Spring 2009
MW 10:00-11:50
SOS B48
Sunyoung Park
Office: THH 378
TEL: 213-740-8256
Email: sunyoung.park@usc.edu
EALC 429
Gender in Korean Film and Literature
Course Description: This course will examine the changing representations of gender in
Korean film and literature over the course of the twentieth century. By analyzing how
Korean directors and writers have rendered masculinity, femininity, and what is in
between, we will reflect both on the evolution of gender relations in Korean society and
on the significant role played by culture in shaping the notions of what it is like to be a
man or a woman in Korea.
The course is organized in four parts. Following an initial introduction to the field of
gender studies, we will consider what impacts Korea’s experience of colonial
modernization had on the discursive construction of modern Korean manhood and
womanhood. We will then move on to examine the hegemonic masculinity in postcolonial South Korea and the various critical responses to the state-sponsored official
gender norms. And finally, in the last part of the course, we will turn to investigate the
new conflicts in gender relations caused by current global capitalism.
This course will be run primarily as a seminar with a supplementary lecture
component. Course materials will be drawn from primary sources in literature and film,
and they will be complemented by critical essays in gender studies, film criticism, history,
and other fields of social science. All class materials will be in English translation, and
no previous knowledge of Korean language is required.
Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to
register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of
verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the
letter is delivered to me or the TA as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in
STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number
for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:
University policies concerning academic dishonesty will be strictly enforced, and
students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with these policies. Plagiarism
and/or cheating on exams is subject to the sanctions set forth in the Student Conduct
Code and may include expulsion or suspension from the university. For a detailed
description of plagiarism and other types of academic dishonesty and the sanctions
pertaining thereto, the student is referred to pages 81-85 and 92 in the 2005-2006
Scampus. You may also wish to refer to the student publication, “Guide to Avoiding
Plagiarism.” The following web site may also prove helpful:
http:www.usc.edu/student-affairs/student-conduct/ug_plag.htm
2
Required Texts:
Elaine Kim and Chungmoo Choi, eds. Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean
Nationalism (Routledge, 1998) [DW]
Hyangjin Lee, Contemporary Korean Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics (Manchester
University Press, 2000)
Kathleen McHugh and Nancy Abelmann, South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender,
Genre, and National Cinema (Wayne State University Press, 2005) [SKG]
Chi-Yun Shin and Julian Stringer, New Korean Cinema (NYU Press, 2005) [NKC]
Course Reader [R]. Available at Magic Machine University Graphics at University
Village, 3309 S. Hoover, Los Angeles (213) 744-1511
*For texts and films on reserve, see the lists at the end of this syllabus
Useful Websites on Korean Film:
Korean Movie Database http://www.kmdb.or.kr : an official website of the Korean Film
Archive
Darcy Paquet’s Korean Film Website http://koreanfilm.org: Launched in 1999, this site
has grown with the help of many volunteers including professional film critics to
provide a comprehensive introduction to Korean cinema.
Requirements: regular attendance, active participation in class discussion, regular
contribution to the class bulletin board, and two essays. Graduate students will be
required to write one research essay (15–20 pages) and revise it once. All essays should
be typed, double-spaced and page-numbered, and should include citations and a list of
references formatted according to the Chicago or MLA guidelines. Late submission will
be subject to a penalty.
1. Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. More than five absences will result in your
final grade falling by one third of a grade (e.g. from A to A-, B+ to B, etc.). Also,
persistent tardiness will have a negative effect on your evaluation.
2. Participation (10%): Your active participation is essential for the success of a course
of this kind. You are responsible for reading all assigned materials before coming to class,
and you should make your best effort to contribute positively to class discussion.
3. Bulletin Postings (20%): Starting from the 2nd week, all students are required to post a
response paper to the week’s reading on the course website by 9:00 pm on Tuesdays. A
typical submission (300-400 words) will consist of a discussion of the day's film in
relation to the broader questions that are raised in the course. I will periodically give you
some feedback and an evaluation of your postings according to the following scheme: a
mark of 1 acknowledges that you have satisfied the requirement for the class; 2 indicates
that your posting is an interesting response to the material; 3 that the posting displays a
remarkable amount of understanding and thoughtfulness; 4 that you have provided an
exceptionally insightful contribution to the discussion. The postings are due by 9:00pm
on the day before class, with late submissions receiving an automatic mark of 1.
4. Midterm Essay (30%): You will write a midterm essay (1500 words) in response to
an assigned topic question. You will have a choice between two or three topics.
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5. Final Research Paper (40%): You will choose your own topic for the final research
paper (2000 words, or 8 pages in max.) after consulting the instructor. Aside from the
consultation, we will have two more pre-writing steps. First, all students will submit a
one-page proposal that outlines the research topic, thesis, and materials for an instructor’s
feedback. In addition to receiving the instructor’s feedback on the proposal, you will also
receive peer feedback on your work-in-progress by presenting your draft to the class a
week before the submission.
■ Grading Scale for Essays
Criteria
creative, original textual analysis; well-organized, articulate writing;
A 100-90 %
perfect or near-perfect documentation
attentive, substantive textual analysis; organized, logical writing;
B 89-80
good documentation
Acceptable analysis, writing, and documentation with some flaws
C 79-70
lack of textual analysis; poor writing; little or no documentation
D 69-60
no assignment or plagiarism
F 59
Syllabus
Part I.
Introduction: Gender, Culture, and Society
Week 1-2.
1/12
Introduction
Organizational meeting
1/14
Toril Moi, “Feminist, Female, and Feminine,” 104-116 [R]
Cynthia Enloe, “Gender Makes the World Go Around,” 1-18
and “The Personal Is International,” 195-201 [R]
1/19
Martin Luther King’s Day—No Class
1/21
Screening:
Judith Butler, “Subjects of Sex, Gender, Desire” 1-46 [R]
Elaine Kim, “Men’s Talk: A Korean American View of South Korean
Constructions of Women, Gender, and Masculinity,” 67-118 [DW]
Ryu Seungwan, Hey men~ (2005), 21min.
Part II.
Imperialism, Nationalism, and Gender
Week 3.
1/26
Gender in Colonial Nationalism
Na Hyesŏk, “Kyŏnghŭi” (1916), 61-86 [R]
Lee, “Korean Film During the Japanese Colonial Period,” 17-30
Screening:
An Sŏgyŏng, Volunteer (1941), 56 min.
Recommended: Yang Joonam, Sweet Dream (1936), 47 min.
Lee Pyŏngil, Spring of the Korean Peninsula (1941), 84 min.
Pak Kich’ae, Straits of Chosŏn (1943), 75 min.
Choi In-kyu, Hurrah! For Freedom (1946), 51 min.
4
1/28
Jiweon Shin, “Social Construction of Idealized Image of Women in
Colonial Korea: the ‘New Woman’ versus ‘Motherhood’,”
162-173 [R]
Kyeong-Hee Choi, “Another Layer of the Pro-Japanese Literature:
Ch’oe Chŏnghǔi’s ‘The Wild Chrysanthemum,’” 61-87 [R]
Week 4.
2/2
Who Speaks for Comfort Women?
Kang Kyŏngae, “Salt,” 1-27 [R]
Hyun Ok Park, “Ideals of Liberation: Korean Women in Manchuria,”
229-248 [DW]
Screening:
Pyŏn Yŏngju, The Murmuring (1995), 99 min.
Recommended: Pyŏn Yŏngju, Habitual Sadness (1997), 61 min.
2/4
Hyunah Yang, “Re-membering the Korean Military Comfort Women:
Nationalism, Sexuality, and Silencing,” 123-140 [DW]
American Neo-imperialism and “the Western Princess”
O Chŏnghŭi, “Chinatown” (1979), 202-230 [R]
Katharine Moon, “Prostitute Bodies and Gendered States in U.S.-Korea
Relations,” 141-174 [DW]
Screening:
Yu Hyŏnmok, Stray Bullet (1961), 105 min.
Recommended: Shin Sangok, Flower in Hell (1958), 88 min.
Lee Kwangmo, Spring in My Hometown (1998), 120 min.
Chang Kilsu, The Silver Stallion Will Never Come (1991), 123 min.
Week 5.
2/9
2/11
Eunsun Cho, “The Stray Bullet and the Crisis of Korean Masculinity,”
99-116 [SKG]
Hyun Sook Kim, “Yanggongju as an Allegory of the Nation: Images of
Working-Class Women in Popular and Radical Texts,” 175-202
[DW]
Week 6.
Creating Socialist Men and Women
2/16
Lee, “The development of North Korean film,” 30-45, 106-118, 150-165
Screening:
Selected clips of North Korean films
Recommended: Ch’oe Ik-kyu et al., Sea of Blood (1969), 180 min.
Jang Yu Son, Genuine Life Goes On (2002), 164 min.
Chǒn Chongp’al, Our Fragrance (2003), 80 min.
Special Documentary on Sin Sang Ok (1999), 54 min.
2/18
Kyung Ae Park, “Ideology and Women in North Korea,” 71-85 [R]
Korean Heritage Library Tour
Midterm Essay Assigned
Week 7.
National Division and Gender Relations
2/23
Kim Minsuk, “Scarlet Fingernails,” 79-114 [R]
Screening:
Kang Jaekyu, Shiri (1999), 125 min.
Recommended: Han Hyǒngmo, Hand of Destiny (1954), 85 min.
5
Lee Manhee, The Wild Flower in the Battlefield (1974), 102 min.
Pak Chanwook, Joint Security Area (2000), 108 min.
Kang Jaekyu, Taegukgi: the Brotherhood of War (2004), 148 min.
Park Kwanghyun, Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005), 132 min.
2/25
Kim Kyung Hyun, “‘Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves’:
Transgressive Agents, National Security, and Blockbuster Aesthetics
in Shiri and Joint Security Area,” 259-276 [R]
Lee, “The development of South Korean Film,”45-66
Part III.
Hegemonic Masculinity and Its Discontents
Week 8.
3/2
Hegemonic vs. Marginalized Masculinities
Yun Hŭnggil, “The Man Who Was Left as Nine Pairs of Shoes” (1977)
165-199 [R]
Screening:
Pak Kwangsu, Chilsu and Mansu (1988), 107 min.
Recommended: Pak Kwangsu, Black Republic (1990), 100 min.
Lee Ch’angdong, Peppermint Candy (1999), 185min.
3/4
Choi Chungmoo, “The Minjung Culture Movement and the Construction
of Popular Culture in Korea,” 105-118 [R]
Seungsook Moon, “The Production and Subversion of Hegemonic
Masculinity: Reconfiguring Gender Hierarchy in Contemporary
Korea,” 79-114 [R]
Week 9.
3/9
Subversive Housewives
Pak Wansŏ, “Identical Apartments” (1974), 139-160 [R]
Pak, “Thus Ended My Days of Watching over the House” (1978), 97110 [R]
Han Hyŏngmo, Madame Freedom (1956), 124 min.
Chŏng Chiu, Happy End (1999), 99 min.
Yu Ha, Marriage is a Crazy Thing (2002), 105 min.
Midterm Essay Due
Screening:
3/11
Cho Haejoang, “Living with Conflicting Subjectivities: Mother,
Motherly Wife, and Sexy Woman in the Transition from ColonialModern to Postmodern Korea,”165-196 [R]
Week 10.
Spring Recess
Week 11.
3/23
What Is Feminist Literature and Cinema in Korea?
Kang Sŏkkyŏng, “Days and Dreams” (1989), 1-27 [R]
O Chŏnghŭi, “Wayfarer,” 184-205 [R]
Screening:
Chŏng Chaeŭn, Take Care of My Cat (2001), 111 min.
Recommended: Soyoung Kim, Women’s History Trilogy (2000-2004)
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3/25
Soyoung Kim, “Questions of Women’s Film: The Maid, Madame
Freedom, and Women” 185-200 [SKG]
Miriam Ching Yoon Louie, “Minjung Feminism: Korean Women’s
Movement for Gender and Class Liberation,” 417-430 [R]
Week 12.
Ghostly Sexualities
3/30
O Chŏnghŭi, “The Toyshop Woman” (1968) [R]
Screening:
Kim T’aeyong and Min Kyudong, Memento Mori (1999), 97 min.
Recommended: Kim Insik, Road Movie (2002), 115 min.
Lee Chunik, King and the Clown (2005), 119 min.
4/1
Andrew Grossman and Jooran Lee, “Memento Mori and Other Ghostly
Sexualities,” 180-192 [NKC]
Seo Dong-Jin, “Mapping the Vicissitudes of Homosexual Identities in
South Korea,” 65-80 [R]
Graduate Student Research Paper Due
Part IV.
Gender Conflicts in the Age of Global Capitalism
Week 13.
Mr. Revenge in Post-IMF Korea
4/6
Gi-Wook Shin/ Kyung-Sup Chang, “Social Crisis in Korea,” 75-99 [R]
Screening:
Pak Chanwook, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), 121 min.
Recommended: Kim Kiduk, Bad Guy (2001), 100 min.
Chŏng Chunhwan, Save the Green Planet (2003), 118 min.
Na Hongjin, The Chaser (2008), 123 min.
4/8
Kyu Hyun Kim, “Horror as Critique in Tell Me Something and Sympathy
for Mr. Vengeance,” 106-116 [NKC]
Darcy Paquet, “The Korean Film Industry: 1992 to the Present,”
32-50 [NKC]
Proposal for the Final Paper Due
Week 14.
4/13
Gender in International Labor Migration and Intermarriage
Hye-Kyung Lee, “International Marriage and the State in South Korea:
Focusing on Governmental Policy,” 107-123 [R]
Screening:
Hwang Pyŏngguk, Wedding Campaign (2005), 120 min.
Recommended: Song Haesung, Filan (2001), 116 min.
Yun Ryuhae, Kkam’gǔni ŏmma (2006): Korean TV drama on DVD
(in Korean only)
4/15
Caren Freeman, “Marry Up and Marry Down: the Paradoxes of Marital
Mobility for Chosŏnjok Brides in South Korea,” 80-100 [R]
Week 15.
4/20
Student Presentations
Student Presentations
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4/22
Student Presentations
Week 16.
4/27
Last Class
Screening: Pak Chinp’yo, Too Young To Die (2002), 67 min.
4/29
Last Class
Revision/ Final Paper Due
8
Films on Reserve
An Sŏgyŏng, Volunteer (1941), 56 min.
Chang Kilsu, The Silver Stallion Will Never Come (1991), 123 min.
Ch’oe Ik-kyu et al., Sea of Blood (1969), 180 min.
Choi In-kyu, Hurrah! For Freedom (1946), 51 min.
Chǒn Chongp’al, Our Fragrance (2003), 80 min.
Chŏng Chaeŭn, Take Care of My Cat (2001), 111 min.
Chŏng Chiu, Happy End (1999), 99 min.
Chŏng Chunhwan, Save the Green Planet (2003), 118 min.
Han Hyŏngmo, Madame Freedom (1956), 124 min.
Han Hyǒngmo, Hand of Destiny (1954), 85 min.
Hwang Pyŏngguk, Wedding Campaign (2005), 120 min.
Kim Insik, Road Movie (2002), 115 min.
Kim Kiduk, Bad Guy (2001), 100 min.
Kim Soyŏng, Women’s History Trilogy (2000-2004)
Kang Jaekyu, Shiri (1999), 125 min.
Kang Jaekyu, Taegukgi: the Brotherhood of War (2004), 148 min.
Kim T’aeyong and Min Kyudong, Memento Mori (1999), 97 min.
Lee Ch’angdong, Peppermint Candy (1999), 185min.
Lee Chunik, King and the Clown (2005), 119 min.
Lee Kangch’ǒn, Piagol (1955), 108 min.
Lee Kwangmo, Spring in My Hometown (1998), 120 min.
Lee Manhee, The Wild Flower in the Battlefield (1974), 102 min.
Lee Pyŏngil, Spring of the Korean Peninsula (1941), 84 min.
Na Hongjin, The Chaser (2008), 123 min.
Pak Chanwook, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), 121 min.
Pak Chanwook, Joint Security Area (2000), 108 min.
Pak Chinp’yo, Too Young To Die (2002), 67 min.
Pak Kich’ae, Straits of Chosŏn (1943), 75 min.
Park Kwanghyun, Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005), 132 min.
Pak Kwangsu, Chilsu and Mansu (1988), 107 min.
Pyŏn Yŏngju, Flying Boys (2004), 120 min.
Pyŏn Yŏngju, The Murmuring (1995), 99 min.
Pyŏn Yŏngju, Habitual Sadness (1997), 61 min.
Shin Sangok, Flower in Hell (1958), 88 min.
Song Haesung, Filan (2001), 116 min.
Yang Joonam, Sweet Dream (1936), 47 min.
Yun Ryuhae, Kkam’gǔni ŏmma (2006): Korean TV drama on DVD (in Korean only)
Yu Ha, Marriage is a Crazy Thing (2002), 105 min Pak Kwangsu, Black Republic (1990)
Yu Hyŏnmok, Stray Bullet (1961), 105 min.
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Texts on Reserve: more on women’s history and literature, as well as Korean films
Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International
Politics. Rev. ed. (University of California Press, 1989)
Bruce and Ju-Chang Fulton, trans and eds. Wayfarer: New Fiction by Korean Women
(Women in Translation, 1997)
_____, trans and eds. Words of Farewell: Stories by Korean Women Writers (Seal Press,
1989)
Bruce Fulton and Youngmin Kwon, trans and eds. Modern Korean Fiction: An
Anthology (Columbia University Press, 2005)
David E. James, Kyung Hyun Kim, and Myong-Hwa Chung, eds. Im Kwon-Taek: The
Making of a Korean National Cinema (Wayne State University Press, 2002)
Laurel Kendall, ed. Under Construction: The Gendering of Modernity, Class, and
Consumption in the Republic of Korea (University of Hawai’i Press, 2002)
Kyung Hyun Kim, Remasculinization of Korean Cinema (Duke University Press, 2004)
Katherine Moon, Sex among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S-Korea Relations
(Columbia University, 1997)
Seungsook Moon, Militarized Modernity and Gendered Citizenship in South Korea
(Duke University Press, 2005)
Pak Wansŏ, My Very Last Possession and Other Stories (M.E. Sharpe, 1999)
_____, A Sketch of the Fading Sun (White Pine Press, 1999)
_____, The Naked Tree (Cornell University East Asia Series, 1995)
Marshall Pihl and Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton, trans and eds. Land of Exile: Contemporary
Korean Fiction (M.E. Sharpe, 1993)
Suh Ji-Moon, The Rainy Spell and Other Korean Stories (M.E. Sharpe, 1998)
Yi Yongil, The History of Korean Cinema (Motion Picture Promotion Corp., 1988)
Theodore Jun Yoo, The Politics of Gender in Colonial Korea: Education, Labor, and
Health 1910-1945 (University of California Press, 2008)