Specter of Colonial Past: The Case of South Korean Horror Films

Specter of Colonial Past: The Case of South Korean Horror Films

Speaker: Jinsoo An
School of Design and Media, Hongik University, Korea

Monday, February 23, 2009
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
208N – Seminar Room, North House
Munk Centre For International Studies
1 Devonshire Place

Register online http://webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventid=6660

The presentation examines the way in which issues of colonialism have found channels of expression in generic conventions and tropes of horror film in South Korea. It interrogates problem of representation concerning colonialism in South Korean cinema in general and advances to convey how the repressed history of colonialism comes to surface through stories of specter and apparition. In particular, the presentation brings attention to a recent horror film called “Epitaph”, and the way it rehearses and thematizes thorny issues of colonialism, including inter-ethnic romance, historical amnesia and erasure, and reconciliation.

Jinsoo An is Assistant Professor at School of Design and Media of Hongik University in Korea. He completed Ph.D. at UCLA with the dissertation on golden age melodrama films of Korea (from 1953 to 1972). He has written on the topics related to Korean cinema of the 1960s including representation of Christianity, historical drama, courtroom drama, cult film and Manchurian action film. His current project focuses on representation of colonialism as historical past in South Korean cinema. His other interest includes history and visuality of interactive media art.