[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-135511-en":3,"doc-seo-135511-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},135511,1099513958762,"Logic","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1000023916a998db790?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1784791008015729253",2,"Literature","Hyperrealism and the Portrayal of Women in South Korean Webtoons - Sarah Molisso Study","Hyperrealism in South Korean webtoons frames how women and feminism are represented within “daily life” and “slice-of-life” genres. The study examines how participants use the term to describe an exaggerated yet recognizably real depiction of women’s lives, amplifying struggles shaped by a patriarchal culture. In a society where misogyny enables online and offline targeting, webtoons offer women a new narrative and a platform for voice, recognition, and identification with depicted issues.","Hyperrealism and the portrayal of women in South Korean webtoons Sarah Molisso, Goldsmiths, University of London  \nAbstract  \nThis paper will look at diversity in webtoons, through ‘hyperrealism’ and the representation of women and feminism. The webtoon genres of ‘daily life’ and ‘slice-of-life’ act as forms of self-expression and tell relatable stories. However, hyperrealism, a term used by Koreans to describe specific webtoons, adds a layer of nuance to this. This article shows how participants of the study use the term ‘hyperrealism’ to denote an exaggerated look into the lives of women in Korea, amplifying particular struggles that women face. In a patriarchal society where misogyny is rife, women are violently targeted online and offline. Women are marginalised in the home, the workplace, in public spaces, and online. Webtoons are giving women a new narrative and one which acknowledges the struggles they face in daily life. Hyperreal webtoons enable readers to have a voice and identify with the issues they see in the webtoon stories.  \nExamples of hyperreal webtoons include Daughter-in-Law, Having a Baby Comic, Decorset Diary, and The History of Seong-Gyeong among others. I argue that hyperreal webtoons exists as a form of representation to facilitate feminism, by their ability to allow expressions of misogyny, violence, sexism, and banal examples of patriarchal oppressions. Hyperreal webtoons are important for the representation of women regardless of whether they identify as feminists or not.  \nKeywords  \nHyperrealism; webtoons; webcomics; feminism; heightened reality  \nIntroduction  \nIn South Korea (hereafter Korea), a woman is killed or is attempted to be killed by a male intimate partner every 19 hours (Korea Women’s Hot-line, 2024) . Cases of dating violence reported to the police tripled between 2020 and 2021, and while gender-based violence has always been present, there is a growing understanding of what can be classified as violent crimes between intimate partners, such as stalking and gaslighting (J. Lee, 2024) . In an interview with The Hankyoreh, Hyun-jae Lee (chairperson of the Korean Association of Women’s Studies (KAWS)) described how “public perception of any entity for women is becoming increasingly negative. We are living in the era of backlash... KAWS has been working urgently to connect feminist discourse with online environments... Members of the young generation have a digital native mindset, but researchers haven’t really sensed the seriousness of issues with things like illegal photography, gaslighting, and online sexual abuse” (Y. Lee, 2024) .  \nThe othering of women which has enabled violent crimes against women to proliferate can be combatted through more representation of women, but from women’s points of view (Park, 2021a) . Webtoons are giving women a new narrative and one which acknowledges the  \nstruggles that they face in daily life have. What have become known as ‘hyperreal’ webtoons, Daughter-in-Law1, Having a Baby Comic2, Decorset Diary3, and The History of Seong-Gyeong4, among others enable readers to have a voice and identify with specific issues that they see in the webtoon stories.  \nNot to be confused with the 1970s art movement, hyperrealism in this analysis of webtoonsis not an extension of previous studies in cartoon graphics or animations (like Chris Carter’s (2019) analysis of the film The Adventures of Tintin) . The method of creating webtoons as an art-form is not examined here; instead, I examine the differences in narrative (daily toons vs storytelling), and how these types of narrative that follow actual lives, or life stories, expose the many different realities that one can encounter. Hyperrealism here refers to how webtoons create an exaggerated version of daily life, which might appear real at first glance but is enhanced or distorted through the webtoon’s narrative focus and cultural lens. This approach is more than just ‘realism’ because it involves a reflection of","cbCainoL34eaRZjq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainoL34eaRZjq","pdf",989824,5,1,26,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Hyperrealism as a Korean term for webtoons\n## Violence, gender-based harm, and marginalisation\n## Research gap and study focus","[{\"question\":\"What does “hyperrealism” mean in this study’s analysis of South Korean webtoons?\",\"answer\":\"It refers to webtoons’ exaggerated version of daily life that can seem real at first glance, but is enhanced or distorted through narrative focus and cultural lens.\"},{\"question\":\"How do hyperreal webtoons relate to feminism and representation?\",\"answer\":\"They function as representation that can facilitate feminism by expressing misogyny, violence, sexism, and everyday patriarchal oppression, allowing readers to recognize specific issues women face.\"},{\"question\":\"Why are webtoons important for portraying women’s experiences in daily life?\",\"answer\":\"Webtoons provide a narrative acknowledging women’s struggles across home, workplace, public spaces, and online settings, helping readers find voice and identification with the issues shown.\"}]","Hyperrealism and the Portrayal of Women in South Korean Webtoons - Sarah Molisso Study | PDF",1787313782,40,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":29},"hyperrealism-and-the-portrayal-of-women-in-south-korean-webtoons-sarah-molisso-study","",{"@graph":37,"@context":86},[38,54,69],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,51],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/hyperrealism-and-the-portrayal-of-women-in-south-korean-webtoons-sarah-molisso-study/135511/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":42,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-31","2026-08-21",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What does “hyperrealism” mean in this study’s analysis of South Korean webtoons?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"It refers to webtoons’ exaggerated version of daily life that can seem real at first glance, but is enhanced or distorted through narrative focus and cultural lens.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How do hyperreal webtoons relate to feminism and representation?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"They function as representation that can facilitate feminism by expressing misogyny, violence, sexism, and everyday patriarchal oppression, allowing readers to recognize specific issues women face.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"Why are webtoons important for portraying women’s experiences in daily life?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"Webtoons provide a narrative acknowledging women’s struggles across home, workplace, public spaces, and online settings, helping readers find voice and identification with the issues shown.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,101,105,109,114,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":30,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare","healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]