Cheju and Kwangju: Healing the National Trauma in the Works of Han Kang

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Cheju and Kwangju: Healing the National Trauma in the Works of Han Kang
Authors: Justyna Najbar-Miller
Source: Politeja, Vol 22, Iss 1(95) (2025)
Publisher Information: Ksiegarnia Akademicka Sp. z.o.o., 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Subject Terms: Kwangju, genocide, South Korea, Cheju, Law, Political science, Han Kang, massacre
Description: The paper will focus on two novels written by a well-known South Korean writer, Han Kang (1970-), namely Here Comes the Boy (Sonyŏn i onda, 2014) and I Do Not Bid Farewell (Chakpyŏl haji annŭnda, 2021), which deal respectively with the events of the Kwangju Uprising in 1980 and the Cheju Uprising in 1948, exposing the massacres of civilians by South Korean authorities. The aim of the article is to present these tragic events, which were not accurately portrayed in the Republic of Korea until the end of 1980s and – using Donald Kalsched’s theory of trauma – demonstrate that Han Kang acts like a shaman crossing the boundaries between an ordinary and non-ordinary reality in order to work through the national trauma, heal the broken souls and bring peace to the traumatized communities.
Document Type: Article
ISSN: 2391-6737
1733-6716
DOI: 10.12797/politeja.22.2025.95.18
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/9f28a14f9b4642a0b94d0e847a0a17c7
Rights: CC BY NC ND
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....08f0f8694575c8d76ff300fdd26eddf8
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
Abstract:The paper will focus on two novels written by a well-known South Korean writer, Han Kang (1970-), namely Here Comes the Boy (Sonyŏn i onda, 2014) and I Do Not Bid Farewell (Chakpyŏl haji annŭnda, 2021), which deal respectively with the events of the Kwangju Uprising in 1980 and the Cheju Uprising in 1948, exposing the massacres of civilians by South Korean authorities. The aim of the article is to present these tragic events, which were not accurately portrayed in the Republic of Korea until the end of 1980s and – using Donald Kalsched’s theory of trauma – demonstrate that Han Kang acts like a shaman crossing the boundaries between an ordinary and non-ordinary reality in order to work through the national trauma, heal the broken souls and bring peace to the traumatized communities.
ISSN:23916737
17336716
DOI:10.12797/politeja.22.2025.95.18