Representing the Gwangju Uprising in Youth of May (2021) : Cultural Memory and Remediation

Abstract

The Gwangju Uprising of 1980 remains an important event in South Korean history and continues to be represented through various cultural media. This study examines how the uprising is represented in the television drama Youth of May (2021) and how these representations contribute to the formation of cultural memory. Using qualitative textual and visual analysis, the study analyzes dialogues, subtitles, and narrative elements from all twelve episodes of the drama. The findings show that the uprising is primarily represented through violence, loss, and suffering, with violence emerging as the dominant category. Furthermore, a comparison between historical sources and dramatic representations identifies four transformation patterns: emotionalization, romanticization, selection, and depoliticization/repoliticization. Drawing on Astrid Erll’s concept of remediation, this study argues that Youth of May reconstructs the historical memory of the Gwangju Uprising through character-centered and emotionally oriented narratives, contributing to the formation of cultural memory through contemporary popular media.