KJCKorea
Journal Central

Upon collapse of Manchukuo, Manchuria was engulfed surging nationalism among the Manchurian. That sensation soon turned into violence toward the Japanese and the Korean. Kim Man-seon’s 「Repatriate」 and 「Dual Citizenship」 depicts that Manchurians’ violence toward the Korean was attributed to their ambiguous position where they belong to the space of discourse of both OjokHyeophwa(五族協和) and NaeseonIlche(內鮮一體). Under this circumstance did many Koreans choose to return to their native country and most epics that reflect this phenomenon depict the process of Imperial Japanese colonies turning into Korean nationals based on nationalism. However, Chae Man-sik’s <Growing Boy> demonstrates non-nationalistic literary aspect beyond a heat wave of nationalism. This paper has taken an in-depth look into the characteristics of <Growing Boy> through comparison with <Flowing star is alive> written by Dai Fujiwara in about the same period of time. Dai Fujiwara’s <Flowing star is alive> is an essay that recorded the process of returning from Changchun through Korea to the hometown of Suwa upon collapse of Manchukuo. The journey of return reveals every bit of Japanese hypocrisy with the legitimacy of founding Manchukuo disintegrated from its core. What fills the emptiness following the disintegration is the bosom of the family and hometown. <Flowing star is alive> tears down the illusion of ethnic community of Japan, the practical owner of Manchukuo from its foundation through the process of return. However, the family and hometown that can serve as the pivot of building the community of Japan lies deep in the heart of the work as the absolute being. The stark difference between Dai Fujiwara’s <Flowing star is alive> and Chae Man-sik’s <Growing Boy> is that the hometown desperately sought by Fujiwara was ruled out in <Growing Boy> in the first place. The journey of return of Yeongho’s family to Korea with the absence of their hometown was not very different from wandering and Yeongho’s family was close to refugees, not repatriates. The identity of Yeongho’s family that goes after the logic of survival only was nothing but the ‘farmers’ returned from Manchuria. <Flowing star is alive> boils down to the conclusion with family reunion while <Growing Boy> ends with the disintegration of family. Eventually, <Growing Boy> depicts the birth of a new main character filled with potentials albeit vulnerable, escaping from the heat of nationalism through Yeongho who stood on his own feet as a perfect solitary man.

Manchukuo, return, nationalism, family, hometown, solitary man