Topics in Korean Studies

This course explores the theme of parallel worlds in Korean science-fiction and how it reflects the uncertainty of Korea’s regional position in the global economy. As a genre, science-fiction is constituted of its own set of rules, and the recent sci-fi boom in Korean literature shows interesting variations of the genre while hinting at certain economic processes involved in the global market as well as world literature. Tracing the forking paths of different voices in short stories, novels, films, and TV dramas, we will examine the nonlinear logic of time and space that corresponds to multiple possibilities yet reproduces homogeneous rules to restrict radical alterities. By bringing together interdisciplinary discourses and cultural artifacts, the course will tackle regional boundaries and disciplinary divisions at once. Topics will include the bordering principles of parallel worlds, the transitory nature of the transhuman, robot industries, and discourses of the future. Readings will also include non-Korean writers, such as Ted Chiang, Kurt Vonnegut, and Jorge Luis Borges, for comparative analysis.