A semiotic analysis of witchcraft practices in the Korean drama The Cursed

Fitri Meutia, Somadi Sosrohadi, Alfianti Zitta Afsani

Abstract


People in Korea still believe in witchcraft, even though the country is known for its modern and technological progress. The Cursed uses both visual and verbal mystical symbols to show this belief. This study seeks to elucidate the symbolic representation of witchcraft in the drama and the audience's interpretation of these representations. The study employs a descriptive qualitative methodology utilizing a note-taking technique, and it applies Roland Barthes’ semiotic theory as the analytical framework. Seven primary scenes were selected for analysis, incorporating symbols such as voodoo dolls, blood, Hanja characters, and verbal curses. The results show that these symbols are not only part of the story, but they also show how power works, how people fight against injustice, and how tradition and modernity clash. Words, things, and ritual actions are used to make the moral message and spiritual atmosphere stronger. So, The Cursed can be thought of as both a horror drama and a look at Korean culture and society today.

Keywords


Korean drama, meaning, semiotics, symbols, The Cursed

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abdullah, D. L. (2018). Analisis semiotika makna Islam dalam film Pengabdi Setan (Tesis, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta).

Ardila, F. (2023). Analisis isi pesan dakwah dalam film Makmum 2 karya Guntur Soeharjanto (Skripsi, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh).

Barthes, R. (1977). Image, music, text (S. Heath, Trans.). Hill and Wang.

Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027

Buckingham, D. (2003). Media education: Literacy, learning and contemporary culture. Polity Press.

Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.

Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Blackwell Publishers.

Chandler, D. (2007). Semiotics: The basics (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Cho, H. (2013). Reading the Korean wave: Transnational cultural flow in Northeast Asia. Hong Kong University Press.

Choi, J.-S. (2013). 어둠 속의 무속: 저주와 반역 [Shamanism in the darkness: Curses and betrayal]. 한국종교문화연구소.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Eco, U. (1976). A theory of semiotics. Indiana University Press.

Fatimah, N. (2020). Semiotika Roland Barthes dalam iklan komersial televisi. Deepublish.

Fiske, J. (1990). Introduction to communication studies (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Flick, U. (2018). An introduction to qualitative research (6th ed.). Sage Publications.

Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford University Press.

Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Sage Publications.

Han, G.-S. (2015). South Korean cultural industries and the state: The political economy of South Korea’s cultural policy since 1990. Routledge.

Hebdige, D. (1979). Subculture: The meaning of style. Methuen.

Hung-youn, C. (1999). Cultural interbreeding between Korean shamanism and imported religions. Diogenes, 47(187), 50–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/039219219904718705

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York University Press.

Kendall, L. (2009). Shamans, nostalgias, and the IMF: South Korean popular religion in motion. University of Hawaii Press.

Kim, C.-H. (2003). Korean shamanism: The cultural paradox. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315198156

Kim, C. (2003). Korean shamanism: The cultural paradox. Jimoondang Publishing Company.

Kim, H., & Kim, Y. (2017). Globalization and Korea’s new cultural identity: The Korean wave. Asian Journal of Communication, 27(2), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2016.1267796

Kim, J.-e. (2018). The persistence of shamanistic beliefs in modern Korean society (Master’s thesis, Seoul National University).

Kim, Y. (2015). Transnational migration, media and identity of Asian women: Diasporic daughters. Routledge.

KISTI. (2020). 감염주술과 저주인형의 민속적 해석 [Folk interpretation of infectious magic and curse dolls]. Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.

KISTI. (2020). Korean traditional magic and folk beliefs: Jeoju and ritual objects. Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.

Korompot, S. A. (2023). Pesan dakwah dalam film Makmum (Analisis semiotik Charles Sanders Peirce) (Skripsi, Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar).

Lee, Y. (2023). A study on the research trends of shamanistic beliefs (Master’s thesis, Kyungil University Graduate School).

Lestari, M. (2024). Representasi okultisme dalam film horor Indonesia (Analisis semiotika Roland Barthes film Sewu Dino: The movie) (Skripsi, Universitas Sumatera Utara).

Lotman, Y. (1990). Universe of the mind: A semiotic theory of culture (A. Shukman, Trans.). I.B. Tauris.

Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. MIT Press.

Mirzoeff, N. (1999). An introduction to visual culture. Routledge.

Nabila, Z. (2018). Analisis semiotika pesan dakwah dalam film Pengabdi Setan seri pertama karya Joko Anwar (Skripsi, Universitas Islam Negeri Jakarta).

Park, J. (2018). Technology, ritual, and power: Contemporary Korean shamanism. Asian Ethnology, 77(2), 329–351. https://doi.org/10.18874/ae.77.2.09

Park, S.-Y. (2020). Myth and power: Representation of spirituality in Korean horror films (Doctoral dissertation, Korea University).

Putra, R. A. (2019). Analisis semiotika terhadap pesan paradoks dalam film Munafik (Skripsi, Universitas Sumatera Utara).

Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In M. Featherstone, S. Lash, & R. Robertson (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 25–44). Sage Publications.

Rosyidah, E. N. (2022). Semiotic analysis of feminism in Joko Anwar’s movie Perempuan Tanah Jahanam. Journal of Language and Literature, 10(3), 55–66.

Safira, R. (2023). Analisis semiotika pada film Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion (Skripsi, Universitas Negeri Malang).

Sobur, A. (2009). Semiotika komunikasi. Remaja Rosdakarya.

Storey, J. (2015). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (7th ed.). Routledge.

Storey, J. (2018). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (8th ed.). Routledge.

Yoon, Y. (2007). Korean shamanism and its influence on Korean religious culture. Korean Journal of Religious Studies, 42(1), 45–69.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/jokal.v5i2.90742

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI)

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License
Journal of Korean Applied Linguistics published by Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.