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A Study on Ethical Identity in Zhang Lü’s Films ─ A Case Study of A Quiet Dream

  • The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China
  • Abbr : JSLCKC
  • 2026, (80), pp.561~586
  • DOI : 10.16874/jslckc.2026..80.020
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Study on Chinese Languge and Culture
  • Research Area : Humanities > Chinese Language and Literature
  • Received : April 10, 2026
  • Accepted : May 20, 2026
  • Published : May 31, 2026

Jia Wei Wang 1

1한국외국어대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study takes Zhang Lü’s film A Quiet Dream as its research object. Based on a review of relevant Chinese and Korean scholarship, it introduces the concept of “ethical identity” from ethical literary criticism in an attempt to move beyond existing approaches that mainly interpret Zhang Lü’s films in terms of ethnic identity, diasporic experience, transnational culture, and identity recognition. Instead, the study shifts its analytical focus to the formation of characters’ ethical positions within concrete relational practices. It argues that the characters in A Quiet Dream do not establish their sense of self through explicit identity declarations, dramatic plot turns, or institutional confirmation; rather, they gradually form a stable yet unnamed ethical identity through everyday actions such as silence, companionship, caregiving, restraint, and the assumption of responsibility. The paper first clarifies the connotation of “ethical identity” and its applicability to film texts from a theoretical perspective. It then examines the major characters—Yili, Ik-jun, Jeong-beom, Jong-bin, and Joo-young—to analyze how they construct ethical responses and identities through marginal situations and interpersonal interactions, thereby revealing the mechanism through which a non-institutional “marginal ethical community” is formed in the film. Finally, by combining character analysis with the film’s audiovisual expression, the study explores how black-and-white cinematography, long takes, static shots, empty shots, spatial composition, and silent narration jointly render ethical relations visible. This paper argues that, through its de-dramatized narrative strategy and restrained visual language, A Quiet Dream transforms ethics from a matter of value judgment into an enduring relational state. In doing so, it not only presents the ethical mode of existence of marginal figures within the context of transnational mobility, but also offers a new perspective for understanding character construction and visual ethics in Zhang Lü’s cinema.

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