VIOLENT EMOTIONS: MODERN JAPANESE AND KOREAN WOMEN'S WRITING, 1920-1980. by MISELI JEON B.A., Yonsei University, Korea, 1976 M.A., Hanguk Oegugo Univeristy, Korea, 1986 M.L.S., The University of British Columbia, 1991 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 1996 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAMME IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard. THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA June 2004 © Miseli Jeon, 2004 Abstract This thesis aims to draw scholarly and general attention to two long-neglected areas in the fields of modern Korean and Japanese literature. The first is the way that individualism (an imported concept) was adopted and adapted by modern Korean and Japanese women writers from the 1920s to 1970s. The second is the role that the traditional sensibilities of urami (in Japan) and han (in Korea) play in modern women's writing. An additional purpose of the thesis is to introduce these traditional sensibilities to Western readers. The work of six writers will be highlighted, namely Hirabayashi Taiko, Kono Taeko, and Oba Minako in Japanese literature, and Kang Kyong-ae, 0 Chong-hui, and Pak Wan-so in Korean writing. The discussion is divided into the periods before and after the Second World War. Within each period, Korean and Japanese women writers are paired according to thematic similarities in their works. My discussion is based on the hypothesis that the Western ideal of individualism provided an outlet for Korean and Japanese women previously silenced and marginalized by the rigid precepts of the traditional neo-Confucian patriarchy in both Korea and Japan. I focus on how the concept of individualism affected these women writers, and also how they adapted the ideal of individualism to voice their feminist concerns. Urami (1S<^) and han (tS) share the same Chinese character that signifies potentially violent emotions of resentment and anger that accumulate in a person when exposed, for a long time, to ideological oppression, often paired with its physical equivalent. Despite this similarity, Koreans and Japanese have developed dissimilar ways of dealing with and expressing the emotions. These ways have further changed along with socio-political developments in the two countries. The evolution of urami and han has been influenced by industrialization and westernization, and by the neocolonial presence of the United States in the East Asian region. I apply a Western theory or a set of theories to the examination of each author, but remain aware of the difficulties that arise from such a procedure due to the cultural and historical differences between East Asia and the West (i.e., Europe and America). In so doing, I want to create a bridge between Asianists and Western readers, as well as permitting myself an exit from "innate" critical concepts that may themselves be implicated in Confucianism. The theories invoked are all deconstructionist, and are perhaps best summed up by Kathleen Marks's concept of "apotrope," that is to say a moving away from the trope, the latter designating any rigid systems that need to be dismantled in order to bring about reform. These theories are chosen so as to highlight not only the difference between urami and han, but also the similar themes and motifs that recur throughout the works by all six authors. My research opens up various new fields of research, including comparative studies of national-/?a/7, c\ass~han, and women's han, and of male and female writers' interpretations of individualism. - iii - Table of Contents page Abstract ii Table of Contents iv Acknowledgements • vii Stylistic Notes ix Introduction 1 Objectives 1 Existing Research 2 Method and Scope 8 Outline of Chapters and Motifs 14 Chapter One: History and Traditional Sensibilities 23 History 24 Existing Views of Urami and Han 39 Chapter Two: Hirabayashi Taiko and Kang Ky5ng-ae Hirabayashi Taiko 51 Biographical Background.. : 51 The Apotropaic and the Language of the Body 55 "The Self-Mockery" 61 The Origin of Urami. 67 Miscarriage and the Apotropaic Strategy 76 "In the Charity Ward" 78 Back to "Self-Mockery" 82 Kang Kyong-ae 88 Biographical Background 89 "Can the Subaltern Speak?" 91 Human Problem 94 From Han to Class Solidarity Through the Process of Individuation 99 The Intellectual versus the Labouring Class 104 Can the Intellectual Speak for the Proletariat? 108 - iv - Salt HO From Chong (Compassionate Attachment) to Won (Venomous Grudges) 116 The Traces of the Intellectual: A Disembodied Voice 121 Chapter Three: Kono Taeko and 0 Chong-hui Kono Taeko 130 Freud versus Deleuze 131 Kono's Understanding of Sadism and Masochism 132 Transcendence Through Negation 135 An Unexpected Voice 137 Borrowing the Father's Body 141 Waking up from the Sadistic Fantasy 150 0 Chong-hui 154 O's Poetic Realism 155 Evoking the Legend 157 Plot Structure and Summary of "Weaver Woman" 158 Clues 168 Chronotope and Carnivalesque Ambivalence 172 Unweaving the Entangled Chronotopes 176 The Final Enigma: The Six-Fingered Man 183 The Dissolution of Han 187 Visions of a New World: Kono versus 0 188 Chapter Four: Oba Minako and Pak Wan-so Oba Minako The Language of the Sybil 191 Oba's Taoist View of Language: The Language of the Individual.. 194 The Language of Exile 200 "The Smile of a Mountain Witch" 205 An Example of Previous Critiques on "The Smile" 212 Reading Minds or Learning to Repeat Others' Words 214 "The Repairman's Wife" 221 - v - The Dissolution of Urami. 226 Dismantling the Old Language and Assembling a New Language 231 Russ the Healer or Shaman in the Land of Exile 233 Pak Wan-s6 237 What is "Outsider's Consciousness"? 237 Colloquialism as a Narrative Strategy 242 Brief Historical Background 243 //a;?-talk 245 The Use of Profanities and Abusive Language 247 Naked Tree 247 The Origin of Han 253 The Process of Individuation 255 Little America in Seoul 261 The Artist Ok and the Economic Pragmatist Tae-su..; 278 Oba's versus Pak's Encounter with American Culture 292 Conclusion 295 End Notes 303 Works Cited and Consulted 326 - vi - Acknowledgements I am indebted to the co-directors of my dissertation, Professors Bruce Fulton and Eva-Marie Kroller, who so generously shared their time and knowledge. Professor Bruce Fulton guided me through the translation of Korean literature, prepared me for conference presentations, and helped me with the publication of my works. Professor Eva-Marie Kroller showed me how to write good research proposals in order to obtain the necessary funds, repeatedly read my dissertation at all stages, corrected my mistakes, directed my attention to crucial points that I missed, and showed me what dedicated scholarship is all about. But above all, I am grateful to her for believing all these years in my ability to complete the dissertation, and for her straightforward advice. 1 thank all members of my dissertation advisory committee. Professor Sharalyn Orbaugh was always ready to share books, knowledge, and information, and she was wholeheartedly supportive of my research project. In particular, her essays inspired me and gave me the courage to consider my dissertation topic worthwhile. I am grateful to Professor Steven Taubeneck for his time and encouragement. With his guidance in critical theory, I was able to organize thoughts and ideas. I am deeply indebted to Professors Susan Fisher and Janice Brown, who worked so hard for me when I applied for a postdoctoral fellowship, and for encouragement throughout. I thank Susan and Gordon Fisher from the bottom of my heart for copy-editing my dissertation despite their busy schedule and for bringing to my attention up-to-date journal and newspaper articles on Korea and Japan. I would also like to thank the many professors who assisted me in various ways: Professors Nancy Frelick, Emily Goetz, Graham Good, Valerie Raoul, Ross King, Yun-shik Chang, Donald Baker, and Joshua Mostow. I am indebted to Professors Yi Nam-ho and Kim U-ch'ang in Korea University, and Yi Chae~s6n in Sogang University for their kindness and willingness to help me collect research material. In particular, Professor Yi Chae-son generously donated to me several of his expensive books. These became important source-material for my research. I am deeply indebted to Professor Oshima Hitoshi at Fukuoka University for his selfless and enthusiastic support for my search for the Japanese research material. Professor Chungmoo Choi kindly directed me to books and articles about han. My dear friends Tomoko Goto and Lucia Park, with their expertise as librarians, gladly involved themselves in my research by searching databases and libraries throughout the world for books and articles that I needed. My gratitude goes to all the library staff in both the Asian Library and the Inter-Library Loans Division of Koerner Library. Mr. Yi Yong-jun, a doctoral candidate at Harvard, did not hesitate to share his knowledge of the source material on Korean women writers at the beginning of my research. I am grateful to Hanako Masutani who spent many weekends proofreading the first draft, one chapter after another, and encouraged me to keep writing. My thanks also go to Christine Dawson in Comparative Literature and Mina Wong in Asian Studies for their practical help and for always being there. I thank SSHRCC for a doctoral fellowship (2000-2002) and the Korea Foundation for granting me a generous graduate student's scholarship in 2000. I thank my parents, brothers, sisters, my son, and my friends who have patiently waited until my dissertation was completed. Stylistic Notes 1. When the author's original text is quoted, the translation comes first followed by the original text.