Confucian Ideas hidden in a modern hero epic of K-Drama: Focusing on the Korean TV drama series, Itaewon Class

Abstract

This study aims to examine the thought inherent in the hero narrative of the TV drama series, Itaewon Class. That is because it is judged that the universal value of mankind is contained in the heroic narrative, which is the prototype of the narrative. This is why this study aims to explore the philosophical thoughts of chung-seo (忠恕) as a theoretical background. The idea of chung-seo, a core concept of Confucius along with benevolence (仁) and rite (禮), is understood in terms of Juja’s ideas. In this context, chung (忠) refers to jinsimjigi (盡心之己) which means doing one’s best to keep his heart, and seo (恕) refers to not forcing others to do what he or she does not want to do. This study utilizes the heroic narrative stages advanced by Christopher Vogler as a method to analyze the drama, Itaewon Class in order to find the intertextuality between the drama and the ideology of chung-seo. Therefore, this paper first confirms that the drama is a heroic narrative, and tries to reveal the thought inherent in the drama. The study results are as follows: In the drama, Itaewon Class with a heroic narrative, a vocation is given to the main character, Sae-Roi Park to exclude violence, and the changed vocation is to prove that the business ethics is keeping faith with his coworkers. And, through the fulfillment of the main character’s vocation, the drama successfully acquires the elixir of moral life orientation. In addition, as a result of analysis, it was found that the main character, Sae-Roi Park, is a character with the idea of chung, the necessary and sufficient condition for a hero. In this context, chung is extended from the self, to the others, to the society, etc. Based on this, the main character practices the idea of chung, which returns chung to the main character, leading him to achieve his purpose. This is the universal moral value contained in the drama. Through this, this study confirms that the ideology inherent in the drama Itaewon Class is the ideology of chung-seo.