Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/68725

This article examines the narrow path to de-nationalisation in South Korean films dealing with the Japanese colonial period since the 2000s that we call ‘colonial pieces’. Based on Ryu Seung-wan’s “Battleship Island” (Gunhamdo, 2017) situated during Korean mobilization under colonial rule, we argue that it is possible to clarify the style and strategy of visual representation used to replace the dichotomy of victimizers (Japan) and victims (Korea) in recent ‘colonial piece’ films. By focusing on the representation and its stylistic aspects of “Battleship Island” in relation to the empire of Japan through the periodical transition of political, social and cultural meaning, this article explores the way in which these films act on the process of reproducing colonial memories in Korean society and the historical issue between Japan and Korea, as a postcolonial problem of cultural and social politics.