1. “The Story of You and Me”: Strategic Ambiguity in the Paratextual Reception of <italic>Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982</italic>.
- Author
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Koo, JiHae
- Subjects
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STAY-at-home mothers , *MISOGYNY , *AMBIGUITY , *FEMINISM , *FEMINISTS , *PARATEXT , *ANTI-feminism - Abstract
This article explores the connection between the online commentary on the South Korean novel, and later film,
Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 (2016; film released in 2019), and the perception of feminism within South Korea. To capture howKim Ji-Young ’s “meaning” is entangled with popular beliefs about feminism, I analyze audience reception throughKim Ji-Young’ s paratexts: (a) tweets and (b) comments responding to newspaper articles mentioning the novel and/or filmKim Ji-Young from the Korean platform Naver. I examine paratexts to reveal that the “meaning”Kim Ji-Young has in online spaces isnot determined solely by the novel or film-as-referent. I show thatKim Ji-Young the source text has become inextricable from the mélange of preconceptions regarding what constitutes a “feminist” stance in Korea, ranging from the stereotype of the selfish “feminist” who shirks her maternal duty towards the nation to the discontent of stay-at-home moms. I show that online misogyny has forced those who supportKim Ji-Young’ s feminist message to employ what rhetorician Leah Ceccarelli describes as “strategic ambiguity.” This involves simultaneously disavowingKim Ji-Young ‘s feminism while praising the text’s feminist politics, a tactic used to shield themselves from attacks by misogynistic trolls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
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