Playing with Tradition in the Age of Screens: Myth Rewritings in Webtoons and Theoretical Implications for Teaching in the AI Era

Abstract

In the digital age, webtoons – Korean digital comics designed for vertical scrolling – offer a unique perspective on how mythic traditions can be playfully reimagined through new media. This article develops a media-poetic analysis of webtoon form (episodic seriality, vertical format, and the use of color and space) and thematic motifs, drawing on a qualitative case-study corpus of five Korean folklore webtoons (Along With the Gods, Princess Bari, Baekro’s Kitchen, The God’s Birth Palace, Surindang). It draws on Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin’s concept of remediation, as well as existing scholarship on digital comics, to argue that these works often revive folklore rather than reject it. The discussion then connects these phenomena to educational theory: webtoons illustrate the need for media literacy in an AI-permeated culture, as emphasized by UNESCO’s Digital Learning agenda, while UNESCO’s recent AI guidelines stress that the educational use of AI must remain human-centered and ethical. We argue that integrating digital cultural practices into curricula – without disregarding their traditional roots – aligns with UNESCO’s vision of inclusive and equitable education in the AI era.