강용흘의 조국관, 미국관, 세계관

Abstract

Younghill Kang has often been criticized as an Orientalist or a native informant who appeals to the Western readership by volunteering informations on the ‘far away’ East and presenting Eastern culture in negative manners so that the West can be regarded as an ideal place to live in. This paper attempts to rebut such accusations and to recuperate his position as a representative first generation Asian-American writer. This paper examines, in particular, his view on motherland, the U.S. and the world to examine whether his attitude was that of an Orientalist. Rather than “creating the Orient, the Oriental, and his world” based on the biased and pre-existing knowledge of the Orient, which constitutes an Orientalist, this paper claims that, Kang truthfully described Korean culture and history. His praise of the U.S. was not out of his escapism but a way to resist the Japanese colonialism. In addition his seeming lack of patriotism comes not from his egoistic character but from his inclination to pacifism. Providing textual evidences, this paper claims that Kang was deeply influenced by Transcendentalists like Emerson, which resulted in his cosmopolitan philosophy. Finally this paper argues that Kang's literary success was partly indebted to the emerging multi-culturalism in the U.S. since the beginning of the 20th century represented by George Santayana. Thanks to the increased criticism towards Anglo-Saxon oriented mono-culturalism, the American audiences became interested in understanding minor cultures in the U.S.. Kang’s texts functioned as an examplary literary texts to challenge the thus-far dominant American culture by its literary elegance and intricate cultural representations.