The Spatial Representation of the Oppressed Body: Focusing on The Housemaid (1960)

초록

This paper explores the spatial configuration and narrative tensionsof oppression and resistance in Kim Ki-young’s The Housemaid (1960). Within the patriarchal structure of 1960s Korean society, the domestic space operates both as a boundary for suppressed desires and a site of taboo. The symbolic structure of the house—ground floor, upper floor, and staircase—visually encodes authority, conflict, and hierarchy. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of disciplinary power and Silvia Federici’s concept of reproductive labor, this paper analyzes how space mediates control over female bodies. It concludes that the film’s melodramatic form reveals the entanglement of desire and domination, highlighting cinema’s role as a critical and reflective mediumfor making social tensions emotionally visible.

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