Event Website
https://www.mythsoc.org/oms/oms-2023.htm
Start Date
8-5-2023 4:00 PM
End Date
8-5-2023 4:50 PM
Description
The concept of the grim reaper has been a constant in Western literature and drama since the 14th century with the Black Death. Other cultures around the world also have mythological figures that reap souls for the afterlife. The Korean version is a psychopomp, a bureaucratic figure whose job it is to escort the person to the afterlife, not to judge them. In the last few years, however, Korean television dramas have introduced a cooler version of the Grim Reaper. In shows like Black, Tomorrow, and Guardian: the Lonely God, reapers are high fashion functionaries whose lives as reapers are seen as: (1) existing on this plane until their missing bodies are found, (2) catching ghosts who refuse to go on to the afterlife, and/or (3) expiating some past sin.
Included in
Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, Literature in English, Anglophone outside British Isles and North America Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Other English Language and Literature Commons
“Swag to Spare”: The Grim Reaper in Korean Television Dramas
The concept of the grim reaper has been a constant in Western literature and drama since the 14th century with the Black Death. Other cultures around the world also have mythological figures that reap souls for the afterlife. The Korean version is a psychopomp, a bureaucratic figure whose job it is to escort the person to the afterlife, not to judge them. In the last few years, however, Korean television dramas have introduced a cooler version of the Grim Reaper. In shows like Black, Tomorrow, and Guardian: the Lonely God, reapers are high fashion functionaries whose lives as reapers are seen as: (1) existing on this plane until their missing bodies are found, (2) catching ghosts who refuse to go on to the afterlife, and/or (3) expiating some past sin.
Comments
SESSION V
4:00 PM -4:50 Eastern
3:00 PM -3:50 Central
2:00 PM -2:50 Mountain
1:00 PM -1:50 Pacific
8:00 PM – 8:50 GMT