ABSTRACT
Film comprehension is a logical process that involves reasoning about what is happening and what is potentially going to happen on-screen. This chapter explains how a selection of common verbal and non-verbal expressions function in Korean communication in film: our ‘socio-pragmatic primitives’. The reasoning for the employment of these expressions was determined by identifying expressions used commonly in K-films, and includes the politeness functions of expressions when used in a selection of hierarchised social dynamics as well as their meaning potential in a range of film narrative contexts. The socio-pragmatic primitives that we have selected are generally invisible to English-speaking, non-Korean viewers, especially those from Western cultures, because such expressions are either not used or do not have the same meaning potential. The non-verbal aspects of the Korean honourific system are also an essential part of Korean pragmatics.
