Symbol and protest : the concept of the body in the resistance movements during the dictatorships of Chile and South Korea in the 1980s

Correa Anguita, Florencia (author), Maire, Gonzalo (author)

This article is being submitted for consideration in the special section titled Latin Amer­ican Perspectives on Asian Humanities. This research explores the significance of the body as a tool of protest within the resistance movements that emerged under the dicta­torships of Chile and South Korea during the 1980s. It focuses on the role and presence of the body in public demonstrations, highlighting its use as a shared and central element of protest across both contexts. The body is examined as a site of sacrifice, symbolizing collective struggle toward a common political goal. To analyse this phenomenon, the study employs a theoretical framework that integrates the concepts of the aesthetic-polit­ical body, power relations as understood through the philosophy of power, and counter­cultural resistance. Methodologically, the research follows a qualitative and biographical approach, prioritizing the testimonies of social actors from both Chile and South Korea, gathered primarily through interviews.

• Language: English
• Keywords: embodied resistance, political subjectivity, Chile, South Korea, authoritarianism, aesthetic protest, collective memory
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 265-292
• Numbering: Vol. 14, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-190561
• ISSN on article: 2232-5131
• DOI: 10.4312/as.2026.14.2.265-292
• Publication date in RUL: 05.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies = Azijske študije
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Simbol in protest : koncept telesa v odporniških gibanjih med diktaturama v Čilu in Južni Koreji v osemdesetih letih

Abstract

Raziskava preučuje pomen telesa kot orodja protesta v odporniških gibanjih, ki so se pojavila v osemdesetih letih preteklega stoletja pod diktaturama v Čilu in Južni Koreji. Osredotoča se na vlogo in prisotnost telesa v javnih protestih s poudarkom na uporabi telesa kot skupnega ter osrednjega elementa protesta v obeh kontekstih. Telo je obrav­navano kot mesto žrtvovanja, ki simbolizira kolektivni boj za skupni politični cilj. Za analizo tega pojava študija uporablja teoretski okvir, ki združuje koncepte estetsko-poli­tičnega telesa, razmerij moči, kot jih razume filozofija moči, ter protikulturnega odpora. Metodološko raziskava sledi kvalitativnemu in biografskemu pristopu ter pri tem daje prednost pričevanjem družbenih akterjev iz Čila in Južne Koreje, ki so bila zbrana pred­vsem z intervjuji.

• Keywords: utelešeni odpor, politična subjektivnost, Čile, Južna Koreja, avtoritarizem, estetski protest, kolektivni spomin