게임 판타지 웹소설의 정동적 메커니즘 : 『나 혼자만 레벨업』을 통해 본 후기자본주의적 주체성의 재구성

초록

This article explores how the game-fantasy web novel Solo Leveling converts an ostensibly banal “grind-for-level” loop into an affectively compelling narrative for contemporary youth. Adopting the lens of post-capitalist affect theory, the study first demonstrates that the novel’s predictable reward structure temporarily alleviates the uncertainty that dominates late-capitalist life, thereby reinforcing systemic compliance. Second, it shows that Sung Jin-Woo’s endless growth produces a paradoxical combination of surrogate omnipotence and an ethos of laborless work, which glamorizes that glamorizes the very loop of labor and consumption it seems to transcend. Third, the analysis argues that the story’s “empowered laziness” and cyclical temporality embody the late-capitalist ideology of infinite growth while simultaneously offering readers a hybrid affect of safety and excitement. Ultimately, the paper contends that Solo Leveling succeeds globally because it repackages the contradictions of late capitalism in the most seductive narrative form—what might be called the aesthetics of fascinating banality.

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