Social media has countless subgenres that are further divided into sub-narratives. A popular subgenre related to South Korea is “let-me-explain Korea,” which is divided into the “Korea-wonderful” narrative and the “Korea-dystopia” narrative. “Let-me-explain Korea,” of course, has many other narratives, but the “Korea-wonderful” and “Korea-dystopia” narratives stir some of the strongest reactions from viewers.
What are these narratives about, and why are they so controversial? As its name suggests, the “Korea-wonderful” narrative is enthusiastic about South Korea and lauds its achievements. Praise focuses heavily on convenience in daily life. Public transportation is extensive, reliable and reasonably priced. Effective use of technology makes for efficient delivery of goods and services. Cities are full of life and safe at all hours.
By contrast, the “Korea-dystopia” narrative paints a dark picture of a nation in decline as its population ages. Stressed-out younger generations have given up on the future, choosing not to marry, let alone have children. The high cost of housing exacerbates the sense of hopelessness that young people feel. Technology, for all its benefits, is controlling and aims to extract more work from an already overworked population.
Narratives that sit at the poles of a long spectrum are bound to produce controversy because real life lacks such clarity. Much of what each narrative claims is true, but instead of existing at the poles, the wonderful and dystopian radiate out from the center of the spectrum. People know this intuitively but are pulled in one direction by the clarity of the extreme.
The same holds true for how South Koreans view their country, but from a different background and emotional stance. For South Koreans, the country is home, not an exotic place that they have dropped themselves into. Because it is home, some combine a more sympathetic view of the country’s weaknesses with an inherent optimism about its potential. This helps round off the edges of the extremes, but it doesn’t negate them entirely.
Instead, South Koreans tend to lean in two directions. The first is a positive view of South Korea’s economic, political and social progress. Many adherents to this narrative are older and have memories of less prosperous times marked by political turmoil. They take pride in the country’s accomplishments but worry that they are fragile.
The more critical view overlaps with the “Korea-dystopia” narrative but respects the country’s past accomplishments. This narrative is popular among younger generations who grew up in prosperity but face economic and social pressures. Like younger generations elsewhere, they are worried about making their way in an increasingly complex and competitive world.
South Korea is not the only country to find itself with a polarized cadre of “let-me-explainers.” Large, powerful countries, such as the United States and China, are naturally polarizing because of their global reach and stature. With the US, “America-lovers” extol the abundance of the country and its role as a beacon of democracy, while “America-decliners” decry its failures and expect imminent collapse.
With China, the argument takes on a different tone as the “China-as-number-one” narrative focuses on China’s industrial and technological prowess, while the “China-dystopia” narrative predicts steady decline and eventual collapse as the population ages and the economy falters.
As with South Korea, the “let-me-explain” genre regarding the US and China obscures an accurate understanding of the standing of the world’s two most powerful states. For all their power and influence, however, they are also beset by serious problems. This makes them ideal for “let-me-explainers” to use as clickbait to draw out positive or negative reactions rooted in existing emotions toward each nation.
The key to evaluating countries, both foreign and one’s own, is to look at the whole, not the pieces that the “let-me-explainers” thrive on. This means thinking of countries in terms of shades of gray instead of black and white. That gray is really a churning mix of colors, some vivid and some muted, that reflects the full range of human life.
Looking at South Korea as a complex, ever-changing mix of colors lays bare the emptiness of the “let-me-explain” clickbait trending on social media. This frees the mind from stereotypes and prejudices and opens the way for the discovery of new, interesting details that make up the whole.
For South Koreans, however, this doesn’t mean passive acceptance of the status quo or abandoning the hope of making the country better for future generations. That discussion is about values and ideals, not the need for objectivity to counter the pull of the extremes in social media clickbait.
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Robert J. Fouser
Robert J. Fouser, a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul National University, writes on Korea from Providence, Rhode Island. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.
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