This study reviewed the history revitalizing patterns shown in the Central Asia Korean Immigrants' Novels focusing on the works in the Lenin's Flag, the newspaper printed in the Korean language which has played a delivery room's role in the Korean Imm...
This study reviewed the history revitalizing patterns shown in the Central Asia Korean Immigrants' Novels focusing on the works in the Lenin's Flag, the newspaper printed in the Korean language which has played a delivery room's role in the Korean Immigrants' literature.
During the last 20 years since the Korean Immigrants' literature was first introduced in our country, there has been many study on this literature despite the lack of information. Regrettably, most of them were short papers, however, and so there still remains much difficulty in drawing a big picture of them. The only thesis submitted to this time for a doctorate was <A study on the Koreans' Poetry Literature in Central Asia-Focused on the aspects of the postcolonial consciousness> (2010) (Dankuk University literature and production department's thesis for a doctorate). But the subject of this paper is limited to the poetry, and this paper has a meaning of the first thesis for a doctorate on the Korean Immigrants' novels. Historically, as a minority in the multiracial nation regime of Soviet, the Korean Immigrants experienced the wrongful treatment from the Stalin Regime, and their history was also unduly described in the literature.
The observation of the Korean Immigrants' novels revitalizing their history lost in the official documentation is to explore their identity arisen from recovering forgotten memories. The subject of this paper is basically the works written by the Korean language, but included some works inserted in Lenin's Flag which were produced in the Russian language but later translated into the Korean language. Also, some works not written for Lenin's Flag but contained in several novel collections and the independent volumes such as long story were included.
Today, there is no confirmed agreement on how to officially name the Korean living in the old Soviet region; the name of Korean people or Han people are being used in turn in consideration of the relation with the Korean peninsula. But in the past, the name of Korean people or Chosunese people were used in the same reason. In addition, there is another factor which further complicates the name of the 'Korean Immigrants'. That's the very fact that the member's features were diversified; the Korean Immigrants group is basically composed of the people who were born in Korean peninsula, immigrated to Russia territory, and again forcedly immigrated to the Central Asia, the people who born in Sahalin and forced-immigrated to the Central Asia, and the people who were born in Russia and grown up there. Furthermore, North Korean students who went abroad and defected to Russia the in the 1950s and the people who went from Sahalin to the Central Asia add to this. When bearing in mind the diverse and complex features of the Korean Immigrants people society members, we can't repeat the same mistakes that we thought the Korean literature simply means the minority's one in the suppression of Soviet regime.
The Korean literature's identity is superficially apparent because they were basically born in the socialist regime. The complexity of the Korean society is found between the line of literature text. 'Political Unconsciousness' of Fredrick James was utilized as a method of analyzing between the line. According to him, the nature of historical truth or social absurdity is inserted into the text in the context of unconsciousness. F. James' strategy that we can excavate the entity of suppression in the unconsciousness region of the text help us to attempt to positively read out the interior consciousness of the Korean Immigrants. The interpretation of political unconsciousness can be considered as the works to draw a deep meanings of the text through analyzing its superficial meanings. This means that we can find out the concealed meanings arisen from the discrepancy between a writer's individual experiences and the social structure.
The historical events most popularly materialized in the Korean Immigrants' novels is anti-Japanese Imperial Fight and the Russian Revolution, the forced immigration to the Central Asia, 'The Great Patriotic War referred to as the Second World War(Germany-Soviet War), and Korean War. But the works which have a substantial volume and narrative structure are only the ones which materialize Fight against Japanese Imperial and Russian Revolution. Korean Immigrants' literature has only two piece of long stories and these periods were the materials taken in the two pieces. This shows how much important they think of both events are.
A few works of background of Fight against Japanese Imperial and Russian Revolution described the hardships which the immigrants had undergone. <The fate of young Sunam>(1959) by Tae Jang-Chun, <The blessed star(1969)> by Kim Gi-Chul, and <The last of killer(1973)> by Park Sung-Hun alone correspond to this. The hardships of Korean nation harassed by the conflict among the world big powers is expressed in these works. In the works materializing these periods, more emphasis would be put on the Korean figures acting the fight against Japanese Imperial rather than the hardships. Although Korean people's contribution to the Parisian fight against Japanese Imperial were great, it's not before the year 1967 when the Soviet government celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Revolution that their parisian campaign was officially credited with the contribution to the Soviet government. Thus, to make up a story about their uncredited contribution in itself remains room for being interpreted a demonstration. Through the narrative on the fight against Japanese Imperial, Korean Immigrants demonstrated that they're not Imperial Japan's spy but a patriot loving their motherland Soviet and their brothers. On the other hand, the fight against Japanese Imperial of Korean Immigrants supports the collaboration with Bolshevik partisan as a vital means of their fighting tactics. It's because the Socialist Revolution of Soviet seemed to support the Korean Immigrants' independence campaign and the ideology suggested by them felt like a supreme ideal to Korean Immigrants in the colonial suppression. The socialist ideology internalized in that process led to the blind trust for Soviet in such manner that what Soviet does is unquestionably just and problem-solving only can be done by Soviet.
The works materializing the forced immigration to the Central Asia had been largely eclipsed during the half century, but began to rise to the surface with the Perestroika of the later 1980s. The cause of forced immigration is somewhat controversial, but presumably, the major reason may be that the Korean near to Japanese could be suspected to be employed as a perpetrator of Japanese Imperial. The Immigration action suddenly taken without any proper procedure and preparation by the Soviet government was nothing but a violence. Korean Immigrants' literature mentions this event, but its embodiment is done beneath the protection membrane of silence and forgottenness. This may be attributable to the effect of the panic state resulted from having punished almost 2,500 Korean communist officers, the intelligent, and military officers before and after the immigration. <The panic(1989)> by Han Jin embodied their uneasiness and panic at that times. In such extreme panic, Korean Immigrants hesitated to witness the situation at that times to their sons and daughters and this is why Korean Immigrants' novels revitalizing the forced immigration can't help repeating the similar embodiment attributable to the insufficient testimony, focusing on the reconstruction after the immigration rather than the immigration period. Since their settlement was sterile waste land and there were no utilities for them, the reconstruction was done with their sweat and blood. But in the Korean Immigrants's novels, this period was described with tragic and gloomy air removed. <The first year of immigration(1990)> by Kim Gi-Chul is one of most notable works in this context which describes the scene of reconstruction after the immigration. After the immigration, Korean Immigrants reflect their existence unduly treated with dwelling and moving's freedom restricted, and realize that they must go along with the native Kazah people in the changed situation that the use of Russian language is popularized throughout the Russia. With the immigration, the Korean Immigrants get to have a new identity in the natural and political situation completely differentiated from the Sahalin. <The village's name is ?(1991)> by Han Jin and <The way of playing(1991)> by Gang Alexandre is most notable works in this context which embodies the internal agony of Korean Immigrants who are establishing a new identity. Germany-Soviet War referred to as 'The great patriotic war' is a unique material which is only found in the Korean Immigrants' literature among the separation novels of Korean nation. Stalin further reinforced his Russian nation-oriented nationalist policy through this war. The Korean Immigrants forcedly immigrated suspected as Japanese spy didn't have rights to participated in this war, but they soothed their shameful sense of not participating in the patriotic war through attaining several times more than the given assignments in the rear labor front. In the works such as <The tour of red flag(1943)> and <combatant comeback(1944) by Jugai Alexei, it's highlighted that the people mobilized in the labor front contributed to the victory of the war by getting an big accomplishment with a patriotic mind surpassing the soldiers in the battle front. And as seen in the <Choi Sergei's flight venture> by Nam Hae-Ryung, the character who donates large fortune for the war would often be described. However, as notably seen in the mother's character firmly coping with the fate that her four sons are sent to the battle front in <Death penalty(1941)> by Kim Byun-Uk, sometimes the characters would be unrealistically described by overestimating their effort and contribution to the 'The great patriotic war. On the other hand, in some cases the Korean people participating in the war not as a official army but as a parisian and achieve a glorious exploit are described. <Parisian Kim Anton and his relatives(1975)> by Kim Won-Bong are most notable works in this context. The fact that Korean people could participate in the war only as a status of parisian indicates that they were not recognized as a Soviet's citizen. Although Germany-Soviet War is steady seller material form the 1940s and to 1980s, with the beginning of 1960s, the works distinguished from the past ones emphasizing the patriotic mind are notable. Some expresses anti-war ideas through extremely difficult women's lives and some expresses the critical views through highlighting the events manipulating the merits in the war. It's because the desire to be recognized as a Soviet's citizen and the critical consciousness unable to become its members may co-exist that Korean Immigrants expressed diverse perspectives by embodying Germany-Soviet War.
Korean War is primarily embodied by the North Korean writers who went abroad and defected to Russia. Because of such writers' features, the works embodying this events are expressing the deep aversion and hatred against the fact that the war is fratricidal war and their belonging group begin the war rather than the entire objection to the immoral war. Through this, they ask if ongoing war is really right rather than the objection to the war itself. And the soldiers participating in the war recognizes themselves as mercenary ones. Notably expressed is a shameful sense arisen from the thought that they're unwillingly participating in the war as a position of mercenary soldiers by the other big powers although they didn't have the ability to prosecute the war. This awareness of their own position extend to the critical awareness against the existence to drive them out to such position. Another features was that the war was embodied as love story between man and woman. Most notable works in this context is <My love Yunsun> and <Ssari island is uninhabited island> by Lee Jin. This tragic love story is a way of expression further emphasizing the grief arisen from the war. And, in that most of the Korean Immigrants writers who embodied Korean War came from North Korea or had experience in working in North Korea, we can consider the relationship with North Korean literature. In <When the night walk is ended> by Han Jin, the figure of enemy is ambiguous in the former part but it begin to change in the latter part. The conflict in this novel begin with the relation between South and North Korea and finally goes to the relation between our nation and US. This is one of the consciousness found in North Korean literature. They recognize that the one harassing our nation whoever it may be shouldn't be forgiven and it's co-assignments of South and North Korea to cope with this. While in North Korean novels it's notable that North Korea should play a primary role in this assignments and South Korea is considered as a existence to be liberated from the suppression in need of their guidance, in the Korean Immigrants' novels North and South are treated equally.
Chapter IV analyzed superficially exposed meanings and underlying implicit meaning shown in the Korean Immigrants' novels, based upon the contents discussed in the chapter III.
Notable features superficially shown in the Korean Immigrants' novels is to establish the nation's identity. The characters which appears in the Korean immigrants' novels materializing the historical events is described as the existence symbolizing the whole Korean group with individual personality removed. The reality awareness which appears in their novels is too flat to embody the conflicts. The characters who intend to adapt to the Soviet society feature failing to criticize the wrongful society. In the socialist realism's strong 자장(?) aiming at the realization of the ideology rather than the embodiment of the literature works based upon the reality, the Korean immigrants' novels mention the negative situation only passively, but instead praise Soviet so positively. Their properties of shall be inevitable limitation in consideration of the political reality at that time. This back-scratching relationship with the regime shows the historical characteristics in which they lie and that they're still the aliens restrained in the society.
However, only to mention this superficial characteristics can make an error of fixing the into this context. When discussing the Korean immigrants' novels, we need to focus on the diversified characteristics minutely found in them other than this. Because they are one of minority members disregarded in the socialist regime, they can't help adjusting themselves to the society's dominant argument. Nevertheless, we can draw another meaning by paying attention to the mentions deviated from the dominant ideology orientation and the works' entire context.
In the earlier period, Czarist Russia didn't give the same acceptance to the Korean immigrants but treated differently them according to their immigration period. This divided the Korean society and accordingly the conflicts arose. Such conflicts underlying the narratives would rise to the surface in certain moments. Thus the Korean society was divided into some groups which have differentiated rights, and evolved into a complex one opposing to what's previously mentioned. Although through the positive response and praise for the regime they tried to enter into it, we can draw another meaning by concretely analyzing the subject which they praise. The Korean immigrants' novels express a roundabout voice of criticism and complaint against Stalin through the method of limiting the subject of praise to Lenin, or by comparing Lenin and Stalin. This descriptive characteristics shows that they look back their own existence more concretely. They emphasize that they have their own rights as a outsiders although they can become major of Soviet regime.
Sorrily, the subject in this paper was limited to the Korean literature written in the Korean language, and only 1 st and 2nd generation writers's works are primarily included into the subject. Further studies are needed for the works of the writers after 3rd generation. Particularly, in relation with this paper's critical mind focusing on the history revitalizing patterns, the analysis of the long story,『КИМЫ』(<Kim family>, Ташкент, 2003.) by Ёнг Тхек which was known as a narrative of 3 generations in the background from the year 1911 to the forced immigration shall be complemented.
Concludingly, the Korean novels are largely divided into the works of history revitalizing and embodiment of the daily life, the studies on the latter not dealt with in this paper shall be set aside as the assignments of the future.