The development of Internet websites and popularization of mobile phones have generated various kinds of cultural codes, changing the way to access cultures. Snack culture has been actively increasing as a culture that can be consumed easily in a shor...
The development of Internet websites and popularization of mobile phones have generated various kinds of cultural codes, changing the way to access cultures. Snack culture has been actively increasing as a culture that can be consumed easily in a short period of time. The origin of snack culture that forms the biggest market in Korea is ‘Webtoon’. Webtoon is a compound word of “Website” and “Cartoon” shared mostly on personal websites or portal sites. As portal sites become platforms, webtoon has been incredibly huge in its scale and enjoyed widely, proving its unique possibility as digital storytelling. In the early days, webtoon started as cartoon that demonstrates the writer’s daily life. Since it was mostly created and consumed by young people in their twenties and thirties, it is shown that this type of cartoon reveals the identity of young people. Besides, it has the possibility of discussing those young people’s identity as they talk about their own stories. Unlike arguing the features of generation politically and economically, it is necessary to look into the young people’s identity from a cultural perspective considering their growing environment.
Starting from published cartoons, webtoon has developed from digital comics and PC comics. However, it was originally an activity as in realization of the desire to express not based on profit model. The initial services were not successful since people’s awareness toward digital environment was incomplete. Through the huge success of the cartoon <Snow Cat>, however, portal websites started to pay attention to webtoon and it became the starting point of rapid growth of webtoon through portal sites. Later, a cartoonist Gang Pool’s <Romance Comics> also became a success of the second generation of webtoon that has dramatization later developed as storytoon. Also, Gang Pool began to make movies of his webtoon. Despite of its weak start, some of the movies were successful attracting more than ten million viewers. Naver expanded the webtoon market making many webtoonists debut through “Best Challenge”, the place where they can upload their webtoons. Jo Seok, the webtoonist of <The Sound of Heart>, also started his career through this place. His webtoon has more than five billion views for ten years, becoming the representative of the third generation of webtoon. Unlike the second generation, it has unique characters with autobiographical and genre-destructive style along with bizarre imagination. In spite of its poor drawings, it has gained popularity through characterizing. After that, cartoons with strong sub-culture code became successful through the portal site DC Inside. Also, ‘not normal’ cartoons were rampant since Lee Mal Nyeon’s <Lee Mal Nyeon Series>. As Ji Gang Min’s <Come On! Convenience Store> became popular, it caused media mix through animation and game. As more and more people use smartphones, applications for webtoon were created as well. Later, webtoon started charging and platforms only for webtoon were designed. So, the webtoon market has growing, increasing the public appealing power.
Dailytoon is a combination of ‘daily life’ and ‘webtoon’. It is a type of webtoon with short episodes that has representational characters of the cartoonist and demonstrates his daily experiences and inner consciousness. Dailiness has a nature of reflecting an aspect of modern society, thus being something origin that would survive for generations. Therefore, dailytoon that deals with daily lives, can be regarded as dealing the origin of life. It is possible to analogize the real life of young people.
Under serious situation of unemployment, being economically marginalized causes young people to have a sense of insecurity to survive. Having lost their purposes, they look for something that can ensure today’s survival but they are still somehow lost. The insecurity continues even after being employed, as they are replaceable human resources. The employment flexibility carried forward by post capitalism as the freedom of labor has caused the instability of labor, raising young people’s insecurity. This kind of insecurity is connected to distrust of social relationships for it is hard to distinguish the friendly and the enemy. People start to constantly feel insecure about their economic position and even feel threatened by their close coworkers due to being economically marginalized in the limitless competition society. The problem of this social system repeats young people’s anxiety in spite of their effort.
No matter how hard they try, the society does not change and all the situations are variable and unpredictable. The ambiguity of standard and instability of occupation cause series of pain and frustration to young people who throw themselves in the job market. They are not only economically marginalized, but also socially alienated. Being socially alienated is caused when young people fail to shape in a way that the established logic requires. Dailytoon, however, finds a way out, not submitting to restrains of marginalization by the society. Lastly, the young generation reaches voluntary marginalization along with the development of digital culture. In other words, they estrange themselves to virtual world as the ideal life from the irrational reality, and it is considered a playful solution. Young people’s playfulness is well demonstrated in the kidult culture. They frankly express their human nature and pleasure through kidult hobbies that have no hierarchy or authority but only pure enjoyment. Thus, kidult becomes a way to avoid the unchangeable society and the alternative solution as well. The young people cannot stand against the tyranny of the society but they resolve the conflict arbitrarily through their playfulness.
When it comes to image reappearance of dailtytoon, characters extremely limit any expressions that show their social status, not providing any information of the social status or authority. Also, through simplification by cartooning, the characters have ‘universality’ as they represent the universal reality of the young people. Besides, two layers of disclosure are formed through the experiencing ego and the narrator who annotates and puts meaning to the actions at the same time. It not only builds up the thematic consciousness by deepening the credibility of narrative situation, but also forms a sense of identification with the readers. When the webtoon’s image conflicts with the text, something ‘irony’ is created and it brings out the comical effect. Ironic characters are mostly used to emphasize a situation in a comical way or to make a caricature of a character. Through irony, it is possible to see the young people’s self-confidence and playfulness who are able to caricature their own funny figure. It is also deeply related to webtoon’s basic character of rejecting any heaviness and seriousness. In dailytoon, parodies of culture code are often used and these parodies demonstrate the young people’s character that share the sub-culture code. The parodies are used as the effect to make a situation comical and they also show the playful character of the young people. Nowness is revealed as well through parodies and intercommunication using episodes and replies. The actualness and the feeling of reality arouse young people’s sympathy and make them feel a sense of identification with their daily life.
Therefore, dailytoon merges into the young people’s characters nowadays as it reenacts daily life, rejects heaviness and pursues lightness. Although the young people are placed in dilemma of disagreeable existing standard in despair and frustration by economic and social marginalization, they do not sink into such negative emotions but seek for a solution through their playful characters. Thus, today’s young generation should not be considered the negative identity who were claimed to be the economic and social underdog by the older generation, but they should be seen as the entity that resolve conflicts in their own way by not losing the sense of playfulness under the insecurity of economic and social marginalization.
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