Fall 2009

ANS 372 • Korean Cinema & Culture Through Time

Course Description

This course will give an overview of South Korean cinema within its historical, political, cultural, and aesthetic contexts. We will examine how historical traumas (Korean War, Cold War and military regimes) and recent transformations (the demise of authoritarian regimes, the dismantling of the Cold War, and globalization) in Korea influenced the shaping and reshaping of South Korean cinema in the past fifty years. The course is divided into two parts: in the first half, we will explore Korean film history, and in the second half, students will learn how to analyze individual contemporary Korean films in terms of both their aesthetic qualities and broader cultural and social issues. These issues will include: youth culture; gender and sexuality; national division; nationalism; social transformation; transnationalism; globalization. Weekly screenings will give students 1) a sampling of a representative range of film-making traditions, such as Golden Age, Im Kwon-taek, New Wave, and New Korean Cinema, and 2) a sampling of popular genres and topics of contemporary South Korean films. Students will not be expected to have any prior knowledge of Korea or Korean language.

Grading Policy

Attendance/participation 10% Class presentation 10% Weekly response papers (one page, single-spaced) 40% Two papers (5-6 pages, double-spaced) 40%

Texts

1. South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender, Genre, and National Cinema (eds. Kathleen McHugh and Nancy Abelmann, Wayne State University Press, 2005). 2. Contemporary Korean Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics (Hyangjin Lee, Manchester University Press, 2000). 3. New Korean Cinema (eds. Chi-Yun Shin and Julian Stringer, New York University Press, 2005). 3. Course Reader

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