아직은 너무 먼 ‘이웃’: <꽃보다 청춘>과 <세계테마기행>의 여행서사에 재현된 페루

Abstract

Thanks to the intensification of globalization, Latin America is not an unknown world for Koreans any longer and an increasing number of cultural narratives on Latin America in the field of mass-media have been produced and circulated. This article studies on the representation of Peru and Latin America in the Korean travel documentaries broadcast on TV. Themes Around the World(2008) and Youth Over Flowers(2014) travel to Peru in order to introduce its culture and people to the Korean public. While Themes Around the World attempts to teach the Peruvian history and culture by recognizing the value and significance of the Inca civilization and the Amazon, Youth Over Flowers focuses more on the recovery of self-identity and the creation of friendship among the travelers during the journey. Both programs contribute to the promotion of multiculturalism by demonstrating tolerance and respect to the people of different race, language and culture. However, they cannot break away with the Orientalist gaze shaped by the Western world as they portray Peru and its people as exotic and underdeveloped. Thus, the image of Peruvians remains in the realm of pre-modern “other” although they already became our neighbor in this globalized world. All in all, these travel narratives offer us to rethink the possibilities and limits of the current multiculturalism and to deepen the meaning of “neighbor.”