"Sun-i Samch’on" Hyun Ki-younga jako świadectwo traumy mieszkańców wyspy Czedżu
'Sun-i Samch’on' by Hyun Ki-young as a Testimony to the Trauma of the Inhabitants of Cheju Island

Author(s): Justyna Najbar-Miller
Subject(s): Other Language Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Sun-i Samch’on; Hyun Ki-young; Cheju; massacre; trauma; testimony
Summary/Abstract: The Cheju Uprising began on April 3, 1948, and was labeled a communist rebellion by the United States Military Government in Korea, which subsequently ordered the suppression of the island. As a result of harsh military and police operations, which according to the official narrative aimed at eradicating communism, an estimated ten percent of Cheju’s population was killed. For decades, the massacre remained a taboo subject in South Korea. The publication of the short story Sun-i Samch’on (1978) by the South Korean writer Hyun Ki-young is regarded as a pivotal moment in bringing this tragedy to light. The aim of this article is to present this work and to discuss its narrative strategies and language as tools for revealing the truth about the trauma experienced by the inhabitants of Cheju.

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