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Fluid Text and Aspect of North Korean Representation -Bandi's 『GOBAL』 and The Accusation Translated by Deborah Smith

  • Chunwon Research journal
  • Abbr : Chunwon Research journal
  • 2018, (13), pp.497-532
  • DOI : 10.31809/crj.2018.12.13.497
  • Publisher : Chunwon Research Society
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature
  • Received : October 30, 2018
  • Accepted : December 9, 2018

LEE JIEUN 1

1서울과학기술대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

『GOBAL』 is the novel of Bandi, an anonymous writer in North Korea, which describes North Korean realty from 1989 to 1995, and only its text was taken out of North Korean and published. In Korea, it was first published from Chogabje.com, and then translated into 20 languages and published in each foreign country. In particular, Deborah Smith who translated it into English received PEN Translation Prize, and then its copyright was transferred to Dasanbooks which published it as a popular literary product without political color. While the 'narrative of escape from North Korea' which has been increased since the mid to late 1990s puts forward economically extreme poverty, the inner conflict of people banished by 'Chief Magistrate-Party' is the core narrative of 『GOBAL』. Different from the narrative of escape from North Korea after the 'Arduous March', 『GOBAL』, therefore, shows various behaviors of people who were aware of deception and fallacy in the North Korean regime, where it began to be changed from 1989 to 1995. However, provocative materials around the text make 『GOBAL』 more likely to be understood as 'the record of people who leave their home due to more difficult livelihood', a somewhat stale rhetoric. In addition, the North Korean regime as 'evil' is also emphasized, as adversity derived from the process in which the text was taken out is stressed. Meanwhile, The Accusation, the English version of 『GOBAL』, translated by Deborah Smith emphasizes that it accuses the 'hidden inner parts of North Korea' in journals of England and America. It promotes Western readers' impure and curious views on North Korea. Moreover, the English version not only applies paraphrasing and transformation to the original text, but also adds some specific phrases to it. Some aspects of the transformation largely tend to stress poverty in North Korea, totalitarian spectacles and tyranny of dictatorship. Bandi's 『GOBAL』 called 'the escape of North Korea in terms of text' is a text flowing from North Korea through South Korea to foreign countries and producing North Korean images depending on narrative topography to which the text is exposed or needs of journals issued. It is possible to examine how 'North Korea as a gossip' is produced and consumed through 『GOBAL』.

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