김정은 시대 북한 소설에 나타난 평양 공간 재현 양상 연구 - 사회주의 평등과 사적 욕망의 갈등 -

Abstract

Pyongyang is a special space in North Korean society. The spatial status of Pyongyang can be seen through the gap between Pyongyang and other regions, and the occurrence of spatial gaps within Pyongyang. Redevelopment of Pyongyang is actively taking place from the construction of Changjeon Street in 2012 to the construction of Yeomyeong Street in 2017. After the inauguration of the Kim Jong-un regime, “science-oriented, talent-oriented” was proposed as a national policy. Eunha Scientist Street, Wiseong Scientist Housing District, and Mirae Scientist Street, special spaces for scientists, engineers, and educators, were created in Pyongyang. The hierarchicalization of space for a specific class collides with the egalitarianism of socialist ideology and the guarantee of spatial rights of the working class. We analyzed three notable novels recreating the space of Pyongyang published in the Kim Jong-un era. Thus, the impact of the spatial symbolization of “Pyongyang” on the inner world of the North Korean people was examined. Ju Hong-geon's 「Our Home Song」(<Youth Literature> April 2018) depicts the daily lives of newlyweds living in a skyscraper house in Pyongyang Mirae Scientist Street. The protagonist of this novel, the female professor, is impressive because she reveals her desires for space and the private world of Pyongyang citizens through her inner secret voice. In 「Pyongyang People」(<Youth Literature> April 2016), Kim Gye-suk portrayed that the spatial gap between “Pyongyang and rural areas” is creating social and cultural inequality in the sensuous language of the younger generation. This novel depicts the episodes of a character who was born and raised in Pyongyang, but who came to live in a remote village in a rural area due to his father's choice. For the younger generation of North Korea, the spatial hierarchy of “Pyongyang and outside Pyongyang” is leading to the creation of a strong desire for “entering Pyongyang”. 「Kim Steel Woman」(<Joseon Literature> March 2019) by Han Eun-hui is highly evaluated by the North Korean literature community in 2019.This novel describes the life of the protagonist who was born and raised in Pyeong, and who now lives in'Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex' in Hamgyeongbuk-do after accompanying her husband to the complex. The protagonist in the novel chooses to become a true “Pyongyang woman” by becoming a “Kim Steel Woman”. This novel is meaningful in that it reveals that the North Korean people's intense desire for the Pyongyang space is indirectly being resolved by depicting Pyongyang as a symbolic space. In North Korean literature, Pyongyang is reenacted through the emergence of the private world, the imbalance between regions, and the symbolic space of Pyongyang. Through the literary reenactment of the Pyongyang space, it can be confirmed that spatial inequality is emerging as a problem in North Korean society. The North Korean people seem to ideologically accept the symbolic status of the Pyongyang space, without hiding their spatial desire for Pyongyang.