• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.42
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• pp.47-75
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• 2021

This thesis looks into the interpretation of the Korean War and mystery genre in Korea in the 1970s by analyzing the special drama , in which the theme was directly related to the Korean War, airing through MBC in 1979. It begins by finding the change in direction in the 1970s when the world of TV was dictated through the heavy censorship and the memory of the war by the government. It also looks at the intentions of the producer who was taking in the new way and the viewers who also accepted this drama and its reflections. In order to gain some insights into these issues, it compares between the drama "The Last Witness" and the original novel by Seong-jong Kim who holds the same time to see the way in which this is dramatized. The drama, "The Last Witness", was produced with a plan to generate a high-quality special drama which combined both artistry and sense of purpose. Nevertheless, as watching TV became a leisurely past-time during this period, TV dramas become more aggressive and suggestive in order to attract viewers. This ultimately was encored with obstacles due to the regime and the heavy censorship at the time. The genre of special drama that is well known in South Korea, is designed as an art form to satisfy both their unique artistry and its purpose. The conflict is seen between the key elements of the artistic drama crated by the producers and the 'encouraged' elements that often are needed to engage the viewers. Thus, more often than not, special dramas defeat the original intention of national harmony, encouraged by the regime. This is due to the 'novelty' aspect which grows from the effort of bringing enjoyment to viewers whilst also trying to achieve the artistic drama to life. Alongside this, crime element in this drama is designed in a way that visually embodies the process of deduction, becoming a new possibility to secure the reality of the times. However, it was also a paradoxical existence since it was indicated as an example of unrefined culture that lost its original intention. In that way, it is worth to think that detective suspense stories, which were not popular in Korea, influenced viewers as a tv drama series in the 1970s through the various elements that compose the genre. They went through a process of transplantation and acceptance whilst also attempting to satisfy the viewers and their encouraged elements to engage them. As is well known, crime drama in Korea has its own style by mixing anticommunism and detective reasoning. This combination is found in the way in which the genre naturally forms through the elements selected and excluded in the dramatization of "The Last Witness". The point is that the special drama "The Last Witness" can be seen as an intermediate form that shows the tendency of transformation from the detective reasoning form alongside the crime aspects as TV dramas began to include anticommunism messaging and investigation in the 1970s. In conclusion, when the detective reasoning is used as an element in a TV drama, it shows the trust of the public system and it constantly seeks the possibility of circumventing the political interpretation. The memories of the war is seen as a tool that neutralizes the dismal imaginations inscribed on the dark side of society and the system. As a result, "The Last Witness", broadcasted at the end of the Yushin regime in Korea, is a strange result which combines the logic of a special drama and the encouraged characteristics of television dramas. The viewers' desire which is the discussion about the hidden traces from the texts needs to be restored again.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.43
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• pp.385-426
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• 2008

This paper focuses on how international marriages among Asians have been represented by the Korean media. Due to globalization, the so-called 'ethnoscape' has changed, and so ethnicity or racial identity within the boundaries of the nation-state changed. The recent diaspora of Asian women into Korea through international marriages has reflected how globalization has proceeded at a regional or local level. This paper attempts to analyze Koreanmedia discourses on the Asian female diaspora. This study analyzes what kind of generic forms TV dramas, other shows(TV reality programs, TV journalistic programs), movie and internet have employed to represent international marriages and how they have portrayed the subjectivities of the Asian female diaspora. This study discuss how this representation has been contested by the 'realities' of their international marriages. By examining how the Korean mainstream media have dealt with the conflicting issues of the Asian female diaspora, this paper intends to look critically at how local discursive practices have substantiated the changing ethnoscape. As a result of the study, this paper can find international marriages among Asians have been represented by Korean media still patriarchal system in male-oriented society. The otherness of Asian women justify the strong work of household affairs, and so justified life is standardized 'a kind of daughter- in-law', 'a complaisant daughter-in-law' in the process of migration. Also the otherness of Asian women standardized 'a victor' or 'a harmer' through international marriage of money that commercialized 'sexuality'. After all Korea media discourse on Asian women's international marriage, the gender issues on it have not been focused on a serious level.