Representation Of Social Issues In Parasite: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Cinema, since its inception, has played a pivotal role in representing culture, people, and society. Moreover, the medium has addressed various social issues through its narratives and brought social change. From Edward Said’s Orientalism Theory to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory to Roland Barthes’ Semiotics, many researchers have implemented numerous theories to mine various forms of representation in the film and other mediums of media. For this study, the Oscar-winning film, Parasite, has been selected for the analysis with the aim of understanding the social issues the director has embedded in various scenes, shots, and sequences of the film. To achieve the aim, the researchers have applied the Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995) to analyse how social issues are portrayed in the film. In addition, the study has taken the Representation Theory (Stuart Hall, 1996) as a theoretical guide. The filmmaker, through the film text, portrayed myriad social issues, the study reveals. This analysis discloses many issues a large number of low-income families have been facing every day. Moreover, the study discovered the modus-operandi of low-income families to survive in the modern world, highlighting the massive gap between the poor and the rich.