M.A. - East Asian Languages and Literatures (Korean)
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Item Porous Language: The Practice of Generative Writing in Kim Nyŏng-hŭi's Short Stories(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Jeon, Young Hee; Krolikoski, David; East Asian Languages and LiteraturesThis thesis attempts to introduce the non-canonical Korean woman writer Kim Nyŏng-hŭi (b. 1936), whose literary texts never stop questioning transcendental, self-evident language since her debut in 1961. Kim’s two short stories, “Kainsaengsŏl” (A Theory of Pseudo-life, 1965) and “Pantchok t'aeyang” (Half of the Sun, 2013), will be analyzed with special attention paid to the writer’s sensitivity to the violence of language by locating the texts in the historical and social context of South Korea. In chronological order, I first read the nuanced presentation of a “prostitute” in “Kainsaengsŏl” as Kim challenging the binary of women schema in 1960s’ patriarchal nationalist discourse. Then, a polysemic text “Pantchok t'aeyang” will be analyzed on both textual and structural levels, highlighting Kim’s successful use of defamiliarization and wordplay as a tool to deconstruct “language” in the text. Incorporating Naoki Sakai’s view of translation into my reading of the text, I also attempt to shed light on the active role of the readers as “translators.”Item Revealing New Understandings of Korean Webtoon Through Fan Translation: Two Translations of Cherry Blossoms After Winter(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Granoff, Hannah Britteny; Krolikoski, David; East Asian Languages and LiteraturesThe BL, or “boys’ love,” genre of webtoons has continuously grown in popularity in South Korea since its introduction to the peninsula in the late 1980s via Japanese manga (genre was called yaoi at the time). As many BL narratives present toxic and oftentimes violent romantic relationships, the recently popular webtoon Cherry Blossoms After Winter (Kyŏul china pŏtkkot • 겨울 지나 벚꽃, 2017-2022) by author/artist Bamwoo stands out from other webtoons. Cherry Blossoms is a prime example of a BL webtoon that provides positive representation of young queer love and approaches the sensitive subject of discovering one’s sexuality and coming out in a sympathetic manner. Along with its general significance to a queer audience, I also analyze two English translations (the official translation and one fan translation) and the variations of the narrative that they reveal.Item Dis/locating an intellectual in colonial Korea: the case of Yi In-hwa in Mansejŏn (1924)(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Choi, Min KooMy thesis is an examination of the ways in which Korean intellectuals, who were caught between tradition and modernity, and between familial obligation and individualism under the oppression of Japanese colonial rule, are represented in the modern Korean novel during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). Yom Sang-sop (1897-1963) demonstrates one prototype of the Korean intellectuals as spectator in his novel, Mansejon. Yi In-hwa, the protagonist of the novel, faces two problems, which are the oppression of Japanese colonial rule and of the traditional family. First of all, In-hwa is oppressed by familial obligation that he cannot reconcile with his Western individualism. His negative perspective on the traditional family extends to his criticism of the backwardness and the impracticality of Korean tradition. Yi In-hwa also recognizes that the Japanese colonial rule reshapes Korean society into an effective colony, but does not bring the progress and development of modernity. During his time in both countries, he criticizes Korean people's victimization and their subjection by the Japanese colonial rule in the process of colonial modernity. Moreover, this colonial reconstruction of Korean society destroys Korean indigenous cultures and depicts them as inferior and uncivilized, in order to seize cultural hegemony. However, In-hwa's recognition does not lead to confrontation with the inequity of Japanese colonial rule or with the backwardness of Korean tradition. He turns away from the Korean intellectual's obligation to make a mission of the search for the paths to Korean modernity. He escapes into the little freedoms and privileges of an intellectual, which include an indulgence in decadent cafe culture and free love relationships allowed by the Japanese colonial rule.