Romance across the DMZ, and the line between a love story and a political argument
8 March 2027
Before the screening#
Watch the assigned episodes. Bring one moment where the romance plot requires you to overlook something about the actual division — a detail smoothed over so the story can proceed.
In the screening#
We separate the drama’s two jobs: representing a real, ongoing division, and telling a love story that needs obstacles to overcome. Most of the interesting discussion sits in where those two jobs pull against each other.
Afterwards#
This week is a strong candidate for your close-analysis essay if you’re drawn to the gap between what a drama documents and what it invents — the brief for that essay asks you to hold exactly this distinction for a full argument.
The spec
What you bring to the session. Written so a reader can tell whether it has been met without asking you.
- you have watched the assigned episodes before arriving
- you can name one detail the drama gets right about everyday life on either side of the border
- you can name one thing the drama simplifies for the romance to work
Teaching team
- May Rhee — convenor