Course title: "Korean History Through Film"
Meeting times: Tuesdays, 1-4 pm
This course is to examine history of Chosŏn Korea (1392–1910) through select Korea’s contemporary feature films and TV dramas. Films with historical themes and figures have recently become very popular in and outside of Korea. We will examine the content of the films (rather than their forms and aesthetics), and investigate how “true” or “false” they represent Korea’s past, how they imagine and invent Korea’s past, and in what ways films could be useful in better understanding Korean history, people’s lives, and their culture. Some of the historical topics that this course introduces are: Chosŏn kingship, court structure, and politics; foreign relationship and war; social structure and people on the margin; gender relations; Confucianism, ritualism, and family; law and society; religions; arts and material culture; subversive culture; and quotidian lives of people.
