QUEER TEMPORALITY IN KIM-JHO KWANG-SOO’STWO WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between queer cinema and temporality through an analysis of Kim-Jho Kwang-soo’s Two Weddings and a Funeral (두 번의 결혼식과 한 번의 장례식, 2012), a landmark work in Korean queer cinema. Drawing on queer temporal theory – particularly Elizabeth Freeman’s concept of chrononormativity and J. Jack Halberstam’s formulation of queer time – the article argues that the film articulates a mode of queer temporality shaped by South Korea’s specific socio-cultural context. The narrative subverts the heteronormative temporal logic of the romantic comedy through a sham marriage between a gay man and a lesbian woman, exposing the dissonance between socially mandated life timelines and queer lived experience. Incorporating Judy Han’s concept of sigisangjo (시기상조), which frames queer existence as “premature” or “out of time”, the article demonstrates how the film renders visible strategies of concealment, improvisation, and both quiet endurance and collective resistance. Ultimately, Two Weddings and a Funeral aims toward a queer futurity that resists assimilation while affirming alternative modes of kinship, intimacy, and belonging.