Parasite: A Philosophical Exploration (Value Inquiry Book / Philosophy of Film, 377)

✍ Scribed by Edited by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait, and Giannis Stamatellos, Institute of Philosophy & Technology

• Publisher: BRILL
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 222
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Parasite presents the ethico-biological problem of parasitism in a metaphorical and artistic fashion. In this book, philosophers explore the film using sources such as the ancient satirist Lucian’s De Parasito, Nietzsche’s “the vengeance of the weak,” Dostoyevsky’s “Underground,” or Marxism, among others.

✦ Table of Contents

Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
1 The Plot
2 Neoliberalism and the Postmodern Situation
References
Chapter 1 Parasitism beyond Ethics
1 Upstairs, Downstairs Korean Version
2 The Good and the Bad
3 Parasite Lost
4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 2 The Paradoxical Universal of Korean Cinema
1 The Meaning of Parasite
2 Parasites and Divided Sympathies
3 The Metaphor Is the Medium
4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 3 Parasite from Text to Context: An Ethical Stalemate and New Auteurism in Global Cinema
1 The Evolution of Korean Films with ‘10-Million Viewers’
2 The Absence of Bong Joon-ho’s Political Fantasy
3 The Ethical Double Bind and the Ghostly Parasite
4 New Auteurism and New Cinephilia
5 Performative Self-Contradiction of Global Cinema
References
Chapter 4 From Superfluous to Parasitic: Russian Literature, Arendt and Korean Modernity
1 Kim Ki-taek and Ki-woo as Superfluous Men
2 Confucianism and Superfluity
3 Superfluity and Love
4 Morse Code and Toilet Texts
5 Totalitarianism and Homelessness
6 Conclusion: Becoming a Parasite
References
Chapter 5 Notes from the (Korean) Underground: Being-in-the-World Is Being-a-Parasite
1 Motifs in Parasite
1.1 Parasitism
1.2 The “Scholars Rock”
1.3 Crossing the Line
1.4 Smell
1.5 Metaphor
1.6 The Plan
1.7 The Meaning of Parasite
2 Parasite Not a Moral or Political Film
3 A Phenomenology of the Mundane Fantasy Existence of Nietzsche’s “Last Man”
References
Chapter 6 Mice and Cockroaches: Parasite through Nietzsche and Dostoevsky
1 Hierarchies and Resentment
2 Physical and Moral Undergrounds
3 Smells and Lines
4 Animals and Underground Psyches
5 Endings
References
Chapter 7 Planning Not to Plan: The Fantasy and Failure of Underclass Solidarity in Parasite
1 Introduction
2 The Art and Profession of Sponging
3 Toward a Psychology of Parasitism
4 The Failure to Achieve Class-Based Solidarity
5 The Replacements
References
Chapter 8 Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite Viewed in the Context of Pasolini’s Theorem and Deleuze’s Filmic Theories
1 Introduction
2 Theorem Proving and Problem-Solving in Theorem and Parasite
3 The Origins and Theoretical Basis of Deleuze’s Filmic Theories
4 Returning to Parasite
5 Comparison between Parasite and Theorem
6 Conclusions
References
Chapter 9 From Parasites to Monsters: The Unfulfilled Promises of Serres’ Parasitism in Bong Joon-ho’s Neoliberal Social Allegories
1 Introduction
2 A City Rat, a Country Rat, and the Parasited Feast: Serres’ Fable in Bong’s Film
3 From the Parasitic to the Monstrous: A Noise at the Door, a Bunker, and the Monster
4 The Self-Destructive Murder and Its Parasitic Illogic
5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 10 Parasite: A Predicative or a Substantial Concept?
1 Human Parasite
2 Parasite as Predicative Notion
3 The Question of the Plan
4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 11 “A System of Apprehensions”: The Art of Parasitism in Lucian’s De Parasito and Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite
1 Techne in Lucian’s De Parasito
2 The Art of Parasitism in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite
3 The Interrupter
4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 12 The Parasite Is the Truth of the System
1 Staging of a Class Society
2 Hope of the Hopeless
3 Logic of the Parasite
4 Part of No Part
5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 13 Parasite and Identity in the “End Times”: An Interpretation of Bong Joon-Ho’s Film through the Lens of Slavoj Žižek
1 Extreme Competition for Resources and Personality Disorders
2 The End of Capitalism and its Effects on Identity and Mental Health
2.1 The Four Horsemen – Ecological Crisis
2.1.1 Ecological Crisis and Identity: The Storm
2.1.2 Ecological Crisis and Identity: Revelation
2.1.3 Ecological Crisis and Identity: Psychological Breakdown
2.2 The Four Horsemen – Biogenetic Revolution
2.3 The Four Horsemen – Imbalances with Resources
2.4 The Four Horsemen – Social Divisions/Exclusions
References
Chapter 14 Parasite as a Scaled-Down Disaster Film
1 Catastrophes
2 The Disaster Film
3 The Scaled-Down Disaster Film
References
Chapter 15 Symbiosis, Interruption, and Exchange: Parasite after Serres’ The Parasite
1 Parasites and Para-sites
2 Three Interrupted Festive Meals
2.1 Min-hyuk Interrupts the Kim Family’s Subterranean Celebration of Wi-Fi
2.2 Moon-gwang Interrupts the Kims’ Picnic in the Park House
2.3 Geun-sae and Ki-taek Interrupt the Birthday Feast for Da-song
3 Conclusion: Parasite Itself as an Interrupted Festive Meal
References
Index