歴史が刻まれる女の身体 —李良枝「かずきめ」における身体をめぐって—

Abstract

In comparison with autobiographical works produced by other writers, Lee Yangji’s Kazukime has a notably strong flavor of fiction in the overall structure of the novel. This flavor of fiction lend the work a unique worldview, distanced from Lee herself. This feature contrasts with her other literary works, which are ultimately reduced to her character. In Kazukime, “she” lives alone with her Korean-Japanese mother. After the death of her mother, the concept of Chosun is only internal to her and no longer serves as a point of connection with the outer world. The notion of Chosun represented inside her is expressed through her body in the novel. It is a distinctive feature of Kazukime that this notion of body is manifested in the body of a woman isolated from mainstream society. In the present work, I attempt to provide a new perspective from which the literary works of Lee Yangji can be studied without merely examining them in terms of the writer. To this end, I shall analyze the expressions of body used in Kazukime in light of the history-engraved woman’s body.