Leiden University Student Repository

Vrolijk, Marije (2024)

Korean Transgender Nartives: A Thesis on Transgender Representation in the Context of South Sorean Newspapers in 2024

Bachelor thesis | Koreastudies (BA)

This thesis explores transgender representation in South Korean newspapers in 2024. It aims to broaden the understanding of transgender narratives in media, which has been underdocumented so far, impacting lawmaking and overall understanding of transgender Koreans. Research was conducted through narrative frame analysis and critical discourse analysis on 25 newspaper articles from major newspapers Hankyoreh, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Joongang Ilbo, and Chosun Ilbo. The ‘Victimization Frame’ (9 times) and ‘Minority Protection Frame’ (7 times) were the most common frames. Discourse analysis showed an increase in positive coverage compared to previous literature, with 13 positive articles. Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang Shinmun were the most positive, while Joongang Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo were mainly neutral. While the Hankyoreh and Kyungyang Shinmun utilized inclusive language, the Joongang Ilbo’s coverage perpetuated a binary view of transgender people. There was generally a lack of representative...Show moreThis thesis explores transgender representation in South Korean newspapers in 2024. It aims to broaden the understanding of transgender narratives in media, which has been underdocumented so far, impacting lawmaking and overall understanding of transgender Koreans. Research was conducted through narrative frame analysis and critical discourse analysis on 25 newspaper articles from major newspapers Hankyoreh, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Joongang Ilbo, and Chosun Ilbo. The ‘Victimization Frame’ (9 times) and ‘Minority Protection Frame’ (7 times) were the most common frames. Discourse analysis showed an increase in positive coverage compared to previous literature, with 13 positive articles. Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang Shinmun were the most positive, while Joongang Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo were mainly neutral. While the Hankyoreh and Kyungyang Shinmun utilized inclusive language, the Joongang Ilbo’s coverage perpetuated a binary view of transgender people. There was generally a lack of representative transgender voices in all four newspapers.Show less

Transgender, Newspapers, South Korea, Critical Discourse Analysis, Representation

Author

Vrolijk, Marije

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Breuker, R.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en