고통과 기억: 식민지근대를 횡단하는 섹슈얼리티 : 『김약국의 딸들』을 중심으로

Abstract

<The Daughters of Kim`s Pharmacy> depicts the downfall of the Kim’s Pharmacy family in the midst of wild waves of the times from the late Joseon Dynasty up to the colonial ruling period. The spatial background of the novel is the port city 'Tongyoung', or Topos that has condensed the contradictions and changes of the transition period characterized by pre-modern/modern, colonialism/imperialism, and feudalism/capitalism. The social crisis that the Kim`s Pharmacy family is faced with is a modern tragedy. That is, <the Daughters of Kim`s Pharmacy> is a novelistic project that reflects on the modern tragedies of the late Joseon Dynasty period This novel does not attribute the downfall to the Japanese imperialism but, rather, focuses on conflict of the values of colonialism, capitalism and modernity. Kim`s Pharmacy family represses the gender in a bid to sustain their family. At the first scene of the novel, Kim Bong-nyong interprets the signifier of heterogeneity represented by 'yellow hair' as an existential crisis and makes a violent response accordingly. This pattern is repeated and varied within the text throughout the novel. Kim's refusal to accept Yongnan' s love results from feudalism, patriarchal order, and pedigree-oriented prejudice, Consequently, Yongnan’s sexuality is suppressed by the dominating systems of the time, that is, pre-modernism, patriarchalism and Christianity. The first daughter, Yong-suk, is a 'husbandless widow' and 'outsider' who is forced to exert maternity only. However, Yong-suk discloses her desire toward man and seeks to promote the capital increase by jump on the male-oriented economic bandwagon at the time, which is fascinating although it is represented by Femme Fatale. The fourth daughter, Yong-ok, takes cares of household chores. However, the relationship between Gi-du and Yong-ok prearranged by Kim`s Pharmacy reveals the true nature of a loveless and sexless family and eventually results in Yong-ok’ tragic death. Yong-bin, a focalizer-character, appears as if he were the writer's alter ego, criticizing the patriarchal system and taking part in the Gwangju Student Independence Movement but Yong-bin’s marriage to Hong-seop, which is also prearranged by a contract between two families ends in failure. If so, what is the cause of the tragedy demonstrated in <the Daughters of Kim's Pharmacy> The division of the Kim`s Pharmacy was accelerated amid the structural changes of history and the survival of the family based on the gender repression ended up failure. The downfall of family is a tragedy in and of itself but is not fully mourned as it is the fall of the masculine modernity.