Ghost stories mainly focus on the theme of non-human and supernatural, often create a sense of horror due to its nature of mystery and unknown. Using this particular feature, the article depicts the correlation between the ideology of ghost and the urban architectural environment in Asian cities, and addresses Asian culture and their attitude towards ghost cities, eventually brings out their impact on various social issues.
First, it is a common phenomenon that the underlying animistic beliefs and pratices are rooted in people’s ideal mindset, which affects the perception of ghosts in Asian cultures. The cultural rituals are the products of their traditional beliefs, in order to show respect to the realm of ghost. For example, ceremonies are performed and offerings are regarded as an honor to the spirits, such that the people that are living could build a pleasant relationship with those are who are dead. This is a sign that indicates people’s belief of the presence of ghost in their daily living.
Based on the premise stated above, that asian society has already adopted to the coexistence of humans and ghost, asian horror movies make use of this phenomenon. For example, as stated in the article, the apartment estates in the movies are low-to-medium income range, aim at fully utilizing every single square tile to achieve profit maximization. Unlike other private estate, these housing estates featured in the movies are often built with complexity, which flats are tightly packed on one floor with an extensive hallway that are windowless, so as to portray the unbearable environment to be a terrifying and horrific scene. These places that are filled with darkness often link to the presence of ghost, which gives an eccentric feelings to the audience. The ghost here, has several symbolic meaning especially towards the social issues which are interrelated. The first one is economic disparity. In Hong Kong, a significant wealth gap exists to separate people from different social classes, hungry ghost in the city represent those who are marginalized due to economic downturn. The second one is loneliness and isolation, particularly in Japan and east Asia, the fear of isolation falls deep into people’s heart. The disconnection between residents and the extensive social ladders keeps people in isolation weakens the social bonding in the entire community.
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