『재벌집 막내아들』의 정치적 무의식

Abstract

web novels have often been read as reflecting social ideology or readers’ desires. However, the task of tracing and criticizing the traces of ideology in a specific narrative work, although it is a theoretical practice that deserves support, lacks academic productivity. This paper analyzed the web novel 『The Youngest Son of a Chaebol House』 by referring to Frederic Jameson, who discovered ideological class struggles in narrative works. This work contrasts the talented and moral character Jin Do-joon with the incompetent and corrupt chaebol family. Their conflict structure denounces an unfair society where classes are hereditary and expresses the desire for a world where everyone can demonstrate their abilities. This work also carried out a fundamental critique of hereditaryism by portraying “casino capitalism,” in which the rise and fall of an individual is determined by “luck” rather than “ability.” However, 『The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate』 leads to the conclusion that a ‘good capitalist’ hidden in an overseas private equity fund steps forward to punish the political and economic evils of Korean society. This development is naive, unrealistic and pernicious. However, this limitation cannot be attributed to the responsibility of the artist or the work. Today, those who point out inequality problems are not moving forward with demands for an alternative system, even if they admit that the cause of the problem is capitalism (neoliberalism). In such a discursive terrain, vague pessimism and irresponsible optimism are bound to prevail. “The youngest son of a conglomerate family” reveals today’s discursive fixation where it is difficult to imagine an alternative.