Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4446-1928
Abstract
This essay analyzes the horror visual novel The Letter (2017) developed by the Filipino video game company Yangyang Mobile. Using theories of postmodernism from Fredric Jameson and Hiroki Azuma and postcolonialism from Homi Bhabha and Souvik Mukherjee, the essay introduces and uses the concept of postcolonial pastiche to describe the ability of The Letter to mimic the form of the visual novel and reuse the tropes of Asian horror to depict the personal anxieties and social inequalities experienced by the seven main characters of the game as perennial problems inherent in the modern global capitalist society. By using the visual novel form and the popular genre of Asian horror, The Letter provides a sincere portrayal of social marginalization of migrants, minorities, and other marginalized groups.
Recommended Citation
Cerda, Christoffer Mitch C.
(2026)
"The Ghost of Empire: Asian Horror and Postcolonial Pastiche in the Filipino Visual Novel The Letter (2017),"
Kritika Kultura:
No.
49, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13185/1656-152X.2243
Available at:
https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss49/4
