Post-Traumatic Reconstruction in and through Anarchist from Colony

Abstract

Inspired by Cathy Caruth’s concept of traumatic awakening and survival, this paper examines Lee Joon-ik’s Anarchist from Colony [박열] (2017) and historicizes the film as part of the national imagination of cultural reconstruction and recreation of national independence and sovereignty in postcolonial Korea. It reads the production and consumption of cultural texts about the independence fighters such as Park Yeol as repetition compulsion on a national scale. As a response to the enigma of survival that resulted from abrupt liberation, there is a desire in Koreans to reassure themselves that independence from Japan and the recovery of their national sovereignty were a product of their own efforts. The current generation of Koreans, who have not experienced colonialism firsthand, must indirectly suffer the pain of the previous generation, just like the father in Freud’s dream of the burning child. The unchangeability of the past results in collective trauma through guilt and strengthens the repetition compulsion that is manifested in the nation’s commemoration of independence movements. The paper also argues that the film successfully extends the concept of “the people” [민족] to encompass not only the Korean race but also anyone who shares their anti-imperial sentiments. Park’s anarchism aids this depiction by slightly distancing him from his colonized status and allowing him to be more easily grouped with like-minded Japanese people. The film’s genre as a legal drama is effective in depicting Park’s fight not just as a typical anti-colonial protest but as a larger fight for freedom and truth. The universality of these values ensures that his fight is difficult to find fault with, which in turn aids the film’s original purpose of depicting him as an important national figure who committed his life to the cause of national independence.