Books explore shifts in values and the power of stories
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Kim Hong-jung’s book Shidaihongdan (roughly, “Era-Crossing”) examines philosophies that move beyond modern civilization, while Jorge Volpi’s Homo Pictus investigates how fabricated narratives shaped human history. Kim Hong-jung, a sociologist, argues that people must reduce their own influence and practice self-emptying, a concept he calls kenosis, to overcome ecological crises.
He proposes the idea of “era-crossing,” where people become aware of a new era as the old one fractures, identifying those who live through these transitions as “era-crossers.” Kim Hong-jung finds examples of these “era-crossers” in the work of artists like Han Kang, Yang Hye-gyu, Lee Chang-dong, Park Chan-wook, and Akira Kurosawa.
He describes the protagonist of Han Kang’s novel The Vegetarian as a “radical and bleak era-crosser” and sees Park Chan-wook’s film Decision to Leave as depicting the collapse of a familiar world. Volpi’s book traces the history of civilization as a product of human storytelling, arguing that myths, religions, and even systems like money and nations all originated as fabricated narratives.
The author shows how these stories have shaped reality, eased anxieties, and sometimes fueled exploitation, covering topics from cave paintings to artificial intelligence.
