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  • P-ISSN 2733-6123
  • E-ISSN 2799-3426

Modernization, Authoritarianism, and Space in Korean Shamanic Exorcism Cinema

Journal of Korean and Asian Arts / Journal of Korean and Asian Arts, (P)2733-6123; (E)2799-3426
2021, v.3, pp.7-30
https://doi.org/10.20976/KAA.2021.3.001
Humpal Thomas (Dongseo University)
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Abstract

This paper examines how space is used in Korean exorcism cinema to expose spatial and temporal anxieties. These spaces reflect developmental ideologies that place rurality in opposition to modernization. Recent religious scandals involving shamanism and syncretism have reignited similar representational models in contemporary exorcism cinema. By analyzing spatial constructs based around the dichotomies of traditional/modern, urban/rural, and masculine/feminine, I suggest that the recent trend of religious orthodoxy in Korean exorcism cinema is an extension of authoritarian and nationalist tropes. As such, rurality as a traditional and gendered space represents contradictory aspects at the heart of how national identity is constructed and expressed spatially.

keywords
shamanism, cinema, exorcism, space, rural, modernization, musok (Korean shamanism), authoritarianism, orthodoxy, religion


Submission Date
2021-10-13
Revised Date
Accepted Date
2021-11-24
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Journal of Korean and Asian Arts