A Study on the Discourse of Korean New Middle Age’s Appearance: Focusing on the Semantic Analysis in Newspaper Articles

Abstract

This study analyzed the significance and the sociocultural meaning of the appearance of the new middle age as a rising generation caused by the ageing population. For this purpose, the contents analysis of the newspaper articles related to the new middle age’s appearance and the semantic analysis of the appearance discourse in the contextual meaning were both used. The process in which significance arose were as follows. First, the new middle age were differentiated from the previous middle aged people by appearance and appearance management behavior. The new middle age have a higher level of education and a wider sociocultural experiences than those of the previous generation, but they emphasized the differentiation of the appearance in the discourse. Second, the new middle age were categorized as a new consumption group of the appearance-oriented lifestyle. So, appearance-seeking behavior is required in the new middle age. Third, the appearance discourse was idealizing the appearance of a successful middle aged star and have been persuaded that the pursuit of the ideal values is due to appearance-related consumption. So, the discourse of new middle age’s appearance was socially reconstructed through the differentiation of appearance with the previous middle age generation, categorization into the appearance–oriented lifestyle group, and idealization of the successful middle aged star appearance. Next, the implications of the discourses of the new middle age appearance were in the sociocultural context analyzed as follows. First, the new middle age have emerged as an important consumers of appearance-related consumption. There were shifting to the main consumer and the commercial ideology was maximized. Second, the young and charmingly symbolized appearance was a strategy for success and survival as acquired capital. In fact, appearance capital against aging can only be acquired by continuous effort and investment, so that the efforts to acquire it can be as a social oppression mechanism at aging age. Third, the appearance without heterogeneity with younger generations is used as a communication tool. And the new middle age operated it voluntarily. It can be interpreted as a generational characteristic with rationality and adaptability to change. However, it implied the function of the cultural mechanism.