재미코리안 이민문학의 형성과정과 주제의식 고찰

Abstract

The history of immigration of Koreans to the United State is formed in close relationship with Korea’s modern history. Korean-Americans’ literature is the record describing the historical and socio-cultural aspects of such immigrants and immigrant society. Particularly, the first-ever literary magazine issued in the US, 『Horizon』 and 『Korean American Literature』 and 『New York Literature』 have contained such stories through literary works. Literary subjects shown in literary magazines and anthologies which represent such historical and socio-cultural aspects include hometown consciousness (homeland), motherland’s modern history, national awareness and self-identity, conflict with mainstream society, racial discrimination and consciousness as a stranger, conflict between mother tongue and mainstream language, daily happening in private life, and religious conflict. The literary magazines, 『Korean American Literature』 and 『New York Literature』 are basically significant in broadening the horizon on Korean literature and literature in Korean language across the US. It is because, while many literary magazines and works in America including 『Korean American Literature』 and 『New York Literature』 serve as the venue of dialogues implying the spiritual value and identity of such immigrants and immigrant society, they also partially play the role of leading Korean literature and literature in Korean language into world literature. It is so particularly as the Korean literature in the US has obtained literary universality with its unique reved-up gestures (language, expression) from the perspective of diaspora. Nevertheless, presently the Korean immigration literature in the US faces a challenge to secure quality along with increasing quantity of literature either in Korean or English. It is necessary to proactively draw the positive image of diaspora symbolized as flexible view of the world, trans-nation and hybridity beyond one-country single-blood-based nationalism while communicating with Korean literary world and Korean people’s immigration literary world, for instance. Such a decentralized and multicentric world view of Korean literature in the US seems, of course, just the task also demanded from other regional (continental, national) immigration literatures.