현기영의 4ㆍ3소설에 나타난 탈식민의 문제

Abstract

South Korea had been under the Japan's control and have still been under neocolonialism of the United States. Jeju's April 3rd Uprising is closely related to this situation. The uprising happened during the course of building a new country under the influence of the United States' colonialism. Hence, light should be shed on post-colonialism when discussing the issue. This paper explores post-colonial issues that appear in the April 3rd literature with focus on Hyun Gi-young's novels. Hyun Gi-young points out, in "Crows in the Doryung Ridge" (1979) and "The Story of a Sea Lion" (1979), that the April 3rd Uprising has close relations with Japanese imperialism, which is elaborated in "The Holy Life" (1991). He views the April 3rd Uprising as national and international issues, not as an incident that happened in the distinct situation of a periphery. It proves that Jeju people's effort to overcome the colonial situation resulted in the April 3rd Uprising. Hyun Gi-young reveals, through "Asphalt" (1984), "The Holy Life" (1991), "Iron and Flesh" (1991), and "Thirsty Gods" (1992), the relations between the uprising and the United States. In his novels, the voice raised towards the United States has been elaborated and intensified in order to establish the macroscopic view of the April 3rd Uprising. In the end, it can be argued that he views the April 3rd Uprising as an uprising against the reality in which the neocolonialism by the United States gets firm. As shown, in Hyun Gi-young's novels, post-colonial issues show meaningful differences according to the periods. In the early period, he raises the issue of post-colonialism related to Japan's imperialism, but the focus shifts towards the United States' imperialism. It is related to the point that he clearly expresses his opinion, according to political and social changes, on the April 3rd Uprising.