원폭(原爆)과 고통의 기억 — 재일시인의 시를 중심으로—

Abstract

The memory of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki functioned as collective memories which depict the national identity of Japan during the postwar era. The literature featuring the atomic bombs emerged during this period, which was treated as a unique genre of literature which describes the incidents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This perspective restricted the range of atomic‐bomb‐experiences to those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in the literature of “victims’ in a narrow sense. They assumed that it was “Japanese people” who suffered from the atomic bombs. It must be noted, however, that 10 percent of the victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was accounted for by Korean residents in Japan. In this article, we analyze the structure of Japan which has eliminated the national identity of the country, the issue of the cold war between the south and the north, and lack of the literature featuring atomic bombs in Korea. We also consider the fundamental reason for why those Korean residents in Japan became victims of the atomic bombs. Stepping back from notes and literary works written by Japanese people about their experiences of atomic bombs, we focus on the essence of agony experienced by the Korean residents in Japan through their memories depicted in the poems by the Zainichi poets who reside in Japan. We bring to the fore the literature of atomic bombs for those who suffered from atomic bombs, who have been intentionally buried in oblivion even in Korea, and also point out the nature of atomic bombs as a historical fact which tends to be exploited to provoke the national identity.