Unbelonging in Gyeongseong: Negotiating Identity and Hostile Spaces in Hongjacga's Delusion

Hongjacga’s acclaimed webtoon Delusion, set in the charged atmosphere of 1930s colonial Gyeongseong (Seoul), offers a compelling lens for, “The Art of Hospitality.” This paper argues, however, that Delusion primarily explores the limits and critique of hospitality, focusing instead on pervasive states of unbelonging. Analyzing the narrative, visual style, and character dynamics, it examines how both the politically oppressive colonial city and the enigmatic patron Jeonghwa’s secluded mansion function as fundamentally hostile spaces, undermining genuine welcome. The central relationship between the struggling artist Iho and his mysterious commissioner Jeonghwa exemplifies conditional hospitality, revealing unequal power dynamics and the exchange of hidden “currencies” far exceeding the financial transaction. Within these fraught environments, characters are forced into precarious negotiations of identity, struggling against social marginalization, colonial constraints, and concealed monstrous truths. Through its depiction of compromised welcome and inescapable isolation — even for the powerful “host” Jeonghwa — Delusion challenges idealized notions of belonging. This paper contends that Hongjacga utilizes the Gothic romance framework within the unique affordances of the webtoon medium to expose how historical context, power imbalances, and hidden realities fundamentally disrupt genuine hospitality, rendering belonging an elusive, perhaps impossible, state in the world portrayed.