‘연대’란 무엇인가: 이시무레 미치코 『하늘 물고기』로 보는 미나마타병 투쟁 = What is “Solidarity”? : The Minamata Disease Struggle as Seen through Ishimure Michiko’s Fish from Heaven

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper examines the essence of “solidarity” through Ishimure Michiko’s Fish from Heaven, the final work of Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow trilogy. The text records the “Independent Negotiation Group” and their sit-in protest at Chisso Corporation’s Tokyo headquarters, highlighting the alliance among victims, students, and the public. The Minamata movement shows that its success depended on bonds between victims and non-victim citizens.
Through Fish from Heaven, solidarity is not simply “discovered” but actively “constructed.” It reconfigures the self through empathy, expanding the sense of “we” rather than merely reversing roles. This echoes Judith Butler’s view that solidarity is most crucial when collective action is difficult; deadlock can foster social cohesion. Building such bonds remains challenging, with suspicion and political motivations as obstacles. True solidarity emerges not only from shared ideology but also from everyday interventions that defy logic. In Fish from Heaven, Ishimure moves from observer to participant. Minamata literature thus becomes a practice of solidarity, where collective action shapes identity.