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R Bachem, Nadeschda Lisa (2018) Remnants of empire: colonial memory in Japanese fiction and South Korean short fiction, 1953‐1972. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/26181 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Remnants of Empire: Colonial Memory in Japanese and South Korean Short Fiction, 1953-1972 Nadeschda Lisa Bachem Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2017 Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS) SOAS, University of London Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood Regulation 21 of the General and Admissions Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 Abstract This thesis compares the memorial discourse on Japanese imperialism in Korea (1910- 1945) in postcolonial South Korean and Japanese short fiction. It focuses on texts written after the Korean War (1950-1953) to 1972. The thesis highlights the production of a collective memory in both national literatures on the historical events as well as the respective ethno-national Self and Other in the crucial years before and after the Japan- Republic of Korea normalisation treaty in 1965. I rely on concepts coined both within and outside of East Asia in the fields of postcolonial, collective memory and gender studies and make them productive for the East Asian case. In detail, I focus on two social groups that hold key roles for the way colonial memorial narratives came into being after the Korean War but that have so far largely escaped scholarly scrutiny with regard to the momentum of coloniality: Japanese returnees (hikiagesha) and the South Korean post-war generation (chŏnhu sedae) that ascended the literary stage from the mid-1950s onwards. I investigate the recurring themes of 1) gendered allegories towards the ethno-nation, 2) nostalgia in the representation of colonial Korea and 3) language in relation to the fragility of (post)colonial discourse and the postcolonial South Korean doctrine of Korean monolingualism. Based on previous research that argues that East Asia is a historically grown literary landscape with overlaps and shared points of experience, I maintain that the distinctly East Asian genre of short fiction (Japanese tanpen shōsetsu, Korean tanp’yŏn sosŏl) provides a formal framework for a comparative study of East Asian literature. In my thesis, I demonstrate how literature functions as a site where repressed memories can resurface and contradictions of (post)colonial discourse are negotiated. Secondly, I highlight commonalities between Japanese and South Korean writers in their memory of the colonial period, thereby underscoring the deep historical connections between the cultural production of both countries. Finally, I argue that colonial-period discourses regain currency in postcolonial East Asia. These discursive remnants shape the two ethno- nations, which had to re-invent themselves as modern nation states within the Cold War world order following the colonial-period narrative of naisen ittai (Japan and Korea as One). 3 Acknowledgments Firstly, I owe my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisors Prof. Stephen Dodd and Dr. Grace Koh. Stephen guided me with tact and patience and was, most importantly, a well of insight and knowledge. He was a veritable Buddha at times when I needed peace of mind as much as subject-specific guidance. I cannot gauge all the knowledge I owe to Grace and I am profoundly thankful for her on-the-point advice, always propounded in her soothing voice that let me know things would be alright in the end. Thanks are also due to my third supervisor, Dr. Karima Laachir, particularly for her engagement on my behalf during the first year of my study. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to obtain funding from six institutions and feel deeply indebted to them for putting bread on my table and providing me with the means to pursue my research in London, Seoul and Tokyo: the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK, which covered my tuition fees (a foreign concept for a German national, so I was grateful not having to further concern myself with it); the British Korean Society, whose lovely members I had the opportunity to meet at their annual general assembly in 2017; the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) in Tokyo, where, thanks to the Institute’s excellent facilities and vibrant academic community of committed scholars, my research could thrive; the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee and the Korea Foundation, who supported me in the crucial writing-up stage of my PhD and finally the German Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes), who not only aided me financially but who also, thanks to their excellent programme of PhD student workshops and academies, allowed me to form a network with other young researchers and to build lasting friendships that I would not ever want to miss. I am also deeply indebted to Prof. Kyong-Mi Danyel Kwon and Prof. Yŏn Namkyŏng at Ewha Woman’s University, who guided me with advice at a time when I still lacked understanding of Korean post-war literature. Without them, my project would not exist in its current form. During my fieldwork in Tokyo, I benefitted greatly from fortnightly PhD student reading groups under the splendid guidance of Prof. Toshiko Ellis at the University of Tokyo. I also thank Prof. Christina Yi of the University of British Columbia, 4 who agreed to chair my panel at the AAS-in-Asia conference, and Prof. Kristina Iwata- Weickgenannt of Nagoya University, whose advice was invaluable to me at many a crucial junction of my academic path and without whom I would have never ended up at SOAS. I would also like to thank my peers: Lucrezia Botti, Nadia Embleton, Kerstin Fooken, Poonkulaly Gunaseelan, Maddalena Italia, Kim Chinkyu, Soung-U Kim, Kwŏn Poŭn, Miriam Pahl and Robin Steedman, for proof-reading with exactly the right measure between praise and criticism, for support, for the shared indignation about structures and adverse conditions and, above all, for all the common moments that had nothing to do with the PhD. Special thanks go to Samantha Challis and Maddalena Italia for their invaluable help with my translation of Kobayashi Masaru’s Ford 1927. I want to also mention my friends Marc Wilke and Janine Wieser, without whom I probably would not have survived the insecurities and small nervous breakdowns that come with a PhD. My brother Milan Bachem makes me laugh when I really need to have a good laugh. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Andrea Bachem, because there is just no other way. 5 A Note on Foreign Terms and Names • For transcription of Japanese and Korean terms the modified Hepburn, respectively the McCune-Reischauer system is used. • Foreign terms that have not been lexicalised in the English language are given in italics. • Japanese and Korean names are given in the order customary in East Asia, that is, surname first and given name second, unless those being referred to are writing in English. • The names of Korean and Japanese public figures such as politicians will be given in their usual English transcription. • Some Korean scholars give an English spelling of their name along with their Korean-language publications. These are indicated in brackets after the Romanisation according to the McCune-Reischauer system. 6 Contents Abstract...............................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................4 A Note on Foreign Terms and Names ...........................................................................................6 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................9 1.1 Postcolonial memory in East Asian literature .....................................................................9 1.2 Theoretical approach ........................................................................................................... 16 1.2.1 Postcolonial theory........................................................................................................ 18 1.2.2 Comparative East Asian literature ............................................................................. 19 1.2.3 Colonial memory, disavowal and the