Korean Cinema

The seminar is structured around engagement with Korean films and reflection on theory, history and form. We will watch at least two films per week, one of which will be screened in theater. These include works of the colonial and war periods, but the majority are recent productions. Our thematic focus will be on the material and epistemic transformations wrought by the global neoliberal order and on new forms of racialized, gendered and techno-socialized subjectivity. Our core principle, and therein our method, is that the films peculiar insights into contemporary Korea can only be captured through careful attention to their forms.