재일조선인 문학의 이중언어 현실과 언어 의식

Abstract

The main debate in discussions about Korean-Japanese diaspora literature since liberation has centered around the ideologies rooted in language, ethnicity, and nation, and their relevance to literary works. This perspective biases understanding of Korean-Japanese diaspora literature through external perspectives defined by North and South, rather than viewing it from within as a subjective viewpoint. Korean-Japanese diaspora literature contains internal complexities that defy uniformity based on specific languages, generations, and ideologies, with the most contentious issue being the dual-language reality of using both Korean and Japanese. The linguistic patterns in Korean-Japanese diaspora society can be categorized into cases where the mother tongue (Korean) matches or mismatches with the native language. The former pertains to the first generation born in colonial Korea and later liberated in Japan, while the latter includes those born in Japan post-liberation who have always lived there, and those born in colonial Korea who received Japanese education and practically do not know Korean. Generally, the mother tongue and native language are often mixed without discrimination of meaning, yet in Korean-Japanese diaspora society, distinguishing between them is necessary. The term "mother tongue" often emphasizes the identity between language and country or the association of language use with national or ethnic identity, but in current Korean-Japanese diaspora society, rather than alignment, the predominant case is mixing, making language a highly debated issue in Korean-Japanese diaspora literature. For Korean-Japanese diaspora, using Korean as a mother tongue suggests a linguistic opposition to Japanese as the dominant language within Japan. Strategies that a minority language can adopt toward a dominant language appear as assimilation, coexistence, and resistance. Coexistence can be further divided into passive and active differences, resulting in four main scenarios: first, abandoning one's language and assimilating into the dominant language; second, resisting the dominant language through the ethnic language; third, passively using both the dominant and mother languages; fourth, actively using both minority and dominant languages as a lingua franca. In Korean-Japanese diaspora literature, language usage is limited to these three scenarios of assimilation, resistance, and coexistence. Additionally, as a special situation, the issue of translated works in Korean-Japanese diaspora literature is related to the ideology of conflict and confrontation between North and South Korea, so it should be carefully examined. The creative activities of using the mother tongue in Korean-Japanese diaspora literature have been aimed at preserving the ethnic identity of Korean-Japanese, who have been gradually assimilated into Japanese society since liberation. It can be understood as a result of the will to resist oneself against the practical limitations of living in the colonial power Japan. Even if they admit the inevitability of using Japanese as Korean-Japanese, they strategically choose to use their mother tongue consciously in writing and creative activities. The coexistence of the mother tongue and Japanese in Korean-Japanese diaspora literature faithfully reflects the bilingual reality of Korean-Japanese diaspora society. Most Korean-Japanese diaspora members are familiar with Japanese as a daily language, and the reason for their lack of proficiency or the impossibility of creating their mother tongue itself can be found there. Choosing the coexistence method, which recognizes and accepts the appearance of Korean-Japanese diaspora society in a bilingual reality beyond the confrontation of the native and Japanese languages, reflects the reality that Korean-Japanese diaspora literature has been performed in a very small minority since the third generation. Therefore, it aims to achieve the individuality and uniqueness of Korean-Japanese literature as a form of resistance to Japanese as a truly classical language.