Digital Magic: Reimagining Fate through Artificial Intelligence and Fantasy in Korean Webtoon

Abstract

This paper, “Digital Magic: Reimagining Fate through AI and Fantasy in Korean Webtoon,” discusses ways in which “The Abandoned Empress” upsets human emotion, fate, and talking to fate self-consciously through means of magical realism and artificial intelligence. This paper examines ways this webtoon is part of the “fairy tale aspects of recreation and insight into algorithmic logic as a means of portraying fate as something that could be changed,” using “N. Katherine Hayles' conception of posthumanism theory that functions at the center of this webtoon's narrative matrix.” In a sense, this work rethinks the human capability of resiliency and choice-making within a world built through technology. Furthermore, this paper posits the importance of a posthuman reality in regard to sharing identity and human emotion with the ‘robot’ that the webtoon portrays in the context of ‘digital fantasy.’ This paper concludes by demonstrating the ways in which the notion of fate has been evolving through the process of the Korean digital tales.