탈북 작가의 글쓰기와 자본의 문제

초록

In this paper, we examined the trend of writing by North Korean defectors and related issues of capitalism. The number of defectors surged as North Korea went through the so-called period of ‘Arduous March’ in the mid-1990s. Then as social discourses on North Korean defection became widespread in the 2000s, growing attention was given to defector literature. Books written by South Korean writers featuring North Korean defectors were published, and North Korean defectors themselves produced writing of various genres. Their writing materialized unusual experiences of defectors and showed their desire for testimony. North Korean defectors are entangled in a complex web of issues concerning human rights, ethnicity, division of the country, and international laws, and perspectives on these issues are an important matter of dialectics that combines peculiarity of a divided country with universality of human rights for a small group of the oppressed. The relationship between North Korean defectors and capitalism is particularly pronounced. We cannot see defectors merely as an instrument to observe and criticize problems and contradictions within South Korean society. In this article, we examined North Korean defectors’ desire for writing and related issues of capitalism, based on novels written by defectors since 2000. Specifically, we focused on writers who have been active and publishing steadily, including Kim Yu-gyeong, Lee Ji-myeong, Do Myeoung-hak, and Jang Hae-seong. In the past, emphasis has been given to how North Korean defectors were described in novels written by South Korean writers, and how their perception of capitalism led to criticism of South Korean society. In comparison, we examined North Korea’s Jangmadang(Unofficial market) economy as described by defectors, their perception of interchangeability in the course of escaping from North Korea, and their exploration of capitalism in South Korean society; we also analyzed the relationship between North Korean defectors’ writing and its marketability. Description of defectors’ struggle to adapt to South Korean society reveals the difficulty of being reborn into a capitalistic society as Homo Economicus. It could also affect thinking of the public of South Korean society. Defectors reveal themselves as ‘different’ beings in South Korean society, positioning them creative nomads, and such existence provides a new opportunity for co-mingling in South Korean society.

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