Trauma, National Belonging, and Politics: The Cultural Production of North Korean Arrivals in South Korea Under the Cold War Legacy

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dc.contributor.advisorBae, Christopher J.
dc.contributor.authorShin, Hae Eun
dc.contributor.departmentAnthropology
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-02T23:41:13Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.degreePh.D.
dc.embargo.liftdate2026-06-24
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/108318
dc.subjectCultural anthropology
dc.subjectAsian studies
dc.subjectCold War legacy
dc.subjectcultural productions
dc.subjectethnic nationalism
dc.subjectmigrants
dc.subjectNorth Korean migrants
dc.subjectSouth Korea
dc.titleTrauma, National Belonging, and Politics: The Cultural Production of North Korean Arrivals in South Korea Under the Cold War Legacy
dc.typeThesis
dcterms.abstractThis dissertation examines how migrants develop and maintain a sense of national belonging to their country of birth while at the same time demonstrating their social belonging in their host country. Taking the case of North Korean arrivals (NKAs) in South Korea, I specifically focus on NKAs who engage in creative activities as their primary occupation, including poets, novelists, painters, web cartoonists, playwrights, film and theatre directors, and YouTube creators. Based on ethnographic fieldwork – through interviews and participant observation – conducted in South Korea between April 2021 and May 2022, this research analyzes how NKA cultural producers use their creative activities as a political medium in fulfilling their emotional obligations to their compatriots in North Korea. As trauma survivors of the dictatorship, NKA cultural producers seek a compassionate understanding of North Koreans from South Korean and global audiences, anticipating this will ultimately lead to change in North Korea. To this end, NKA cultural producers demonstrate their political alignment with South Korean audiences by manifesting an identification with anti-communist ultra-conservatism. I analyze how NKA cultural producers strategically exploit two discourses – those of Korean ethnic nationalism and Cold War ideology – in order to be accepted as co-ethnics and not lose the South Korean audience’s support. I conclude that NKA cultural producers stabilize their political and social positioning in South Korea while expressing resistance to the North Korean dictatorship through their creative works as North Korean expatriates.
dcterms.extent230 pages
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.publisherUniversity of Hawai'i at Manoa
dcterms.rightsAll UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
dcterms.typeText
local.identifier.alturihttp://dissertations.umi.com/hawii:12039

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