Alienating the Maternal Instinct in Bong Joon-ho’s Mother
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 5, September 2016
Pages:
61-67
Received:
21 July 2016
Accepted:
15 August 2016
Published:
25 August 2016
Abstract: Bong Joon-ho’s critically acclaimed film, Mother, explores and complicates the idealized motherhood with its portrayal of a deeply troubled and violent mother. The heroine, the “mother,” is an herbalist in a provincial town whose life revolves around protecting her mentally challenged adult son. When he is charged with a murder that she believes he has not committed, she takes matters into her own hands, trying everything in her meager power to clear his name. For this film, Bong makes a bold statement in that he wishes to “explore the dark side of motherhood.” Casting Kim Hye-ja, an actress beloved by Koreans for her “motherly” roles, is the first step in de-familiarizing the familiar image of devoted Korean mother; however, the film achieves the goal by pushing the limits of such “motherly devotion,” setting up a situation that begs her to break boundaries. This paper argues that the film succeeds in complicating the maternal instinct by surprising the viewer, whose force to surprise lies in the film’s clever contextualizing: the ways of alienating the subject is deeply rooted in the Korean context, which makes the surprise even more dramatic and effective in destroying the idealized motherhood.
Abstract: Bong Joon-ho’s critically acclaimed film, Mother, explores and complicates the idealized motherhood with its portrayal of a deeply troubled and violent mother. The heroine, the “mother,” is an herbalist in a provincial town whose life revolves around protecting her mentally challenged adult son. When he is charged with a murder that she believes he...
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Reading Derwent Water in Literature and Painting: From John Brown to Chiang Yee
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 5, September 2016
Pages:
84-89
Received:
20 October 2016
Published:
20 October 2016
Abstract: This paper attempts to discuss the ways of examining visual and verbal representations of landscapes so as to strengthen the “self-knowledge” of adjusting the balance between human beings and nature. Through reading Derwent Water in literature and painting, the paper has a short study on the process of making a wonderful landscape, which is focused on the amphitheatre of the lakescape, Lodore and the scenery after sunset. The study confirms that the popularity of Derwent Water mainly lies in its terrific landscape concerned with an interwoven history of visual and verbal representations, the reading of which can lead to a deepening love and respect for our natural heritage and might also help to “see” the unseen human harms done to the landscape nowadays.
Abstract: This paper attempts to discuss the ways of examining visual and verbal representations of landscapes so as to strengthen the “self-knowledge” of adjusting the balance between human beings and nature. Through reading Derwent Water in literature and painting, the paper has a short study on the process of making a wonderful landscape, which is focused...
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