Lecture Overview:

In Part III, Reassembled Fringes, of Worm-Time: Memories of Division in South Korean Aesthetics (Cornell University Press, 2024), author Wi-Jung Lee approaches webtoon storytelling—which emerged in the early 2010s as a major content trend among digital-native generations—as a form of transmemory shaped within the neoliberal structure of national division.

This lecture extends the methodology of Worm-Time to examine the globally prominent monster/zombie webtoons that gained widespread attention following their Netflix adaptations during the 2020 pandemic. It offers an intersectional analysis of apocalyptic narratives foregrounded by MZ-generation webtoon creators, a posthumanist critique of Netflix feminism, and a reflection on the “aesthetics of relational survivance,” grounded in Korea’s unique historical and sociopolitical context.