2017, Red Candle Games released a game called ‘Detention’ in the global gaming platform, ranking number three in sales in just one month. In the game lies a fictional story about members of a school book club who were framed in the 60's under the Martial Law. It based on the historical event called the White Terror throughout the 50’s to the 80’s. White Terror had been a taboo in Taiwan for years, making the investigation of the event, damage, and accountability for a prolonged period of time. Since the termination of the Martial Law in 1987, the restoration of the forbidden history was commenced. Especially since 2016, Transitional Justice has become the core government policy, allowing the creation and execution of many policies in multiple aspects, such as fact-finding, restoration of records, rewriting history, compensation, and redemption of honor. Moreover, since the termination of the Martial Law, literature and personal biography based on the White Terror were created in the private sector. Nevertheless, it did not attract the attention of the general public. However, the release of ‘Detention’ has brought signs of change. ‘Detention’ grabbed the attention of teenagers who were distant with the history that happened 70 years ago. From the beginning of the release of the game, it has stirred up the internet and social media. In 2019, the game was made into a movie ‘Detention’. In addition, in December of 2020, ‘Detention’ made into a eight-series show. This is expected to create a collective memory of the White Terror in Taiwan. This study aims to find out how the White Terror in Taiwan is shown in various forms of narratives, using related concepts such as Assmann’s ‘Collective Memory’ and ‘Traumatic History’. Also, this study analyzes the new form of White Terror narrative of ‘Detention’ series.

본 연구는 한국 시인 백석과 아일랜드 시인 셰이머스 히니(Seamus Heaney)의 작품에서 드러나는 다양한 기억과 망각의 의미를 살펴보고 비교 분석한다. 기억과 망각이라는 주제는 독일 문화학자인 알라이다 아스만과 얀 아스만의 기억 이론을 토대로 하며, 두 시인의 작품이 각각 한국과 아일랜드 역사 속에서 어떠한 문학적 의미를 추구하고 시학을 드러내는지 짚어보며 역사적 사실, 정치적 상황 그리고 문화적 기억이 회상 그리고 망각의 틀에서 어떻게 작동하는지 비교 분석한다.

This study explores the possibility of Korean War cinema serving as a medium in creation and spreading of new Korean War cultural memory and proposes three theoretical and philosophical approaches. Major findings and suggestions of this research are as follows. First, this study discusses three approaches on how cinema can be involved in the process of cultural memory formation and proposes, as discussed by Alleida Assmann, Astrid Erll, Alison Landsberg and others that cinema can be used in creation of unification discourse within the popular media. Second, this study categorizes recent Korean War movies produced in South Korea as belonging to a new wave of Korean War cinema, which portrays war as a national tragedy, focusing on the damage caused by ideology and outside forces, rather than portraying it only as a North Korean aggression and blaming communists for the tragic destiny of the Korean nation. The study suggests that these movies can be used in creating a new paradigm in remembrance of the Korean War. In conclusion, this study proposes to use recent South Korean war movies as educational material in order to create a South Korean identity based on compassion and solidarity, rather than rigid antagonism and hatred.