathy across a broad spectrum of players, but they also possess the limitation of potentially constraining creativity and diversity through adherence to mimicry and stability concerning existing titles. Consequently, this paper ultimately focused on the transnationalism phenomenon of games, which centers on the dynamic gameplay itself that transcends national and cultural boundaries. Fundamentally, contemporary digital games exhibit strong hybridity and dynamism in their narrative environments—including capital, personnel, and intellectual property—as well as in the gameplay process, thereby constituting a transnational culture. Notably, players can actualize multiple identities through their avatars in virtual worlds and establish transnational relationships and imagined communities by engaging in a shared ludic experience within environments characterized by low linguistic barriers. Recently, certain Korean indie titles experimentally pursue these transversal values that interpenetrate the boundaries of universality and particularity. For example, the Korean indie game Sanabi declared the unique genre of 'Joseon Cyberpunk', signaling transversal values that oscillate between the past and the future. Thus, the Korean digital game industry is evolving into the 'Trans-Game' paradigm, traversing the binaries of virtuality and reality, and technology and imagination. The future development of Korean games must be predicated upon balanced narratives that embrace diversity and coexistence.