Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T01:02:19.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

In the Southern Half of Our Republic: Cross-Border Writing and Performance in 1960s North Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2022

I Jonathan Kief Open the ORCID record for I Jonathan Kief [Opens in a new window]
I Jonathan Kief*
Affiliation:
Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
*
Email: kief@unc.edu
Get access

Abstract

This article offers a revisionist perspective on the relationship between 1960s North and South Korean literature by showing how writers in the North engaged with and creatively rewrote works from the South. Contextualizing such practices within a longer history of cross-border reading in the North, the article highlights how North Korean poetry and drama from the immediate aftermath of South Korea's April Revolution of 1960 took up South Korean literature's image of the volcano and reimagined it as a symbol of North-South dialogue. The article then turns to Kim Myŏngsu's Mother of the South (1965), showing how the play rewrites the South Korean novelist An Tongnim's short story “Hope” (1963) in such a way as to engineer a convergence with a line of literary representations then being produced in the North about its own colonial-era “revolutionary heritage.” Finally, the article suggests that this convergence ended up reshaping such visions of North Korea's own revolutionary past and the figure of the militant mother that emerged within them.

Keywords

April Revolution of 1960inter-Korean dialogueNorth Korean literaturerevolutionary motherhood
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 81 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 81 - 100
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

Chinsŏng, An. 1966. “Ŏmŏni ŭi sunggohan chŏngsin segye: Yŏn'gŭk <Pukkŭksŏng> ŭl pogo” [The lofty internal world of a mother: After seeing the play North Star]. Chosŏn yesul 124:23–25. ŭl pogo' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=%C5%8Em%C5%8Fni+%C5%ADi+sunggohan+ch%C5%8Fngsin+segye%3A+Y%C5%8Fn'g%C5%ADk+%3CPukk%C5%ADks%C5%8Fng%3E+%C5%ADl+pogo&author=Chins%C5%8Fng+An&publication+year=1966&journal=Chos%C5%8Fn+yesul&volume=124&pages=23-25>Google Scholar
Hamgwang, An. (1956) 1999. Chosŏn munhaksa [A history of Korean literature]. Seoul: Han'guk munhwasa.Google Scholar
Hamgwang, An. 1961. “Hyŏngmyŏng munhak yesul e taehan Kim Il-sŏng wŏnsu ŭi chido pangch'im e taehan yakkan ŭi koch'al” [A consideration of Marshal Kim Il Sung's guiding policy toward revolutionary literary arts]. Chosŏn munhak 165:99–105.Google Scholar
Tongnim, An. 1963. “Hŭimang” [Hope]. Hyŏndae munhak 9 (3): 60–71.Google Scholar
Berthelier, Benoît. 2018. “Encountering the Alien: Alterity and Innovation in North Korean Science Fiction since 1945.” Journal of Korean Studies 23 (2): 369–96.10.1215/21581665-6973369CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Eunsung. 2020. “The Thread of Juche: Vinalon and Materially-Embodied Interdependencies in North Korea, 1930–2018.” PhD diss., Columbia University.Google Scholar
Kŭnwŏn, Cho. 1965. “Chosŏn ŭi ŏmŏni: pulgul ŭi hyŏngmyŏng t'usa Ma Tonghŭi tongji ŭi moch'in Chang Kilbu nyŏsa” [Mother of Korea: Chang Kilbu, the mother of the unyielding revolutionary fighter, Ma Tonghŭi]. Rodong sinmun, October 27.Google Scholar
Tongu, Chŏn. 1963. “Kŭ bunno rŭl anko naa kasira! Namchosŏn han ŏmŏni ege” [Go forward carrying that rage! To a southern Korean mother]. Munhak sinmun, April 30.Google Scholar
Am, Ch’ŏng. 1957. “Namchosŏn esŏ Mije ka ryup'o hanŭn purŭjyoa pandong mihak ŭi ponjil” [The essence of the bourgeois, reactionary aesthetics disseminated in southern Korea by American imperialism]. Chosŏn munhak 122:120–32.Google Scholar
Am, Ch’ŏng. 1958. “Noye ŭi munhak kwa panhang ŭi munhak” [The literature of slavery and the literature of resistance]. Chosŏn munhak 133:164–71.Google Scholar
Chonghyŏn, Chŏng. 2002. “P'ibada wa ‘chuch'e munhak iron’ ui kwallyŏn yangsang” [Aspects of connection between Sea of Blood and “Chuch'e literary theory”]. Han'guk munhak yŏn'gu 25:343–62.Google Scholar
Chosŏn yesul. 1968. “Yŏnggwangsŭrŏun hangil mujang t'ujaeng kwajŏng e ch'angjo toen hyŏngmyŏng yŏn'gŭk (1–3)” [Revolutionary dramas created during the process of the glorious anti-Japanese armed struggle (1–3)]. Chosŏn yesul 142–144.Google Scholar
De Wit, Jerôme. 2015. “Writing under Wartime Conditions: North and South Korean Writers during the Korean War (1950–1953).” PhD diss., Leiden University.Google Scholar
Elfving-Hwang, Joanna. 2012. “Cross-Border Representation in South and North Korean Literatures of the Cold War Period.” In Global Cold War Literatures: Western, Eastern and Postcolonial Perspectives, edited by Hammond, Andrew, 43–57. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gabroussenko, Tatiana. 2010. Soldiers on the Cultural Front: Developments in the Early History of North Korean Literature and Literary Policy. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyo, Han. 1953. “Chayŏnjuŭi rŭl pandae hanŭn t'ujaeng e issŏsŏ ŭi Chosŏn munhak (1–4)” [Korean literature in the struggle against naturalism (1–4)]. Munhak yesul 6 (1)–6 (4).Google Scholar
Sŏrya, Han. 1956. “P'yŏngyang tang kwanha munhak yesul sŏnjŏn ch'ulp’an pumun yŏlsŏngja hoeŭi esŏ han Han Sŏrya tongji ŭi pogo” [Comrade Han Sŏrya's report to the conference of enthusiasts in the literary and cultural propaganda publication division of the Pyongyang district of the Party]. Chosŏn munhak 102:187–213.Google Scholar
Sunmi, Han. 2011. “Han'guk hyŏndae munhak esŏ ŭi ŏmŏni p'yosang kwa hŭisaeng sŏsa” [The mother figure and the sacrifice narrative in modern Korean literature]. Sŏktang nonch'ong 50:465–96.Google Scholar
Han'guk ilbo. 1960a. “3.15 ŭi punhwagu: Masan sakŏn haebu” [The volcanic crater of 3.15: A dissection of the Masan Incident]. March 18.Google Scholar
Han'guk ilbo. 1960b. “Nae adŭl changhage chugŏttkuna!” [My son died gloriously!]. April 24.Google Scholar
Hoài, Thanh. 1967. “Chŏnt'ujŏgin Wŏllam munhak” [Militant Vietnamese literature]. Translated by Ri Sŭngjun. Chosŏn munhak 237–238:137–141.Google Scholar
Hong, Chŏngsŏn. 2008. K'ap’ŭ wa Pukhan munhak [KAPF and North Korean literature]. Seoul: Yŏngnak.Google Scholar
Hughes, Theodore Q. 2012. Literature and Film in Cold War South Korea: Freedom's Frontier. New York: Columbia University Press.10.7312/hugh15748CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kŭmch'an, Hwang. 1960. “Chŏlmŭn sanmaekdŭl” [Young mountain ridges]. Chosŏn ilbo, May 30.Google Scholar
Chuyŏng, Kang. 2015. “1980-nyŏndae Pukhan ŭi tanp'yŏn sosŏl esŏ ch'aja pon Namhan munhak ŭi hŭnjŏk: Kim Kwanil ŭi ‘Ch’ŏngnyŏn kaech’ŏkja ŭi sugi’ wa Ro Chŏngbŏp ŭi ‘Nae kohyang ŭi chagŭn tari’ rŭl chungsim ŭro” [Traces of South Korean literature found in 1980s North Korean short stories: Focusing on Kim Kwanil's “Record of a Young Pioneer” and Ro Chŏngbŏp's “The Small Bridge in My Hometown”]. Han minjok ŏmunhak 71:621–55.Google Scholar
Kief, I Jonathan. 2021. “Reading Seoul in Pyongyang: Cross-Border Mediascapes in Early Cold War North Korea.” Journal of Korean Studies 26 (2): 325–48.10.1215/07311613-9155220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Chaeha. 1960. “Hangil mujang t'ujaeng kwajŏng e ch'angjo toen hyŏngmyŏngjŏk yŏn'gŭk (1–4)” [Revolutionary Dramas Created in the Process of the Anti-Japanese Armed Struggle (1–4)]. Chosŏn yesul 43–46.Google Scholar
Kim, Chaeyong. 1994. Pukhan munhak ŭi yŏksajŏk ihae [A historical understanding of North Korean literature]. Seoul: Munhak kwa chisŏngsa.Google Scholar
Kim, Chonghoe. 2007. “Pukhan munhak e nat'anan Masan ŭigŏ wa 4-wŏl hyŏngmyŏng” [The Masan Uprising and April Revolution as represented in North Korean literature]. Hyŏndae munhak iron yŏn'gu 30:5–25.Google Scholar
Kim, Immanuel. 2018. Rewriting Revolution: Women, Sexuality, and Memory in North Korean Fiction. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.10.1515/9780824873608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Minsŏn. 2020. “1950–1960-nyŏndae Nambukhan SF yŏn'gu” [A study of 1950s–1960s North and South Korean SF]. PhD diss., Dongguk University.Google Scholar
Kim, Myŏnghwa. 1960. Hyŏngmyŏng ŭi kil esŏ: Hyŏngmyŏng chŏnt'ong yŏn'gu charyo (Vol. 1) [On the road of revolution: Research materials on the revolutionary tradition (Vol. 1)]. Pyongyang: Nodongdang ch'ulp’ansa.Google Scholar
Kim, Myŏngsu. 1966. Namnyŏk ŭi ŏmŏni (1–2) [Mother of the South (1–2)]. Chosŏn yesul 114–115:33–48; 33–41.Google Scholar
Kim, Ojun. 1964. “Hangil t'ujaeng sigi e ch'angjo toen hyŏngmyŏngjŏk munhak yesul” [Literary arts created during the era of anti-Japanese struggle]. Choguk 1 (6): 88–93.Google Scholar
Kim, Pongyŏp and Kwiyŏng, Ri. 1967. “Yŏn'gŭk <Pukkŭksŏng>” [The play North Star]. Chosŏn yesul 131:40–43.' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Y%C5%8Fn'g%C5%ADk+%3CPukk%C5%ADks%C5%8Fng%3E&author=Kim+Pongy%C5%8Fp&author=Kwiy%C5%8Fng+Ri&publication+year=1967&journal=Chos%C5%8Fn+yesul&volume=131&pages=40-43>Google Scholar
Kim, Sŏngsu. 2001. “Pukhan ŭi Namhan munhwa yesul insik e taehan yŏksajŏk koch'al” [A historical exploration of North Korea's understanding of South Korean literary arts]. T'ongil chŏngch'aek yŏn'gu 10 (1): 241–68.Google Scholar
Kim, Sŏngsu. 2014. “4.19 wa 1960-nyŏndae Pukhan munhak—Sŏndong kwa sot'ong sai e: Pukhan chakka ŭi 4.19 tamnon kwa chŏnyu pangsik pip'an” [4.19 and 1960s North Korean literature—Between incitement and communication: A critique of North Korean writers’ discourse on 4.19 and their method of appropriation]. Han'guk kŭndae munhak yŏn'gu 30:7–40.Google Scholar
Kim, Sŏngsu. 2018. “1990-nyŏndae ch'o munyeji ŭi t'ongil tamnon kwa Pukhan munhak chŏnyu pangsik pip'an: Pukhan munyeji Chosŏn munhak kwa ŭi maech'esajŏk taehwa” [A critique of the unification discourse and appropriation of North Korean literature in literary and cultural publications of the early 1990s: A media-historical conversation with the North Korean literary and cultural journal Korean Literature]. Sanghŏ hakpo 54:11–47.Google Scholar
Kim, Subŏm. 1966. “P'oong” [Embrace]. Chosŏn munhak 226:49–57.Google Scholar
Kim, Suk-Young. 2010. Illusive Utopia: Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.10.3998/mpub.370207CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Suyŏng. 1961. “Kadao nagadao” [Go, get out]. Hyŏndae munhak 7 (1): 33.Google Scholar
Kim, Suyŏng. 1964a. “Kadao nagadao” [Go, get out]. Chosŏn hwabo 90: n.p.Google Scholar
Kim, Suyŏng. 1964b. “Kadao nagadao” [Go, get out]. Rodongja sinmun, April 19.Google Scholar
Kim, Suzy. 2013. Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Suzy. 2014. “Mothers and Maidens: Gendered Formation of Revolutionary Heroes in North Korea.” Journal of Korean Studies 19 (2): 257–89.10.1353/jks.2014.0027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Ullyong. 1960. “Punno ŭi norae” [Song of rage]. Munhak sinmun, April 22.Google Scholar
Kim, Yongho. 1960. “Haemada 4-wŏl” [April every year]. Chosŏn ilbo, April 28.Google Scholar
Ku, Inhwan. 1961. “P'anja chip kŭnŭl” [In the shadow of shacks]. Hyŏndae munhak 7 (8): 94–113.Google Scholar
Ku, Inhwan. 1962. “P'anja chip kŭnŭl (1–2)” [In the shadow of shacks (1–2)]. Munhak sinmun, December 11–25.Google Scholar
Kwŏn, Yŏngmin, ed. 1989. Pukhan ŭi munhak [The literature of North Korea]. Seoul: Ŭryu munhwasa.Google Scholar
Literary Research Division, Language and Literary Research Institute, DPRK Academy of Sciences, ed. 1959. Chosŏn munhak t'ongsa II [A complete history of Korean literature II]. Pyongyang: Kwahagwŏn ch'ulp’ansa.Google Scholar
Mironenko, Dmitry. 2014. “A Jester with Chameleon Faces: Laughter and Comedy in North Korea, 1953–1969.” PhD diss., Harvard University.Google Scholar
Chŏngsam, O. 1958. “Namchosŏn ŏnŭhan chakka ŭi t'anp’yŏn ŭl ilgŭmyŏnsŏ” [While reading a short story by a certain southern Korean writer]. Sae sedae 40:25–27.Google Scholar
Chŏngsam, O. 1959. “In'gansŏng ŭi ch'ubang: Ch'oegŭn Namchosŏn munhak ŭi tonghyang” [The banishment of humanity: Recent developments in southern Korean literature]. Munhak sinmun, August 25.Google Scholar
Yŏngsu, O. 1958. “Hujo” [Migratory bird]. Hyŏndae munhak 4 (2): 24–37.Google Scholar
Pak, Hwamok. 1960. “Sa-wŏl” [April]. Chosŏn ilbo, May 3.Google Scholar
Pak, Hyŏk. 1960. Chosŏn ŭi ŏmŏni [Mother of Korea]. In Pak Hyŏk hŭigokchip: Chosŏn ŭi ŏmŏni [Plays by Pak Hyŏk: Mother of Korea], 5–96. Pyongyang: Chosŏn chakka tongmaeng ch'ulp’ansa.Google Scholar
Pak, Seyŏng. 1960. “Sech'age t'a pŏnjira hangjaeng ŭi pulkil” [Burn and spread powerfully, flame of struggle]. Rodong sinmun, April 21.Google Scholar
Ra, Sŭngim. 1967. “Yŏn'gŭk Namnyŏk ŭi ŏmŏni ŭi Sunnyŏ yŏk” [The role of Sunnyŏ in the play Mother of the South]. Chosŏn yesul 129–130:56–59.Google Scholar
Ri, Manyŏng. 1966. “Ilp'yŏn tansim ŭl wihayŏ: Hyesan yŏn'gŭktan ŭi yŏn'gŭk <Pukkŭksŏng> ŭl pogo” [Toward single-minded devotion: after seeing the Hyesan Theater Troupe's play, North Star]. Rodong sinmun, November 6. ŭl pogo” [Toward single-minded devotion: after seeing the Hyesan Theater Troupe's play, North Star]. Rodong sinmun, November 6.' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ri,+Manyŏng.+1966.+“Ilp'yŏn+tansim+ŭl+wihayŏ:+Hyesan+yŏn'gŭktan+ŭi+yŏn'gŭk++ŭl+pogo”+[Toward+single-minded+devotion:+after+seeing+the+Hyesan+Theater+Troupe's+play,+North+Star].+Rodong+sinmun,+November+6.>Google Scholar
Ri, Ryŏng. 1962. “Hangil mujang t'ujaeng sigi ŭi hyŏngmyŏng yŏn'gŭk” [Revolutionary dramas of the era of armed anti-Japanese struggle]. Rodong sinmun, June 24.Google Scholar
Ri, Ryŏng. 1967–68. “Hangil mujang t'ujaeng sigi ŭi hyŏngmyŏngjŏk yŏn'gŭk (1–5)” [Revolutionary dramas of the era of armed anti-Japanese struggle (1–5)]. Rodong sinmun, November 4, 1967–March 9, 1968.Google Scholar
Ri, Sŏngbok. 1965a. “Aegukchŏk ŏmŏni ŭi sŏkpang ŭl wihayŏ ssawŏra” [Fight for the release of this patriotic mother]. Rodong sinmun, April 27.Google Scholar
Ri, Sŏngbok. 1965b. “Ri Kyedan ŏmŏni nŭn mujokŏn sŏkpang toeyŏya handa” [Mother Yi Kyedan must absolutely must be released]. Rodong sinmun, May 7.Google Scholar
Rodong sinmun. 1960. “Punno ŭi hwasan ŭn t’ŏjyŏtta: Kungnip yŏn'gŭk kŭkchang kongyŏn” [The Volcano of Rage Has Erupted: Performance at the National Drama Theater]. Rodong sinmun, June 5.Google Scholar
Rodong sinmun. 1965a. “I omoni rul kuwŏn haja!” [Let's save this mother!]. Rodong sinmun, April 29.Google Scholar
Rodong sinmun. 1965b. “Nae adŭl changhage chugŏttkuna!” [My son died gloriously!]. Rodong sinmun, April 29.Google Scholar
Ryang, Sonia. 2000. “Gender in Oblivion: Women in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).” Journal of Asian and African Studies 35:323–49.10.1177/002190960003500303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryu, Ch'ip’yo. 1967. “Yŏn'gŭk <Pukkŭksŏng> ŭi Hwang ssi yŏk” [The part of Hwang in the play North Star]. Chosŏn yesul 129–130:49–55, 72. ŭi Hwang ssi yŏk' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Y%C5%8Fn'g%C5%ADk+%3CPukk%C5%ADks%C5%8Fng%3E+%C5%ADi+Hwang+ssi+y%C5%8Fk&author=Ryu+Ch'ip%E2%80%99yo&publication+year=1967&journal=Chos%C5%8Fn+yesul&volume=129&pages=49-55>Google Scholar
Sin, Hyŏnggi and Sŏngho, O. 2000. Pukhan munhaksa: Hangil hyŏngmyŏng munhak esŏ chuch'e munhak kkaji [A history of North Korean literature: From anti-Japanese revolutionary literature to Chuch'e literature]. Seoul: P'yŏngminsa.Google Scholar
Song, Yŏng. 1956. Paekdusan ŭn ŏdisŏna poinda [Mt. Paekdu is visible everywhere]. Pyongyang: Minju ch’ŏngnyŏnsa.Google Scholar
Song, Yŏng. 1960. Punno ŭi hwasan ŭn t’ŏjyŏtta [The volcano of rage has erupted]. Chosŏn munhak 154:22–51.Google Scholar
Szalontai, Balázs. 2005. Kim Il Sung in the Krushchev Era: Soviet-DPRK Relations and the Roots of North Korean Despotism, 1953–1964. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Yi, Hanjik. 1960. “Kyŏngnyu e puch'inda (3): Kan pam kkum iyagina han chari” [Dispatch into the torrent (3): Where we talked of things like the previous night's dreams]. Saebyŏk 7 (5): 32–33.Google Scholar
Yi, Pongun. 1960a. “Ŏmŏni” [Mother]. Tonga ilbo, April 30.Google Scholar
Yi, Pongun. 1960b. “Ŏmŏni” [Mother]. Munhak sinmun, October 4.Google Scholar
Yi, Sunuk. 2006. “Nambuk munhak e nat'anan Masan ŭigŏ ŭi silchŭngjŏk yŏn'gu” [An empirical study of the Masan Uprising as depicted in North and South Korean literature]. Yŏngju ŏmun 12:267–97.Google Scholar
Yi, Sunuk. 2011. “4-wŏl hyŏngmyŏng kwa Pukhan munhak: Chosŏn chakka tongmaeng chungang wiwŏnhoe kigwanji Munhak sinmun ŭl chungsim ŭro” [The April Revolution and North Korean literature: Focusing on Munhak sinmun, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Korean Writers’ Association]. Han'guk minjok munhwa 40:133–65.Google Scholar
Yŏn, Changnyŏl. 1963. “Hyŏngmyŏng yŏn'gŭk Hyŏrhae e taehayŏ” [On the revolutionary play Sea of Blood]. Rodong sinmun, April 14.Google Scholar
Yun, Ch'angju. 1960. “Masan ŭn ponghwa rŭl ch'uk’yŏ tŭrŏtta” [Masan has raised the signal fire]. Rodong sinmun, April 14.Google Scholar
Yun, Sep'yŏng. 1961. “Hyŏngmyŏng yŏn'gŭk <Hyŏrhae ŭi norae> e taehayŏ” [On the revolutionary drama The Song of Sea of Blood]. Chosŏn munhak 164:94–105. e taehayŏ' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Hy%C5%8Fngmy%C5%8Fng+y%C5%8Fn'g%C5%ADk+%3CHy%C5%8Frhae+%C5%ADi+norae%3E+e+taehay%C5%8F&author=Yun+Sep'y%C5%8Fng&publication+year=1961&journal=Chos%C5%8Fn+munhak&volume=164&pages=94-105>Google Scholar
Zur, Dafna. 2014. “Let's Go to the Moon: Science Fiction in the North Korean Children's Magazine Adong Munhak, 1956–1965.” Journal of Asian Studies 73 (2): 327–51.10.1017/S0021911813002404CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zur, Dafna. 2017. Figuring Korean Futures: Children's Literature in Modern Korea. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar