『여우소녀』에 나타난 또 하나의 디아스포라와 여성의 몸

Abstract

This paper explores how Nora Okja Keller represents the alternative diaspora and female body in her second novel, Fox Girl, focusing on the tragedy and inhumanity of “kijich'on” prostitution, as one of the consequences of US military presence in Korea after the Korean War. The paper pays particular attention to the fates of Amerasian teenaged girls and shows how Duk Hee, a former Korean comfort woman, and her two daughters, Hyun Jin and Sookie represent their female bodies as a commodity in the capitalist society, positioning themselves as the alternative diaspora cast out from the Korean culture, even within the Korean peninsula. Based on Stuart Hall's arguments on cultural identity and diaspora, Hyun Jin and Sookie challenge the contemporary concept of diasporic identity, not as an already accomplished fact but as a production in process, always constituted within representation, paralleled with their various transformations like a fox girl. Keller's writing style illustrates how a feminist writer could call up the empathy and the insight from the readers who have no personal acquaintance with or understanding of the “kijich'on” prostitutes.