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National trauma and response of the novels ―A focus on the coal mining town novels

  • Korean Language & Literature
  • 2011, (78), pp.461-486
  • Publisher : Korean Language & Literature
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature

Cho, Myung-Ki 1

1부산대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This aims to observe the literary memory of the trauma which the nation has experienced and aspects of the reproduction targeting for the coal mining town novel. Sabuk Incident was the first local occupation struggle in the history of South Korea. Sabuk Incident was the traumatic incident to the nation and the coal mining town was the local which the nation experienced trauma. Sabuk Incident and the coal mining town were subject to the taboo and oblivion socially or literally, the literary silence was one of the traumatic symptoms. Sabuk Incident and the coal mining town described in the coal mining town novels have shown the characteristic that is an incident of the traumatic fear and insanity, a space causing a rift among the order of the dominance and unknown external existential space. In addition, methods of the trauma cover up have been embodied. National trauma is covered up by being replaced with the magnified personal trauma, resolution of the trauma leads to the restoration and approval of the order of the dominance that means the restoration and approval of the substitution. Additionally, an actor which experiences fear of the trauma is replaced with Seoul by pushing Seoul, another local, instead of the nation as the local antipodes of the coal mining town, transferring the considerable dominant power to local Seoul. However, recent texts relatively describe Sabuk Incident and the coal mining town as the traumatic incident which the nation experienced and the local. The trauma cover up has been described through the language and symbol of the order of the dominance. At the same time, the unverbalized traumatic existence has been revealed through the other memory actors. Furthermore, through the fantasy, social political position of the text is fixed on the point of the rift caused by the trauma. Through this, strategy of the trauma cover up has been derailed. Seeing the coal mining novels in chronological order, the characteristics of Sabuk Incident and the coal mining town are positively revealed with the passage of time. This corresponds to the trauma characteristics of an ex-post formation in addition to a factor of the change of the political situation.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.