한국계 미국 여성의 혼종적 정체성: 99 Histories에 나타난 두 가지 서사구조를 중심으로

Abstract

This study delves into how the 99 Histories written by Korean American playwright, Julia Cho, reveals the difficulty of the 2nd generation Korean American woman's identity formation. In order to get into the mainstream culture, a 2nd Korean American woman has to pass through not only ‘the growing pains’, also a barrier of the racial and the gender issues. On the one hand she needs to assimilate into the American society, on the other hand she needs to inherit the Korean culture and identity from her parent. These two different identities sometimes confront and negotiate with each other. In order to describe the dilemma of Korean American woman's identity formation, this play adopts two different narrative structures; one is a traditional western bildungsroman narrative, and the other is a mother-daughter romance used frequently in Asian American women's writings. These two conflictive narratives reveal that the existing identity formation reinforces the western white male-centered ideology and that the Korean American woman should search for an alternative identity formation. This play deconstructing the western bildungsroman narrative and the mother-daughter relationship, can show a new hybrid 2nd Korean American woman's identity. In doing so, this play can make audience recognize its racial, ethnic, and gender politics behind the scene.