Global Korean Cinema

Catalog description

Exploration of Korean cinema from the early twentieth century to the present, with an emphasis on its global/local dynamics. This course offers an introductory overview of Korean cinema. As we trace its history from the colonial period to the current "Korean wave," we will also engage with film criticism, the trans/national contexts of film productions, the particular aesthetics of selected auteurs/genres, and local/global receptions of Korean cinema. Our discussion of formal elements and key issues featured in these films;modernity, colonialism, division, nation, class, gender, identity, tradition, ideology, desire, violence, and migration, among others;will be informed by readings of secondary sources and theoretical works, as well as literary materials produced during the same period. Throughout our analyses, we will seek to contextualize the cinematic texts within moments of major shifts not only in modern Korean history, but also in the transnational film industry and screen culture. In pursuing a broad and detailed perspective of Korean cinema, this course will ultimately enrich, and simultaneously complicate, our understanding of Korea, cinema, and the world. Instruction and all materials will be in English. No preliminary knowledge of Korean history or language is required for taking this course.