바로가기메뉴

본문 바로가기 주메뉴 바로가기

The Review of Korean Studies

26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 … Years: The Politics of Kang Full’s Webtoon 26 Years

The Review of Korean Studies / The Review of Korean Studies, (P)1229-0076; (E)2773-9351
2012, v.15 no.2, pp.33-66
https://doi.org/10.25024/review.2012.15.2.002
(University of Copenhagen)
  • Downloaded
  • Viewed

Abstract

This paper examines the emergence and on-/offline reception of the webtoon 26 Years (2006) created by South Korean manhwa-ga Kang Full. Presenting itself as faction (factual fiction), 26 Years deals with the aftermath of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising. The webtoon envisions a radical fictional response to this contested and traumatic event in contemporary South Korean history through the planned and attempted assassination, in 2006, of former President Chun Doo Hwan by a group of victims of the uprising. Central questions raised by 26 Years and its reception include how the politicized webtoon as a pop culture phenomenon is related to the appearance of new forms of protest within social movements and how manhwa artists exercise agency in this context. By addressing these questions, the current paper presents a close reading of Kang Full’s webtoon, with a focus on his faction approach to the Gwangju Uprising and the particular affordances of the webtoon, its temporal dynamics, interactivity and employment of metalepsis.

keywords
webtoon, May 18 (Gwangju Uprising), Kang Full, metalepsis, netizens

Reference

1.

Bak, Inha. 2005. Golbang eseo mannan cheonguk: Pak Inha ui manhwa pungsoksa [Heaven in a Small Room]. Seoul: Inmul gwa Sasangsa.

2.

Bak, Inha and Nakho Kim. 2010. Hanguk hyeondae manhwasa [A Modern History of Korean Manhwa]. Seoul: Doobo Books.

3.

Baek, Mu-hyeon. 2007. Manhwa Chun Doo Hwan. Vol.1. Seoul: Sidae ui Chang.

4.

Baker, Don. 2003. “Victims and Heroes: Competing Visions of May 18.” In Contentious Kwangju, edited by Gi-Wook Shin and Hwang Kyung Moon, 87-108. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

5.

Choe, Hyonju. 2004. “Inteobyu: Tanhaek bandae rillei katun chamyeohan Kang Seongsu manhwaga” [Interview: Anti-Impeachment Relay Cartoon Participant Manhwa-ga Kang Seongsu]. People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (blog), March 18. URL: http://blog.peoplepower21.org/Politics/533350.

6.

Choe, Gyuseok. 2009. 100⁰. Seoul: Changbi.

7.

Epstein, Stephen and Sun Jung. 2011. “Korean Youth Netizenship and its Discontents.” Media International Australia 141:78-86.

8.

Gell, Alfred. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

9.

Han, Sangjeong. 2009. “Kang Pul manhwachaek i jaemi eomneun iyu” [Some Reasons Why Kang Full’s Manhwa Books are not Interesting]. Silcheon Munhak 93:2.

10.

Kang Full. 2002. Jichiji aneul mureumpyo [Untiring Question Mark]. Seoul: Yeoreum Sol.

11.

Kang Full. 2003-04. Sunjeong manhwa [Love Story]. Serialized October 24 to April 12. Accessed September 28, 2012. URL: http://cartoon.media.daum.net/webtoon/view/kangpool.

12.

Kang Full. 2004. Ilssang dabansa [An Ordinary Life]. Seoul: Munhak Segyesa.

13.

Kang Full. 2006. 26 nyeon [26 Years]. Serialized April 3 to October 13. Accessed September 28, 2012. URL: http://cartoon.media.daum.net/webtoon/view/kangfull26.

14.

Kang Full. 2007. 26 nyeon [26 Years]. Vol.1. Seoul: Munhak Segyesa.

15.

Kang Full. 2007. Yeonghwa ya nolja [Let’s Play, Films!]. Seoul: Munhak Segyesa.

16.

Kang Full. 2004. Apateu [Apartment]. Serialized May 19 to September 6. Accessed September 28, 2012. URL: http://cartoon.media.daum.net/webtoon/view/mystery.

17.

Kang Full. 2004-05. Babo [Fool]. Serialized November 1 to April 19. Accessed September 28, 2012. URL: http://cartoon.media.daum.net/webtoon/view/babo.

18.

Kang Full. 2005. Taiming [Timing]. Serialized June 10 to November 7. Accessed September 28, 2012. URL: http://cartoon.media.daum.net/webtoon/view/timing.

19.

Kim, Chi-young. 2008. “Paeksyeon sidae ui yeoksa manhwa” [History Cartoon in the Period of Faction Narrative]. Gukje Eomun 42:523-63.

20.

Kim, Kyung Hyun. 2004. The Remasculanization of Korean Cinema. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

21.

Kim, Yong Cheol, and June Woo Kim. 2009. “South Korean Democracy in the Digital Age.” Korea Observer 40 (1): 53-83.

22.

Kim, Yongho, and Jaeyoung Hur. 2009. “Framing Anti-Americanism and the Media in South Korea: TV vs. Newspaper.” Pacific Focus XXXIV (3): 341-64.

23.

Kwak, Ki-sung. 2012. Media and Democratic Transition in South Korea.London and New York: Routledge.

24.

Kukkonen, Karin. 2011. “Metalepsis in Comics and Graphic Novels.” In Metalepsis in Popular Culture, edited by Karin Kukkunon and Sonja Klimek. 213-31. Berlin: De Gruyter.

25.

Kukkonen, Karin and Sonja Klimek, eds. 2011. Metalepsis in Popular Culture. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter.

26.

Kwon, Heok-tae. 2005. “The Memory and Interpretation of August 15, 1945: Koreans’ Perception of Japan as Reflected in Comic Books.” The Review of Korean Studies 8 (1): 85-101.

27.

Kwon, Jae-woong. 2005. “New Type of Popular Culture in the Internet Age: An Analysis of the Korean Essay Cartoon.” IJOCA Spring: 320-50.

28.

Lee, Seung-okk, Sook-jin Kim and Joel Wainwright. 2010. “Mad Cow Militancy: Neoliberal Hegemony and Social Resistance in South Korea.” Political Geography 29 (7): 259-69.

29.

Magnan-Park, Aaron Han Joon. 2005. “Peppermint Candy: The Will not to Forget.” In New Korean Cinema, edited by Shin Chi-yun and Julian Stringer. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

30.

McCloud, Scott. 1994. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper Perenni.

31.

Park, Jae Dong, et al. 2003. Sipsi ilban: 10-in ui manhwaga ga kkum kkuneun chabyeol eomnun sesang [Ten for One: Ten Manhwa-ga’s Dreams of a World without Discrimination]. Paju: Changbi.

32.

Park, Whon-il. 2007. “Privacy Issues and Public Opinion in Korea.” Kyung Hee Law Review 42 (2): 305-26.

33.

Park, Mi. 2008. Democracy and Social Change: A History of South Korean Student Movements, 1980-2000. Oxford: Peter Lang.

34.

Russell, Mark James. 2008. Pop Goes Korea. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.

The Review of Korean Studies