‘야키니쿠(焼肉)’가 있는 풍경 -‘저항적 정체성’이라는 문법을 넘어서 ‘재일’에 관해 말하기

Abstract

This study aims to newly interpret several texts, including Jeong Euishin’s Yakiniku Dragon, paying attention to the “Scenery with Yakiniku” that frequently appears in Zainichi Korean writers’ literature and movies. Yakiniku has been recognized as food and cuisine derived from Joseon or Korea in postwar Japan, and Zainichi Koreans themselves have also put forward it as a representative of their national identity. Accordingly, “Scenery with Yakiniku” was affirmed as an expression of the strong vitality or emancipatory energy of Zainichi Koreans who were excluded from the mainstream Japanese society, and was given the meaning of “resistance” or “anti-power” of that minority group. ​However, if we look at it from the perspective of the relationship between humans and humans, or between humans and objects, rather than the inner side of the subject or the level of identity, ​It can be seen that there are more complicated circumstances in the “Scenery with Yakiniku,” where characters of various ethnic and political characteristics intersect and main events develop against this background. If we see networks as “patterns of interconnections and exchanges that organize social and aesthetic experiences,” then Yakiniku, a key connection point in Zainichi’s network, needs to be re-recognized as actor that bilaterally composes patterns of interconnection and exchange with Japanese mainstream society, beyond the dichotomy of “resistance” or “conformity.” Such an attempt will be an experimental method to visualize that various objects (non-human agency) as well as a wide human network are closely involved in the meaning and production of texts, and will be an opportunity to connect texts into more multi-layered contexts.