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Presenting Korea's Past: Melodrama, Spectacle, and Democracy in Post-2000 Historical Films

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Presenting Korea's Past: Melodrama, Spectacle, and Democracy in Post-2000 Historical Films Presenting Korea's Past: Melodrama, Spectacle, and Democracy in Post-2000 Historical Films A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Saena Ryu Dozier IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Adviser: Travis Workman October 2020 © Saena Ryu Dozier Acknowledgements We are involuntary inserted into the forward-sweeping movement of history. We can never return to “before” or access the past. The irreversible and irrecoverable nature of time has always fascinated me and still captivates my interest. The historical fiction genre, produced by the imaginations of many brilliant minds, has enabled me to see a glimpse of the distant past that I did not live. My gratitude goes to those imaginative creators of historical fiction. I am deeply indebted to my mentors, colleagues, institutions, friends and family. From the very first inception of this project to its completion, I have received tremendous help and support from them. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my dissertation adviser, Travis Workman. Travis gave me invaluable advice and comments on my dissertation. He generously imparted his knowledge of colonial period intellectual history, which has had a long-lasting influence on the development of historical fiction in Korea. I enjoyed intellectually stimulating conversations with Travis about Korean films. I am also very grateful for the members of my dissertation committee: Hiromi Mizuno, Jason McGrath, and Elizabethada Wright. Hiromi inspired and encouraged me throughout my graduate school years to be a critical thinker. Jason gave me the tools and filmic language with which to analyze cinema. I was very fortunate to be mentored by Liz as a pre-doctoral teaching fellow at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Liz guided me to be a better writer and teacher. My adviser and committee members deepened my understanding of genre and the genre’s possibility as a social act. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Hangtae Cho for his tremendous guidance and support. I i benefitted greatly from our independent study on Korean nationalism and his unrivaled knowledge of Korean history. In addition, I feel fortunate to have worked with Leo Ching and Guo-Juin Hong at Duke University. Through their mentoring, Leo and Guo-Juin made me realize that teaching is the art of decoding the complexity of theories into everyday language, making them more accessible for students and enabling a deeper investigation into the meaning behind text and images. I am extremely thankful for the Korea Foundation’s support with its Graduate Studies Fellowship, which enabled me to focus on my research and to write this project. I was fortunate to develop friendships with outstanding Korean studies scholars through the Korean Literature Workshop for Overseas Doctoral Students hosted by the Korea Foundation and International Conference of Next Gen Korean Scholars at the Nam Center for Korean Studies sponsored by the Korea Foundation. I was blessed to engage with a wonderful group of colleagues at the University of Minnesota who have been a great source of encouragement. Michael Crandol exemplified what a great sŏnbae (senior scholar) should be. With kindness and patience, he answered my questions ranging from film genre studies to university policies. All of us are now living in different places around the world but I cherish the times filled with laughter and intellectually stimulating discussions with Michael, Soo-hyun Jackelen, Guanda Wu, and Wang Chen. I also thank my friend Chanjung Park for reinvigorating me with her world- class Korean cooking. She has been my greatest confidant, listening to my concerns and giving me sound advice for healthy living. I thank Eunsil Lee for keeping me in her prayers. ii I am truly blessed to have my parents-in-law, Phyllis and Chris Dozier, and my brother-in-law, Cutler Dozier, in my life. A brilliant writer and published author, Phyllis edited and provided insightful comments on all of my conference papers, journal articles, and the dissertation. Without her consistent help, the goal of this project would not have been realized. Chris’s affectionate words and hugs gave me the encouragement to keep writing. I am overwhelmed, amazed and humbled by the love of my husband, Jonathan, who has supported me throughout my academic journey. My daughter, Adeline, has enriched my life, bringing so much joy. I am forever grateful to my mother, Kim Soon- im, and my sister, Ryu Sae-hanoo. Although we are thousands of miles apart, I felt their love and support from each phone conversation we had during this long process of research and writing. I inherited my strong interest in Korean history from my mother. Growing up, I fondly remember our enthusiastic discussions about different monarchs in Korea. Perhaps this project was set in motion by my fond memories of watching late night historical TV dramas with my late grandmother, Kim Jae-chun. Feelings of warmth and love are deeply ingrained with those memories. I like to think she would have been very proud of this project. Finally, but most importantly, I dedicate my dissertation to the creator of time and the master of history, the Heavenly Father, who not only gave me life but sustains it. I have faith He will answer all my questions about the nature of time and forces of history. “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT iii Abstract “Presenting Korea’s Past: Melodrama, Spectacle, and Democracy in Post-2000 Historical Films” examines the revival of the cinematic genre of sagŭk in South Korea in the 2000s. The diegesis of sagŭk film portrays premodern dynastic eras of Korea. This project analyzes the evolution of the genre by genealogically tracing its rise and fall and investigates determinants of the genre’s consequential comeback since the new millennium. Built upon film scholar Linda Williams’ exposition of “a space of innocence” and Rick Altman’s genre theory, this dissertation argues that a powerful nostalgic imagination of innocence exists within the genre and suggests that the newly articulated innocence is one of the determinants of the revival of genre. However, the specific nature of innocence and how it is delivered varies. This dissertation demonstrates that because of an intensification of globalization and resistance to late capitalism, innocence is less associated with nationhood and national identity but more associated with a universalistic and utopian way of existing within a collective community. “Presenting Korea’s Past” concludes that the genre is a site of constant struggle among the producing powers and consumers and that the spectators are the main agents of the genre’s transformation. Chapter One shows how Im Kwon-taek, the father of Korean national cinema, nationalized innocence in his historical art films. Im borrows filmic techniques from realist filmmaking such as long takes, long shots, stationary camera, and use of marginal and deep space to inscribe the suffering spirit of han (historically accumulated, ineffable sorrow) onto the images of Korean landscape vistas and indigenous maiden prototypes. This chapter argues that what seems to be a realistic portrayal of history actually serves to iv advance a melodramatic aesthetic and world view. Chapter Two highlights the changes in stylistic form and narrative strategy of blockbuster historical films of the 2000s. This chapter considers spectacle an indispensable component of blockbuster aesthetics and argues that spectacle has played a crucial role in transforming the sagŭk genre. Chapter Three analyzes the consequences of blockbuster aesthetics minimizing historical referentiality, concluding nostalgic imagination in recent sagŭk films is less associated with national memory and more associated with a transhistorical, utopian way of existing collectively within a community of commoners. This chapter maintains that an original status of virtue and innocence is manifested in personages in historical fiction. Historical and fictional characters in sagŭk films embody the space of innocence. Through multiple case studies, this chapter demonstrates that while innocence is achieved through individual acts of goodness, it is deeply grounded in a collective way of existence. This culture of innocence shapes and governs all human relations and general social interactions in the diegetic world of the films. Using Mikhail Bakhtin’s concepts of carnivalesque and dialogism, Chapter Four examines Lee Joon-ik’s historical films that provide radically alternative historical accounts to accepted nationalist narratives. Glorious national events all Korean students learn to honor are disparaged as comical ventures replete with crude and ribald humor. Lee’s subversive historical films signal the potential for the genre to become a social act. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………...i Abstract…………………………………………………………………......iv Table of Contents…………………………………………………………...vi List of Figures ............................................................................................... vii Introduction: Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Sagŭk Genre ............................. 1 Chapter 1: Finding Melodramatic “Us” through Realism in Im Kwon-taek’s Historical Art Films ..........................................................
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