REFLECTION OF KOREAN MYTHOLOGY IN KOREAN CINEMA

Abstract

This article focuses on a new phenomenon that has been spreading across Asia in recent years, the so-called “Korean Wave”. In particular, it examines the reflection of ancient Korean myths in Korean cinema. As South Korea modernises, globalises and westernises, elements of its intangible cultural heritage - for example, its folktales, folk customs, traditional performing arts, and local spiritual beliefs and practices - are increasingly threatened, and this threat is met with an artistic desire to preserve this heritage in picture books, films and television dramas. At the same time, however, the ideological underpinnings of cultural heritage can be challenged, so that contemporary retellings (of folk tales) tend to give them a modern meaning.