ABSTRACT

This article discusses the construction of K-vampires in popular Korean television dramas, focusing on three series that feature central vampire characters: Vampire Prosecutor, a crime procedural running for two seasons in 2011 and 2012, its spin-off, Vampire Detective and a medical drama Blood. The main protagonists in these series are all simultaneously vampires and members of professions designed to help humans: a lawyer, a detective and a surgeon. Constructed as parallel to humans, the vampires are portrayed as free-willed individuals striving to overcome their condition. The article argues that the humanization of K-vampires can be seen as a hybridization strategy blending the characterization of the ‘reluctant’ vampires known from Western post-millennial fiction with some features of the Korean kumiho, a supernatural shape-shifting fox creature that desires to become human. The article also proposes to read the series in the Neo-Confucian context, particularly in relation to its social and gender norms. It argues that while the male vampires in the series function chiefly to deliver critique of Korean neoliberal society, with the heroes modelled on the virtuous seonbi scholars and the villains described as sociopathic capitalists, the female vampires are mostly portrayed as tragic heroines, vilified for their moral transgressions and redeemed through selfless sacrifice.

摘要

本文讨论韩国流行电视剧中 K 吸血鬼的构建，重点介绍三个以吸血鬼为中心人物的系列：吸血鬼检察官，2011 年和 2012 年两季的犯罪程序，它的衍生剧，吸血鬼侦探和医疗话剧血. 这些系列的主要主角都是吸血鬼和旨在帮助人类的职业成员：律师、侦探和外科医生。吸血鬼的构造与人类平行，被描绘成自由意志的个体，努力克服他们的状况。文章认为，K吸血鬼的人性化可以看作是一种混合策略，将西方后千禧年小说中已知的“不情愿”吸血鬼的特征与韩国kumiho的一些特征融合在一起。，一种渴望成为人类的超自然变形狐狸生物。这篇文章还建议在新儒家的背景下阅读该系列，特别是与它的社会和性别规范相关的内容。它认为，虽然该系列中的男性吸血鬼主要用于对韩国新自由主义社会进行批判，英雄以善良的善美学者为模型，而恶棍被描述为反社会的资本家，但女性吸血鬼大多被描绘成悲剧女主角，因她们的丑闻而受到诽谤。道德上的过犯并通过无私的牺牲得到救赎。