Abstract

Interest in the ghosts of the Korean War is an interest in the costs of war, primarily death and other war experiences that have not been mourned or recorded. That is, it is an interest in capturing the “life/death” that cannot be mourned, the “oblivion/memories” that cannot be uttered, and the “pain/voices” that cannot be verbalized. This interest does not only refer to an ethical attitude toward minorities and others. Indeed, as the word “ghost” implies, war experiences and the harm war causes cannot be mourned and are not forgotten; they penetrate through time and do not disappear. Moreover, they often reappear and are deeply involved in daily life. This paper recognizes that most of the harms of war, including civilians being shot to death, disappearances, and killings, do not leave behind dead bodies that can be found to prove the damage. Therefore, I establish invisible war damage as a historical fact, and I seek to ask why the victims of massacres had no choice but to become ghosts. While focusing on the works of Kang Yong-jun, Yoon Heung-gil, Park Wan-seo, and Kim Keum-sook, I examine the social and cultural contexts that create ghosts and look at the “placelessness” of ghosts rather than their existence by evoking “folded time and space.”

Abstract

Lee Hyun-soo’s novel Four Days deals with the Nogeun-ri Incident, a massacre of civilians carried out by US forces in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province, from July 26 to 29, 1950. In the novel, documentary director Kim Jin-kyung returns to her hometown of Yeongdong and looks back on the history of the village and her family in order to plan a television program on the subject of the Nogeun-ri Incident. The narrative has been criticized for how it overlaps here, and it lacks a sense of completeness. This paper examines what exactly Lee Hyun-Soo’s novel, which depicts the period after the Nogeun-ri Incident, implies through its treatment of “distraction.” This article asks the female narrator, who exists alongside the massacred “good people” (yangmin), why the process of revealing the facts of the Nogeun-ri Incident had to be expressed in a distracting manner. The narrative traces how the two characters lived two very different lives after the massacre: One is a life that responds to the politics of reconstruction, while the other is a life that is unable to even approach the space of “reconstruction.” Lee Hyeon-soo’s novel, which attempts to get increasingly closer to the “disappearing women” of the Nogeun-ri Incident, does not engage directly with the problem of reproducing the “yangmin” who sacrificed, and it demonstrates that the life of a woman after the massacre is never confined to a single point of view.

Abstract

By focusing on Heo Soo-Kyung’s war-related poems, this paper attempts to identify the point of divergence between the poems of the previous generation of female poets and Heo Soo-Kyung’s war poems. Depictions of war in Heo Soo-Kyung’s poetry include not only the Korean War but also the terrible pain caused by the atomic bomb as well as imperial violence. Beginning with her first collection of poems, Heo Soo-Kyung has demonstrated insight into war and has indirectly conveyed the horrors that follow war. In Heo Soo-Kyung’s war poems, women remember and record the daily lives of people left to survive in the aftermath of war. As a female poet belonging to the generation that experienced war indirectly, Heo Soo-Kyung uses archaeological methods to archive small bits and pieces that exist outside the written record. The “women’s time” that Heo Soo-Kyung discovers is meaningful in that it has not been captured by official history. This enables Heo Soo-Kyung’s war poetry to make the indirect experiences of war physical and shape the space of memory called the “body.” In Heo Soo-Kyung’s poems, sadness is treated as an emotion that expands and remembers the “small wars” of those who have been omitted from history or have disappeared since the war. As female strangers, Heo Soo- Kyung’s poetic subjects explore the weakest link broken by the war and make archives of things that have not been verbalized. In this context, Heo Soo-Kyung’s war poetry can be seen as possessing feminist attributes.

Abstract

During the period beginning with liberation from Japanese colonial rule up until the Korean War, foreign powers and the upper class suppressed the efforts of the Korean people to establish an independent and sovereign nation-state. In the process of state formation, this confrontation developed into a civil war, and massacres of civilians by the military and police took place on a large scale. In the process of actively pursuing anti-communist tribalism by identifying political opponents and local people as “red” (communist) elements, pre-modern collective family punishment became a means of selecting victims for massacre. In these massacres based on collective family punishment, women— the majority of whom were wartime non-combatants—were slaughtered instead of male family members and became victims of wartime sexual violence. Massacres of women and wartime sexual violence were carried out for the following purposes: (1) consolidating war achievements; (2) retaliating against civilian communities after engagement; (3) preventing attempts to support the enemy; (4) preventing the reproduction of family communities by men who are considered enemies by the ruling powers; (5) relieving combat stress of soldiers and paying for war service; and (6) securing occupation rites, and more. In massacres based on collective family punishment, family and kinship communities of paternal lineage, as well as village communities and specific groups, became targets for elimination, and women and children were also seen as key members of “enemy” communities. Therefore, it can be said that the massacres of women at this time were not simply the collateral damage of war.

Abstract

이 글에서는 그레이스 조의 회고록 『전쟁 같은 맛(Tastes Like War)』을 모녀 관계에 초점을 맞춰 읽으며, 어머니의 트라우마를 공부의 대상으로 삼은 딸의 자기서사가 내포한 문학적 함의를 분석했다. 1972년에 한국인이 단 한 명도 없었던 남편의 미국 고향으로 자녀들과 함께 이주한 그레이스 조의 어머니는 사업가로 활동하며 삶의 터전을 마련했지만, 1986년 무렵부터 정신질환 증상을 나타냈다. 뒤늦게 어머니가 한국에서 성노동자로 일했다는 사실을 올케로부터 듣게 된 딸은 연이어 어머니의 자살 기도 사건을 겪으며 큰 충격에 휩싸이게 되고, 결국 어머니의 자존감을 무너뜨린 요인들을 학문적으로 규명해보기로 결심한다. 고통의 원인과 구조를 밝혀내고 폭력적인 세상과 싸우기 위해 공부를 시작한 그레이스조는 어머니에게 가해진 부당한 사회적 낙인을 비판할 수 있는 언어를 획득하며 어머니의 트라우마가 딸에게 전이되었다고 해서 모녀의 삶이 송두리째 뿌리 뽑힌 것은 아님을 증명했다. 그레이스 조는 모녀를 하나로 묶어준 공부의 의미와 가치를 『전쟁 같은 맛』에서 반복적으로 강조한다. 딸이 위대한 학자가 되기를 원했던 어머니와 어머니의 비밀을 공부로 밝혀낸 딸은 트라우마를 앎의 대상으로 삼아 공부와 글쓰기라는 사회적 실천으로 전환시켰다. 『전쟁 같은 맛』에서 그레이스 조의 어머니는 정신질환으로 사회에서 추방된 사람이 아니라 식민주의, 전쟁, 군국주의, 이산, 빈곤, 인종차별, 이민, 외국인 혐오증을 감내하고 돌파하면서 딸이 위대한 학자가 될 수 있도록 가르친 여성으로 되살아난다.

Abstract

Dawn of the North Country and A Flower on a Cliff are novels that were first serialized in newspapers,and they both reinterpret the biographical history of Park Hwa-seong. They were first published in 1935 and 1957, respectively. Both novels are so-called “women’s growth novels” that make critical interventions into pre-modern discrimination between men and women, the modern dichotomy between the public and private, and the resulting division of space and gender distribution in Korean society. These novels, however, also contain many differences. Dawn of the North Country is grounded in Park Hwa-seong’s political beliefs, which resembled the socialist ideology o fthe colonial period. In contrast, A Flower on a Cliff exists on the horizon of colonial memories and nationalism, which had eradicated the diversity of ideologies and ideas. This study sets out to analyze the two novels by employingthe methodology of gender geography to focus on spatial arrangements in the context of changing gender dynamics. While Dawn of the North Country is centered around the cities of Mokpo, Tokyo, and Gyeongseong, as well as the sense of place of the “North Country,” A Flower on a Cliff attaches importance to Gyeongseong–Seoul while considerably diminishing the spatial prominence of Mokpo and Gyeongseong. The former novel moves along a trajectory from literature to ideology and from sisterhood to comradeship while dismantling the stereotypes of women’s bodies, families, caring, and upbringing; in this way, it sheds new light on women’s ideological practices. In the latter novel, the characters and spaces are placed within the history of hardship and resistance of the colonial period and embody the success of elite women educators as an essential condition of national development. The two novels offer a chance for readers to examine the diverse grammar of women’s growth novels by revealing the aspects of contradictions, conflicts, resistance, and repair derived from the gender of the main characters in different ways while repeating the patterns of modern Korean growth novels depicting the journey of leaving home and going overseas for study to overcome colonial modernity.

Abstract

학병의 자기서사에는 군 ‘위안부’의 구술 증언과 유사한 기억의 정치가 발생한다. 어떤 것을 서술하고, 어떤 것은 서술하지 않느냐는 자기서사의 행위성으로 보아야 한다. 특히 일본군 ‘위안부’와의 만남은 학병 서사에서 중요한 화소가 아니다. 하지만 자신을 표현할 언어를 갖지 못한 군 ‘위안부’의 상황상 돌아온 자들의 기억 속 일본군 ‘위안부’의 흔적을 찾는 것은 중요하다. 이러한 문제의식을 바탕으로, 본고는 그동안 ‘위안부’ 서사로 읽지 않았던 텍스트들을 재독하여 ‘위안부’ 재현을 논하고자 하였다. 박순동의 수기 「모멸의 시대」는 일본군을 탈출하여 OSS 훈련을 받은 항일영웅의 모델 스토리다. 그는 전선에서 조선인 ‘위안부’를 흔히 볼 수 있었다고 했지만, 일본군 ‘위안부’를 박꽃으로 대상화하며 멀리서 관찰한다. 말라리아에 걸려 몸이 약해졌다는 이유로 같은 조선인 학병들에게 버림받고 혼자 남겨진 이가형은 수기 「버마전선패잔기」와 소설 『분노의 강』을 통해서 버마 전선의 기억을 서사화한다. 그는 수기와 소설에서 위안소 방문, ‘위안부’와의 만남을 상세하게 기술한다. 이는 그가 ‘위안부’, 포로감시원, 학병 등을 모두 전쟁에 동원된 희생양으로 보았기 때문이다. 특히 이가형은 ‘위안부’와 섹스를 하지 않음으로써 헤게모니적 군인되기를 거부한다. 이는 식민지 엘리트였던 그가 상징적 거세를 기꺼이 받아들임으로써 성장을 거부하는 것과 연결된다. 하지만 그 역시 ‘위안부’와의 만남을 낭만화하는 것은 피하지 못했다. 박순동과 이가형 모두 ‘위안부’의 행위성이나 언어를 이해하지 못했다. 하지만 굴절된 재현에서 왜 ‘위안부’가 이야기되지 못했는지를 확인할 수 있다는 점에서 ‘위안부’ 서사를 아카이빙 하는 데 도움이 될 것이다.

Abstract

Abstract

This article aims to examine the representation patterns of daily violence in ilsangtoon (daily comics), focusing on Danji and 27-10; it also questions the sympathy of readers, who have been taken for granted in discussions on ilsangtoon. It seems that “everyday life” and “the reader’s sympathy” are two main elements that structure methods of reading ilsangtoon. Influenced by the “feminism reboot,” the political implications of self-representation of everyday life have begun to be discussed in research on ilsangtoon. However, “sympathy” based on a “similarity of experiences” has never been questioned. The essay first discusses the relationship between experiences of violence with the subject and self-representation in Danji and 27-10. The second part discusses the reader’s sympathy. This article notes that readers are divided into two different groups: a group composed of those who share the experience of violence and a group who do not. The sympathy of readers who share experiences is a combination of discovering acts and speech acts within a circle of testimony. The sympathy of the other group of readers is explained as “not identical” and as taking responsibility for solidarity. This article is an attempt to establish the ethics of “sympathy” and the political potential of ilsangtoon.

Abstract

Around the time of the feminist reboot in 2015, several science fiction narratives that offered visions of the future of care work were published. This occurred in the context of increased awareness in the field of literature—which was experiencing a boom of feminist sci-fi writing—regarding the crisis of caring in response to the pandemic. This is also related to artists’ efforts to construct a new discourse, language, and knowledge of care. These stories reject the easy solutions to the problem of care that are dependent on technology; instead, these stories employ a narrative strategy that fully visualizes the problem of care through the imagination of anachronism, according to which the familiar present, which remains unresolved, arrives as the future. In addition, these stories reveal that the problem of caring cannot be easily solved by replacing care work with technology. They also recognize that certain perceptions of caring must change and that the injustice of care work will continue unless there is a reflective intervention. These works present a paradoxical alternative that uses pessimistic imagination and pessimism itself as a source of alternatives. Most importantly, these stories provide fake catharsis through powerful technological solutions, suggesting that the promise of “caring robots” or “caring colonies,” which actually contribute to obscuring the difficult problems of caring, are not an alternative or solution. In this respect, these stories can also be differentiated from existing sci-fi works. These texts show that the mechanization and outsourcing of care cannot solve the problem of care, and they reject the functionalism and separatism that are often involved in this vision of the future. They clarify that care is not a function that can be replaced but rather is a mutual relationship between humans. Since it is a relationship, it is a speculative allegory to say that it is a problem that must be solved integrally within the community. The visions of these writers reject the existing sci-fi imagination that depicts a future that is conquered by science and technology, and they also try to parody the universal male subject magnified by science and technology. They are also in line with alternative and critical thinking about traditional Sci-fi works.

Abstract

‘페미니즘 리부트’ 시기, 페미니스트로 각성한 여성들의 집단적 등장은 여성의말하기, 읽기, 쓰기라는 문화적 실천과 함께 이루어졌다. 이 글은 ‘리부트’ 초기와 구별되는 2010년대 후반 ‘페미니즘 대중화’ 시기의 중요한 문화현상으로서 ‘여성 에세이’가 부상한 맥락을 살펴보고, ‘여성 에세이’가 다루고 있는 핵심적인 주제들을 분석했다. 문인이나 지식인이 아닌 평범한 여성–대중들에 의해 쓰인 에세이가 활발하게 출판되고 읽히는 것은 여성들이 동시대·동세대 여성의 삶에서 여성·페미니스트로 살아가기 위한 구체적 방법들을 모색하고 있음을 보여준다. 또한 이들 에세이에서 임신·출산, 비혼, 대안적 여성 공동체, 여성 경제라는 주제가 두드러지는 것은 전통적인 성역할에서 벗어나고자 하는 노력과 더불어, ‘4B’·‘탈코르셋’의 실천을 통해 성차별적 현실을 극복하고자 하는 움직임이 반영된 결과이다. 본고는 여성들의 에세이 읽기/쓰기를 여성의 일상적 경험을 경유하여 한국사회의 성차별적 구조를 드러내고 기존의 가부장적 질서가 정해 놓은 생애적 각본과 역할을 거부하는 실천으로 의미화하고자 했다. 하지만 한편으로 차별적 구조 자체를 변화시키기보다는 위기를 관리하고 적절한 투자 전략을 조언하면서 개별적 노력을 통해 각자도생하라는 신자유주의적 각본 또한 ‘여성 에세이’를 통해 전달되고 있다는 점을 비판적인 시각에서 검토하였다. 이제 우리에게 필요한 것은 페미니스트 독서/출판의 변화 양상을 지속적으로 추적함으로써, ‘여성 에세이’가 새로운 미래에 도달하기 위한 페미니즘의 언어와 지식을 재발명하는 장이 될 수 있도록 개입하는 일이 될 것이다.