경계를 넘나드는 재일서사 이민진의『파친코(PACHINKO)』론

Abstract

This paper examines Min–Jin Lee’s Pachinko, a novel that surpasses nationalistic interest and imagination, within the history of Zainichi literature.　The racist view of the Japanese toward the Korean–Japanese society intensified with the rise of the “anti–Korean” sentiment in the 2000s. New authors like Hwang Yeong–Chi and Choi Sil emerged and shed light on the young Korean–Japanese generation facing this sentiment. Tokyo Ueno Station, a novel by Yu Mi–Ri that won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2020, revealed the falseness of the “emperor system” in the midst of the social inequality in Japan. These authors show that Zainichi literature still conveys the critical mind embracing the universality and specificity of modern and contemporary society. Min–Jin Lee, a 1.5th–generation Korean–American author released Pachinko to the world after spending nearly 30 years writing. While adhering to the typical subject matter and theme of Zainichi literature, Lee portrays “differences” in a form of a chronicle by objectively and elegantly describing the attitude of human beings who face the providence of an unequal world. The attitude of the author, who moved away from the historical context of East Asia, is revealed in her work which imparts historical facts through the creative use of the English language. Pachinko can function as a mirror that reflects the current status of the Zainichi literature; it leads to diverse interpretations. In this sense, a more elaborate approach to this work would be necessary.