냉전 이데올로기로부터 전염병의 서사까지: <신체 강탈자들의 침략>의 변주를 중심으로 (From Cold War Ideology to the Narratives of Epidemics: The Variations of Invasion of the Body Snatchers)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 문학과영상학회
· 수록지 정보 : 문학과 영상 / 11권 / 3호 / 853 ~ 881페이지
· 저자명 : 최정민

초록

Don Siegel’s classic cult, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) was repetitively produced in 1978, 1993, and 2007. These variations, based on Jack Finney’s novel, The Body Snatchers (1955), reflect the malaise of the American society dating from 1950s to the early twenty-first century. Don Siegel’s film of the 1956 reveals the contemporary paranoia of communist infiltration, as well as the frenzy of McCarthyism. In a bigger perspective, however, this film shows the anxiety toward totalitarian conformity, per se.
The Cold War ideology of the 1950s began to appropriate the discourses of virology, which was then actively evolving. The metaphors of virus, which infiltrates the host from the outside and implodes it inside, had an analogous structure with that of the Communist subterfuge. The viruses, originally considered as mysterious entities, began to take on the ominous and secretive nature of aliens. Both in viral contagion and communist infiltration, ‘information’ plays an important role. The spread of pods in Finney’s novel follows these pattern with the act of stealing physical information and contaminating them.
The message of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which had begun as an allegory of conformity, began to be transformed into the narrative of epidemics by appropriating the discourse of virology. Philip Kaufman’s 1978 remake unfolding against the backdrop of the New Age San Francisco, foreshadows the mass hysteria such as AIDS. Basically, this period was characterized by less concern on the physical disease than the behavioral malfunction and psychotherapy. But the invasion of the pods changes the cultural malaise into apocalyptic anxiety.
Abel Ferrara’s remake of 1993, which was made after the first Gulf War, is less focused and digressive in terms of dramatic tension. This film is rather regarded as a revival of Hollywood family melodrama, though the conflict between father and daughter is not convincing. Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Invasion overtly showcases the outbreak narrative of epidemics. The epidemics might be the one feasible beyond AIDS, such as SARS or Avian Flu. On top of that this film also combines the fear from terrorism, presumably originating from 9/11. Even though the human species are said to have accommodated to the hostile environment, the fear against the Unknown is still prevalent. Especially ever since the middle of the twentieth century, we live under the trauma that the collective incineration and extinction might come any time.

영어초록

Don Siegel’s classic cult, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) was repetitively produced in 1978, 1993, and 2007. These variations, based on Jack Finney’s novel, The Body Snatchers (1955), reflect the malaise of the American society dating from 1950s to the early twenty-first century. Don Siegel’s film of the 1956 reveals the contemporary paranoia of communist infiltration, as well as the frenzy of McCarthyism. In a bigger perspective, however, this film shows the anxiety toward totalitarian conformity, per se.
The Cold War ideology of the 1950s began to appropriate the discourses of virology, which was then actively evolving. The metaphors of virus, which infiltrates the host from the outside and implodes it inside, had an analogous structure with that of the Communist subterfuge. The viruses, originally considered as mysterious entities, began to take on the ominous and secretive nature of aliens. Both in viral contagion and communist infiltration, ‘information’ plays an important role. The spread of pods in Finney’s novel follows these pattern with the act of stealing physical information and contaminating them.
The message of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which had begun as an allegory of conformity, began to be transformed into the narrative of epidemics by appropriating the discourse of virology. Philip Kaufman’s 1978 remake unfolding against the backdrop of the New Age San Francisco, foreshadows the mass hysteria such as AIDS. Basically, this period was characterized by less concern on the physical disease than the behavioral malfunction and psychotherapy. But the invasion of the pods changes the cultural malaise into apocalyptic anxiety.
Abel Ferrara’s remake of 1993, which was made after the first Gulf War, is less focused and digressive in terms of dramatic tension. This film is rather regarded as a revival of Hollywood family melodrama, though the conflict between father and daughter is not convincing. Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Invasion overtly showcases the outbreak narrative of epidemics. The epidemics might be the one feasible beyond AIDS, such as SARS or Avian Flu. On top of that this film also combines the fear from terrorism, presumably originating from 9/11. Even though the human species are said to have accommodated to the hostile environment, the fear against the Unknown is still prevalent. Especially ever since the middle of the twentieth century, we live under the trauma that the collective incineration and extinction might come any time.

참고자료

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