Though it would be interesting to know how much of it is actually a recent trend; I've been reading a manhwa that was published in the late 80s-early 90s, and it has a similar critical view of the yangban.
I guess that would require someone who's done more than just passing anecdotal, but I can say I've noticed a strong trend in manhwa to not just criticize the system obliquely, but explicitly, even bluntly. After reading so much manga (which covers many topics but I can count on maybe one hand the manga that actually criticize the system, let alone advocate overthrowing it), it was somewhere between a shocker and a bit of a relief. The former because I'd gotten used to the Japanese non-critical versions, I guess, and the latter because as an American, I think it's culturally built in that "criticizing the system" is a positive, not a negative. So that second aspect makes many manhwa feel more -- well, "logical" isn't the word. Simpatico with my own perspectives, maybe?
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Date: 25 Nov 2010 10:32 am (UTC)I guess that would require someone who's done more than just passing anecdotal, but I can say I've noticed a strong trend in manhwa to not just criticize the system obliquely, but explicitly, even bluntly. After reading so much manga (which covers many topics but I can count on maybe one hand the manga that actually criticize the system, let alone advocate overthrowing it), it was somewhere between a shocker and a bit of a relief. The former because I'd gotten used to the Japanese non-critical versions, I guess, and the latter because as an American, I think it's culturally built in that "criticizing the system" is a positive, not a negative. So that second aspect makes many manhwa feel more -- well, "logical" isn't the word. Simpatico with my own perspectives, maybe?