CHEJU AND KWANGJU
HEALING THE NATIONAL TRAUMA
IN THE WORKS OF HAN KANG
CHEJU AND KWANGJU
HEALING THE NATIONAL TRAUMA
IN THE WORKS OF HAN KANG
Author(s): Justyna Najbar-MillerSubject(s): Other Language Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: Han Kang; South Korea; Cheju; Kwangju; massacre; genocide; state violence; national trauma; soul; national identity;
Summary/Abstract: The paper will focus on two novels written by a well-known South Koreanwriter, Han Kang (1970-), namely Here Comes the Boy (Sonyŏn i onda, 2014)and I Do Not Bid Farewell (Chakpyŏl haji annŭnda, 2021), which deal respec-tively with the events of the Kwangju Uprising in 1980 and the Cheju Uprisingin 1948, exposing the massacres of civilians by South Korean authorities. Theaim of the article is to present these tragic events, which were not accuratelyportrayed in the Republic of Korea until the end of 1980s and – using DonaldKalsched’s theory of trauma – demonstrate that Han Kang acts like a shamancrossing the boundaries between an ordinary and non-ordinary reality in orderto work through the national trauma, heal the broken souls and bring peace tothe traumatized communities.
Journal: Politeja - Pismo Wydziału Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
- Issue Year: XXII/2025
- Issue No: 95
- Page Range: 311-332
- Page Count: 12
- Language: English
