우광훈의 『흔적』에 나타난 문혁의 상흔

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the scars of the Cultural Revolution left in contemporary Chinese people and how such scars had been healed through analyzing Heunjeok(흔적) written by Korean-Chinese novelist Woo Gwang Hoon. The Cultural Revolution, the greatest tragedy in Chinese contemporary history, is left as a trauma to all Chinese people and continues to influence the life of contemporary Chinese people. Although about 30 years have passed since the beginning of reform and opening after the Cultural Revolution, however, it is still tabooed in China to talk about the memories of the Cultural Revolution. Woo Gwang Hoon’s Heunjeok is noteworthy in that it covers the Cultural Revolution fictionally as a trauma heavily influencing contemporary Chinese people’s life and looks for ways to overcome the trauma. The characters of the Cultural Revolution generation in the story suffer different traumatic scars left by the Cultural Revolution, showing compulsive behavior, trying to escape from the unbearable reality, enduring the hellish reality, or attempting to give up their lives out of pain and despair. On the other hand, they seek a way to overcome the trauma of the Cultural Revolution by looking straight at their problems, starting a new life, facing death in a brave attitude, or converting to a religion. Through this process of configuration, Woo Gwang Hoon shows fictionally his awakening that the way out of the trauma left by the experience of the Cultural Revolution is remembering and understanding the tragic accidents in the days of the Cultural Revolution and grieving over the days with a genuine heart.