The Quarantine Narrative of Epidemic Films: A Case study of South Korean Film The Flu

Abstract

In the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, the resurgence of epidemic films has attracted attention and research from scholars, and the discourse of such works and research status should be comprehensively examined in the post-pandemic era. Quarantine is often the most traditional non-medical intervention in epidemic prevention and control, and it often becomes a typical narrative space in epidemic films. The Korean film The Flu (2013), the representation of quarantine serves as a form of social critique. It not only dramatizes conflicts surrounding the pandemic but also reflects Korea's desire for independence, offers a critique of the economically privileged class and reframes the relationship between facts and values. During the prevalence of the novel coronavirus, cultural debates involving Agamben, Nancy, Esposito, and others serve as a reference point for the film the Flu, offering a rich interpretative space within its quarantine scenes. This paper conducts a biopolitical analysis of the isolation scenes in "Flu," revealing the power dynamics and ideological nuances inherent in the represented quarantine through a contrast analysis of reality and visual narratives.Through a comparative analysis of how the quarantine is represented, this paper decodes how the epidemic prevention and control measures serve to construct and dismantle the binary opposition between the unhealthy/healthy, people/government, poverty/privileged, science/politics, and facts/values, highlighting the reality concerns of literary and art research. The dismantling of binary oppositions eliminates the estrangement resulting from prejudices or preconceptions, facilitating the construction of a genuine community of life.

Keywords

Epidemic films / The Flu / Narrative space / Quarantine scene / Ideology

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