멜로드라마로 다시 쓴 한국 근대사-김주혜의 『작은 땅의 야수들 』에 나타난 서사 전략 연구

Abstract

Korean American writer Juhea Kim’s novel Beasts of a Little Land portrays the lives of Koreans who strive to preserve human dignity and love amid the turbulent history of colonial occupation, liberation, and national division. The novel employs diverse narrative strategies to make Korea’s complex modern history accessible to global readers. One notable aspect is its use of the tiger as a central motif, through which the novel articulates its thematic concerns. The tiger is not merely an ethnic emblem or an exotic marker; rather, it functions as a narrative device that mediates and transmits the memories and emotions of ordinary individuals who have been excluded from elite, capital-H History. Furthermore, as a symbol of hope in a still-violent world, the tiger universalizes the particular experience of Korean history within a global horizon. Another notable feature of Beasts of a Little Land lies in its use of a melodramatic moral dichotomy as a means of conveying history. The colonial history reconstructed around the March First Movement and Korea’s liberation intuitively exposes the violence and falsity of Japanese imperialism, while the intersecting trajectories of a Korean independence activist and a Japanese soldier invite reflection on the right direction of history and the question of moral humanity. At the same time, the novel’s variation on melodramatic conventions reveals the complexity of human nature. Although its characters are clearly shaped by a conflict between good and evil, they are neither portrayed as national heroes nor as embodiments of imperial power, and the narrative ultimately distinguishes itself from the simple formula of popular romance in which virtue guarantees victory in love. However, the novel’s attempt to appeal to a wide readership yields ambivalent results. Although it highlights women’s agency and sexuality, its depiction of post-March First history remains largely dominated by male protagonists, thereby revealing the limitations of its gendered characterization. In addition, while the final section’s spatial and temporal leap—from Mount Paektu in the north to Mount Halla in the south—constructs a grand narrative of solidarity and love, it may also dilute readers’ immersion in the story. Beasts of a Little Land was recognized for both literary quality and popular appeal through its receipt of the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award for Foreign Fiction. However, in the process of reconstructing history, the novel reveals certain limitations, such as a lack of gender sensitivity, narrative simplification, and abrupt transitions. This study examines the intersection of the novel’s achievements and shortcomings, illuminating the current state of Korean historical fiction as it circulates within the global publishing sphere.