Abstract

This study aims to analyze the structure of communal conflict and collective violence depicted in The Ascension of Hanne, written by Oh Young-jin and directed by Ha Myung-jung, through René Girard’s theory of the scapegoat mechanism. Previous studies have mainly interpreted this work from the perspective of Korean tradition or as an expression of a folkloric communal order; however, such approaches have not sufficiently explained the structure of communal violence and the narrative of sacrifice embedded in the work. Accordingly, this study understands the narrative of The Ascension of Hanne as a process in which crises and conflicts within the community are concentrated on particular individuals, and examines how Hanne and Man-myeong are formed as scapegoats who absorb the anxieties of the community. It also investigates the meaning of the “ascension” presented at the end of the work, exploring how the death of the victim is reconstructed as a mythic narrative that justifies the restoration of communal order. Through this analysis, the study demonstrates that The Ascension of Hanne is not merely a representation of traditional narrative or folkloric ritual, but a work that reveals a narrative structure of the scapegoat mechanism in which internal conflicts of the community are resolved through the sacrifice of a particular individual and the violence is subsequently mythologized. In doing so, this study seeks to shed new light on the structure of communal violence and the meaning of sacrifice in the works of Oh Young-jin.