베트남전의 기억과 그 기억에의 저항: 바비 앤 메이슨의 『베트남에서(In Country)』 연구

박진임 한국비교문학회 2012 比較文學 Vol.0 No.57

This paper analyzes In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason in order to illuminate the complex relationships between gender and the Vietnam War, the generational conflicts between the Vietnam War generation and post-Vietnam War generation, and the changes in the perception and evaluation of the war. As Susan Jeffords argued in Remasculinization of America, gender played a pivotal role in the Vietnam War. According to Jeffords, the war was a reflection of the US foreign policies aimed to remasculinize the US and the war was operated in gendered terms. While the majority of the Vietnam War narratives were written, reviewed, and read by men, thereby generating "in-house discourse" as one critic puts it, In Country, among some novels on the Vietnam War by women writers, directly deals with the ways a female protagonist learns, un-learns and remembers the Vietnam War. In In Country, the protagonist is portrayed to be born during the Vietnam war and her father died in the war. At the coming of age, the protagonist Sam sets out on a trip to Washington D.C. to be at the war memorial as an attempt to understand her late father. Via diverse episodes remembered by Vietnam War veterans and the protagonist along with representations of popular culture genres such as pop-songs and television programs, a large portion of which are remains or re-makings of the products of 1960s and 70s, the protagonist endeavors to comprehend the Vietnam War in her own way. The way the protagonist understands the war often betrays, resists and contends much advertised and repeated public discourses of the war, which can be summarized as 'advocation of the freedom and democracy in South-East Asia.' Marginal and minor voices of the socio-politically suppressed, including those of 'whining' veterans and social outcasts, contribute to resisting the sanctioned public discourses the US government continued to reproduce. The protagonist realizes that the public dicourse tells her little about the reality of Vietnam such as people's daily lives in Vietnam, the shape and color of its terrain, indigenous crops and birds in Vietnam. As much as the nature of the war she finds out contradicts the public discourses, the image of her late father she comes across becomes a sullied one. Contrary to the conventional image of a father, who often is the object of one's respect, Sam's father turns out to be an un-educated racist with little knowledge on the nature of the war. The protagonist represents the post Vietnam War generation, who attempts to properly remember the war, to overcome the wrongs of the past, and to envision a better future by learning lessons from the past.

A Comparative Analysis of Historical Writings of the Vietnam War in History Textbooks from Vietnam, the United States, and Korea

Kwon, Tae-Kyoung CHONGSHIN UNIVERSITY 2021 CHONGSHIN REVIEW Vol.26 No.-

This article compares and analyzes descriptions of the Vietnam War in the history textbooks of Korea, merica, and Vietnam and attempts to examine how each country perceives this war. Textbooks are texts through which students and the general public can most easily access history. Also, as countries write history textbooks according to regulated curriculums, they can be material through which the history perceptions of countries can be observed. Comparative analysis of descriptions in the history textbooks of America and Vietnam, parties directly involved in the Vietnam War, and Korea, which was a major combatant nation, are significant in that they examine the present situations of history education, which emphasizes the history of the country in which it is taught, and broaden perspectives on history. Descriptions of the Vietnam War in Vietnamese history textbooks focus on how Vietnam, which was a weaker party, fought against America from nationalistic perspectives. On the other hand, America tried to describe the background, causes, and outcomes of the war from an objective perspective and it also escribed opposing voices of the war at the time to attempt balance in its descriptions. However, it also displays avoidance regarding descriptions of unfavorable aspects of itself through descriptions that USA had no choice in its intervention in the war. In the case of Korea, it understands the Vietnam War within a cold war system. It emphasizes that war outcomes brought economic and military gain and it is inattentive to massacres that occurred during the war. More than anything, there were not many descriptions on the Vietnam War overall. Such differences show that the history textbooks of each country consume the Vietnam War from their own standpoints. However, there are some problems in these perspectives. To properly understand the historical significance of the Vietnam War from sites of history education, it must be observed from perspectives of world history. For this, directions that pursue reconciliation and peace such as joint textbook writing(coediting) from other countries must be searched for.

베트남 학계의 남ㆍ북한 연구 동향 및 쟁점: 베트남 전쟁 시기(1954~1975년)를 중심으로

DOTHANHTHAOMIEN 이화여자대학교 이화사학연구소 2015 梨花史學硏究 Vol.0 No.50

Following the end of the World War II, both Vietnam and Korean peninsula ware divided. Since the 1950s, South Korea (the Republic of Korea) and SouthVietnam (the Republic of Vietnam), North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) started to establish official diplomatic relations. The Park Chung-Hee government from 1964 sent South Korean combating troops to Vietnam War battle fields and North Korea from this moment also started its assistance for Vietnam officially. This study examines and analyzes research trends in Vietnam so far on North and South Korea during the Vietnam War, which covers: ① South Korean participation in this war; ② North Korean assistance; and ➂ North-South Korean relationship. Firstly, the studies in Vietnam have formed discussion issues regarding the motivation of war participation, the fighting role on the battles and the results of sending South Korean troops to Vietnam. The views of Vietnamese academia are divided into “subjective” and “objective” motivations, that is to say South Korean government’s decision to dispatch troops to Vietnam was for national interest or followed the request by the US. The latter point of view is in fact in more accordance with the official standpoint of current Vietnamese government. It at last argues that the US was the one that took greater responsibility in sending South Korean combating troops to Vietnam. In reality, this point of view reflects the characteristics of the Vietnam War, at the same time reflects the current standpoint of Vietnam that the Vietnam War was indeed the “resistance war against the Americans.” On the fighting role and the importance of South Korean troops, changes of perception are happening now among Vietnamese scholars. There exists research trend that recognize the importance of South Korean troops in the battle fields based on their special fighting and operating capacity. Yet while mentioning the combating process of South Korean troops, these researches could not overlook the main leading-commanding role of the US. Studies of the results of sending troops mainly focuses on analyzing the interests that South Korean government received by participating in the war, surrounding military-economic, South Korea-South Vietnamese relations, US-South Korean relations, and politico-social aspects. Most of the studies mention the negative consequences of South Korean participation in the Vietnam War, such as strained North-South Korean relations, the anti-war movement within Korean society and all over the world which South Korean government had to face. Among the consequences that mentioned, the worst can be said the civilian massacres done by South Korean army during the Vietnam War. This has been seen leaving painful marks for Vietnam and the darkest chapters in the history of Vietnam-Korean relations. Secondly, this study analyzes the issue of assistance from North Korea during the Vietnam War, starting from the moment of formation of the solidarity community spirit between North Korea and North Vietnam. Through the books published since the 1950s, we are able to see North Vietnam’s interest in the Korean War which left lessons and experiences for Vietnam, at the same time the characteristic of North Korea-North Vietnam relationship at the moment – the Anti-American solidarity community spirit and Socialist solidarity community spirit. It was during the period of formation of the solidarity community spirit that North Korea paid attention to the Vietnam War and started to assist North Vietnam since the mid-1960s. In Vietnam in 2000 appeared researches on the assistance of North Korea and the dispatch of its air-force to North Vietnam. It can be argued that the announcement of North Korean assistance by Vietnamese government was thanks to the improvement of North Korea-North Vietnam relationship at the moment (follows Vietnam War’s end, the relat...

베트남 학계의 남,북한 연구 동향 및 쟁점: -베트남 전쟁 시기(1954~1975년)를 중심으로

도미엔 ( Mien T. Do ) 이화사학연구소 2015 梨花史學硏究 Vol.0 No.50

Following the end of the World War II, both Vietnam and Korean peninsula ware divided. Since the 1950s, South Korea (the Republic of Korea) and SouthVietnam (the Republic of Vietnam), North Korea (the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea) and North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) started to establish official diplomatic relations. The Park Chung-Hee government from 1964 sent South Korean combating troops to Vietnam War battle fields and North Korea from this moment also started its assistance for Vietnam officially. This study examines and analyzes research trends in Vietnam so far on North and South Korea during the Vietnam War, which covers: ① South Korean participation in this war; ② North Korean assistance; and ? North-South Korean relationship. Firstly, the studies in Vietnam have formed discussion issues regarding the motivation of war participation, the fighting role on the battles and the results of sending South Korean troops to Vietnam. The views of Vietnamese academia are divided into "subjective" and "objective" motivations, that is to say South Korean government`s decision to dispatch troops to Vietnam was for national interest or followed the request by the US. The latter point of view is in fact in more accordance with the official standpoint of current Vietnamese government. It at last argues that the US was the one that took greater responsibility in sending South Korean combating troops to Vietnam. In reality, this point of view reflects the characteristics of the Vietnam War, at the same time reflects the current standpoint of Vietnam that the Vietnam War was indeed the "resistance war against the Americans." On the fighting role and the importance of South Korean troops, changes of perception are happening now among Vietnamese scholars. There exists research trend that recognize the importance of South Korean troops in the battle fields based on their special fighting and operating capacity. Yet while mentioning the combating process of South Korean troops, these researches could not overlook the main leading-commanding role of the US. Studies of the results of sending troops mainly focuses on analyzing the interests that South Korean government received by participating in the war, surrounding military-economic, South Korea-South Vietnamese relations, US-South Korean relations, and politico-social aspects. Most of the studies mention the negative consequences of South Korean participation in the Vietnam War, such as strained North-South Korean relations, the anti-war movement within Korean society and all over the world which South Korean government had to face. Among the consequences that mentioned, the worst can be said the civilian massacres done by South Korean army during the Vietnam War. This has been seen leaving painful marks for Vietnam and the darkest chapters in the history of Vietnam-Korean relations. Secondly, this study analyzes the issue of assistance from North Korea during the Vietnam War, starting from the moment of formation of the solidarity community spirit between North Korea and North Vietnam. Through the books published since the 1950s, we are able to see North Vietnam`s interest in the Korean War which left lessons and experiences for Vietnam, at the same time the characteristic of North Korea-North Vietnam relationship at the moment ? the Anti-American solidarity community spirit and Socialist solidarity community spirit. It was during the period of formation of the solidarity community spirit that North Korea paid attention to the Vietnam War and started to assist North Vietnam since the mid-1960s. In Vietnam in 2000 appeared researches on the assistance of North Korea and the dispatch of its air-force to North Vietnam. It can be argued that the announcement of North Korean assistance by Vietnamese government was thanks to the improvement of North Korea-North Vietnam relationship at the moment (follows Vietnam War`s end, the relationship between the two countries was worsen). In general, researches on the assistance by North Korea to Vietnam so far remain limited. Thus, the clarification of North Korea-China-North Vietnam relations with macro-level approach, as well as digging up material sources from the Vietnam side with micro-scope approach, is truly needed. Last but not least, to be brief, the research results in Vietnam on the North-South Korean relations during the Vietnam War affirm that the opposition and complexity of North-South Korean relations was stemmed from both inside and outside factors, especially the dependence on great powers. Among the outside factors that influenced the division of the Korean peninsula, current Vietnamese point of view sees the role of the US as crucial. In fact, with the perspective that the origin of the Vietnam War was due to US containment strategy in Asia, the division of Korean peninsula was seen in the same standpoint by Vietnamese scholars. Moreover, Vietnam - whose unification was achieved after a long resistance war - is insisting that the issue of division and unification of North-South Korea could only be achieved in a peaceful way.

월남전과 월남참전 유공자의 평가에 대한 고찰

권기숙 한국보훈학회 2012 한국보훈논총 Vol.11 No.3

President Park decided to participate in the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s. It is one of the most important historical events for the existence and development of the Republic of Korea in extremely unfavorable economic status after the Korea War. During the Vietnam War government of South Korea could be saved U.S. dollars enough to advance the industrialization of Republic of Korea,which is well-known in the world as name of The miracle of the Han River. In addition, the participation in the Vietnam War of Korean Army has given us some positive results; First, Republic of Korea has a high position and influence in the international community. We could not even imagine about that conditions when Korea was been a colony of Japan for 36 years and in the early time of establishment of Republic of Korea in the end of 1940s, and 1950s,for while had been raised a hole destruction of the country by Korea War and difficult reconstructions after that war. Especially there were great achievement in the diplomatical relation with U.S.A. After the participation of Korean Army in the Vietnam War, U.S.A. had greatly expanded the military support, and Republic of Korea had succeed modernization of military technology and self-reliant defense of Republic of Korea. However, there are very different directions on a interpretation on the nature of the Vietnam War. It is a general idea, that the Vietnam War had been caused by the ideological conflict between the communist and the anticommunist. But there is a the other understanding on the Vietnam War, that it had based on the expansion of the independence Movement of nationalist of Vietnam against imperialism of the United States. Who holds a second opinion on the causes of the Vietnam war, believes that the participation in the Vietnam War of Korean Army was wrong, because this war was immoral war, which has lost legitimacy. Under the influence of this opinion, many people think that the veterans of Vietnam War had completed the ruthless killing of innocent people in our society. Although they were sacrificed theirselves for development and prosperity of our country, and we enjoy good benefits now a days. It causes serious problems, such as lack of a "patriotic spirit" of Korea. In order to overcome these problems, we need to prepare the correct historical interpretation and evaluation about the participation of Korean Army in the Vietnam War. 1960년대 중반 박정희 정부의 월남전 파병 결정은 국가의 생존과 발전을 위해 중요한 획을 긋는 사건이었다. 한국은 월남참전으로 인해 6·25전쟁의 폐허 위에 시급했던 외환보유고를 확충할 수 있었으며, 차관을 통해 확보한 외부 투자자금으로 사회간접자본과 기간산업의 발전을 확대해 현재 우리가 누리고 있는 대한민국의 성장과 발전을 이루어왔다. 또한 한국군의 월남전 파병은 국제사회에서의 우리나라의 영향력 확대와 지위향상이라는 외교적 측면의 성과, 한·미관계의 긍정적 개선, 미국 측의 군사지원 확대로 한국군의 현대화와 자주국방의 기틀 확립이라는 매우 커다란 성과를 거두었다. 그럼에도 불구하고 우리사회 일각에서는 월남 전쟁의 성격을 공산주의와 반공산주의라는 이데올로기적 갈등이 아니라 미국과 결탁한 제국주의 세력과 그에 대항하는 베트남 민족주의 세력 전체와의 싸움이라고 규정하면서, 월남 참전 용사들을 부도덕하고, 타락한 전쟁에 참여해 민간인을 학살한 용병으로 폄하하는 예가 자주 등장한다. 게다가 전직 대통령을 포함한 국가지도층에서도 이와 같은 맥락의 발언을 전개해 월남참전유공자들의 사기와 자아 존중감을 저하시키고 있다. 이러한 현상은 월남참전유공자에 대한 예우와 국가보훈이라는 측면에서 심각하게 고려해 보아야 할 문제가 아닐 수 없다. 최근 들어 국가안보의식의 급격한 저하, 중·고등학교 역사교과서 근·현대사왜곡 등과 같은 사회적 이슈들을 통해 국가정체성 강화의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 또한 우리나라와 매우 비슷한 양상을 보였던 베트남의 분단과 공산화 과정은 현재의 우리에게 시사하는 바가 매우 크다. 그러므로 국가정체성 확립에 있어서나, 베트남 공산화가 우리에게 주는 교훈을 생생하게 전해줄 역사의 증언자로서의 월남참전유공자의 역할은 재조명되어야 할 것이다. 이를 위해 월남전 한국군 파병과 월남참전유공자가 우리나라 발전에 기여한 점에 대한 올바른 평가가 이루어져야 함은 물론 이들의 국가를 위한 헌신과 희생에 합당한 예우를 할 수 있는 사회적 분위기 조성에 힘써야 할 것이다.

일반논문 : 베트남전의 기억과 그 기억에의 저항: 바비 앤 메이슨의 『베트남에서(In Country)』 연구

박진임 ( Jin Im Park ) 한국비교문학회 2012 比較文學 Vol.57 No.-

This paper analyzes In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason in order to illuminate the complex relationships between gender and the Vietnam War, the generational conflicts between the Vietnam War generation and post-Vietnam War generation, and the changes in the perception and evaluation of the war. As Susan Jeffords argued in Remasculinization of America, gender played a pivotal role in the Vietnam War. According to Jeffords, the war was a reflection of the US foreign policies aimed to remasculinize the US and the war was operated in gendered terms. While the majority of the Vietnam War narratives were written, reviewed, and read by men, thereby generating "in-house discourse" as one critic puts it, In Country, among some novels on the Vietnam War by women writers, directly deals with the ways a female protagonist learns, un-learns and remembers the Vietnam War. In In Country, the protagonist is portrayed to be born during the Vietnam war and her father died in the war. At the coming of age, the protagonist Sam sets out on a trip to Washington D.C. to be at the war memorial as an attempt to understand her late father. Via diverse episodes remembered by Vietnam War veterans and the protagonist along with representations of popular culture genres such as pop-songs and television programs, a large portion of which are remains or re-makings of the products of 1960s and 70s, the protagonist endeavors to comprehend the Vietnam War in her own way. The way the protagonist understands the war often betrays, resists and contends much advertised and repeated public discourses of the war, which can be summarized as ``advocation of the freedom and democracy in South-East Asia.`` Marginal and minor voices of the socio-politically suppressed, including those of ``whining`` veterans and social outcasts, contribute to resisting the sanctioned public discourses the US government continued to reproduce. The protagonist realizes that the public dicourse tells her little about the reality of Vietnam such as people`s daily lives in Vietnam, the shape and color of its terrain, indigenous crops and birds in Vietnam. As much as the nature of the war she finds out contradicts the public discourses, the image of her late father she comes across becomes a sullied one. Contrary to the conventional image of a father, who often is the object of one`s respect, Sam`s father turns out to be an un-educated racist with little knowledge on the nature of the war. The protagonist represents the post Vietnam War generation, who attempts to properly remember the war, to overcome the wrongs of the past, and to envision a better future by learning lessons from the past.

베트남전쟁 소설의 형상화에 대한 문제

고명철(Go Myeong Cheol) 한국현대소설학회 2003 현대소설연구 Vol.- No.19

This writing studies the narrative features of Vietnam War novels by inspecting the developmental aspect of Vietnam War novels written from 1970s to 1990s. I am concerned about novels which incarnate the Vietnam War to discover the possibility of apprehending the investigation of the partition of the Korean peninsula as new problematics while studying Vietnam War novels. In 1970s. Vietnam War novels focused on the incarnation of people who participated the war as soldiers without concrete recognition of the historical characteristics of the Vietnam War. It is reflected on the early novels about the Vietnam War. However in 1980s. Vietnam War novels treated a few things decisively that cannot be managed in 1970s from the limit of that age. First of all, successively published novels based on the long story showed the understanding with the viewpoint of the Third World by outgrowing the superficial and ideological approaches. Hwang. Seok-Young(황석영) showed a concrete historical recognition in his novel 《The Shadow of Weapons(무기의 그늘)》, while Ahn. Jeong-Hyo(안정효) reveled a problem of the epic by focusing only on the suffering of an intellectual with perceiving the Vietnam War as one of numerous wars with the lack of understanding with the standpoint of the Third World in 〈The White War (하얀전쟁)〉. In 1990, Vietnam War novels had asked the present tense meaning of the Vietnam War by making an issue of the angle of the others party which had been present in the Korean society. As revealed on the study over the Vietnam War novels through ages, the main problem closely related with the Vietnam War novels is how to recognize the characteristics of the Vietnam War, especially as a people who participated the war by sending soldiers.

월남전 휴(종)전의 정치경제적 심상

김주현(Kim Ju hyeon) 한국문학회 2016 韓國文學論叢 Vol.72 No.-

이 논문은 월남 휴(종)전이 한국 사회에 미친 정치경제적 심상을 크게 세 방향에서 분석했다. 월남전 휴전 협상은 1968년부터 본격적으로 시작되지만, 한반도 휴전을 월남 휴전의 ‘부정적’ 모델로 삼은 한국 정부는 휴전에 부정적이었다. 그러나 휴전론이 가시화되면서 휴전은 경제적 관점에서 모순적으로 상상되었다. 최초의 ‘휴전=월남 특수 종료’라는 시각에 반해 전후재건에 참여할 새로운 기회로서 휴전이 강조되기 시작한 것이다. 이 시각은 ‘메콩종합개발계획’으로 집약돼 비상한 관심을 끌었으나 월남이 패망하자 싱겁게 종결된다. 휴전론은 또한 1960년대 후반 인력 수출 장소로 떠오른 동남아 표상에 선택적으로 관여했다. 라오스, 캄보디아는 중립주의에 관계없이 월남전에 휘말린 위험 지역으로, 친서방 국가는 낙후됐으나 개발 가능성이 무궁한 자원의 보고로 표상되었다. 이러한 인식은 월남전을 중심으로 동남아를 가르고 묶는 발상이며, 현재의 동남아 이미지에도 적지 않은 영향을 미쳤다고 판단된다. 마지막으로 한국 정부는 월남 패망을 안보의 반면교사로 전유하여 월남전 종결을 승공(勝共) 성장론으로 재빨리 종합한다. 이 일련의 과정에서 공식적 파월 담론에 도전하는 지식 사회의 ‘비판적’ 개입은 드물었고, 방법적으로도 대중의 관심을 끌기에 부족했지만, 시기와 내용으로 판단하건대, 70년대에 발표된 월남전 소설 텍스트는 휴(종)전론의 파장을 월남전 재현의 새로운 모멘텀으로 수용했다고 할 수 있다. This study analyzed the political and economic images of cease-fire (cessation of war) of Vietnam War affecting Korean society from 3 different aspects. While cease-fire talks on Vietnam War were initiated in 1968, the Korean government was largely negative on the talks since the cease-fire in the Korean Peninsula was a ‘negative’ model for Vietnam War from the perspective of Korean government. When the cease-fire talks became more evident, however, the cease-fire was contradictively visualized from the economic perspective. On the contrary to the earlier view of ‘Cease-fire representing the end of special economic boom from the Vietnam War,’ the cease-fire began garnering attentions as new potential opportunities to participate in post-war reconstructions. These views were integrated into ‘Mekong Comprehensive Development Plan’ to draw unusual interests, but it all abruptly ended when Vietnam collapsed. The cease-fire talk also selectively engaged in the Southeast Asian region which emerged as a manpower expert site in the late 1960s. Laos and Cambodia viewed as a war-infested danger zone regardless of neutralism, whereas pro-Western nations perceived the region as a rich repository of natural resources with unlimited potentials despite primitivity. It is believed that such perception not only divided the Southeast Asia based on the Vietnam War but also significantly impacted the image of the Southeast Asia. Lastly, the Korean government promptly moved on to accumulate the end of Vietnam War into a growth theory by defeating communism after asserting to learn lessons of national security from the fall of Vietnam. Throughout these series of processes, it was rare to find ‘critical’ interventions from the intellectual society challenging the expedition of troops to the Vietnam War. And although it was methodologically insufficient to draw public interest, the social text on the Vietnam War published in the 1970s can be deemed to accept the aftermath of cease-fire talk as new momentum of the Representation of Vietnam War when judging it based on the time and its contents.

환멸의 전쟁과 관찰자의 시선

유철상(Cheol Sang Yoo) 한국현대소설학회 2014 현대소설연구 Vol.- No.57

Park Yeonghan’s debut as a writer in the mid-1970s is an event that is significant in many ways in the history of Korean literature. First of all, before he debuted into a literary career, Park, on entering college, volunteered as a reporter-soldier to the Vietnam War, where he spent his youthful years. The military life that he experienced during the tour would provide the subject matter for The Distant Song Ba River (Meonameon ssongbagang). In other words, his ability as a writer formed through practice during his participation in the Vietnam War. His The Distant Song Ba River, written about the Vietnam War, served to broaden the scope of Korean literature to encompass the Vietnam War, a significant event in world history. The writer wrote the novel because he experienced the Vietnam War and thus, he knew the war well. And it was a significant work in that the writer adopted as a literary subject matter the Vietnam War, which constitutes an important event in the history of modern Korea, and that, relatively early. Park Yeonghan’s novels about the Vietnam War are spearheaded by two titles of The Distant Song Ba River and its sequel, The Human Daybreak. And the writer’s description of the Vietnam War does not go too far out of the commitment to creating a truthful record of facts. And this should be in step with the role that he faithfully performed in Vietnam as a soldier reporting for Comrade’s Newspaper (precursor of The Korea Defense Daily). Furthermore, the fact that the writer includes in the sequel The Human Daybreak Michael, a UPI correspondent, demonstrates that the writer is basically committed to delivering to readers in Korea information on the war in a foreign country through recording facts, and that the novel is a record of those four-month frame that surrounded the fall of Saigon. On the other hand, there is a little differentiation with regard to the writer’s perception of the actualities of Vietnam and the nature of the Vietnam War, which are described in the two novels, respectively. To begin with, the theme of The Distant Song Ba River can be summarized in the statement that “The Vietnam War taught me that the world is ridiculous.” This suggests that the Vietnam War and love forming out of it, which the writer treated as his subject matter, are nothing but accessory events that explain the unreason in reality. In this light, it should be reasonable to take The Distant Song Ba River, not as a war novel, but as a Bildungsroman that portrays progress in a youth’s life and relevant rites of passage or a romantic fiction of disillusionment that depicts the inner awakening of Sergeant Hwang Il-cheon. At this point, I cannot but point out the vulnerable perspective entrusted in a mere rifleman named Hwang Il-cheon, with regard to the task of getting at the whole picture of the Vietnam War. I can only guess the general character of the war through several events in which a soldier was involved and the relationship and conversations with a Vietnamese girl. In contrast, the sequel The Human Daybreak, which stands on the statement that “Ideology is a variable, whereas human is a constant,” delineates the volatile situation in Vietnam by describing the behaviors of the three types of human figures who are related to Bik Tui, the main character. First of all, when Park Yeonghan says, “The Vietnam War is closely related to our own experience in that it involves division between North and South, internecine slaying of one single national people, and ideological opposition,” such characterization of the Vietnam War is best represented by the type of Trin. Fighting for the national liberation as an intelligence officer of the North Vietnamese forces, Trin, the revolutionary, understands the Vietnam War as an extension of the Vietnamese independence struggle against the French. Further significance of the Vietnam War could be found in the fact that it was an ideological conflict between North and South, and that it was a fi

베트남(인)이라는 이방(인)과 환대의 윤리

류보선(Bo Sun Ryoo) 한국현대소설학회 2014 현대소설연구 Vol.- No.57

Vietnam is the “Other” that Korean literature refers to and comes in contact with the most, and is also the most symbolic and traumatic. Two historical events led to Korea and Vietnam’s accidental and traumatic encounter. The first is Korea’s participation in the Vietnam War while the other is the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992. Bending to American pressure and to safeguard its politico-economic interests, Korea dispatched roughly thirty two thousand troops to Vietnam starting in 1964. Korea justified it as a righteous war of ideology to defend democracy against communism. However, Korean novels that deal with the Vietnam War (for example The Distant Song Ba River, White Badge, and The Shadow of Arms) do not portray the realization of righteousness through war; rather they expose the violence that was indulged in during the war under the pretext of righteousness. In these novels, the soldiers find they have become machines of war that take innocent lives and feel acutely how brutal a monster an obedient subject can become. The novels portray the Vietnam War as a war fought not for the Vietnamese people but for the national interests of the US, and consequently reveal how that the Cold War confrontation between communism and capitalism was the product of lethal lunacy of reason. However, apart from a brief mention in The Shadow of Arms none of these novels show an inclination for self-reflection through the warm reception of Vietnam’s history and present. After the novels above that dealt with the Vietnam War, the next encounter Korean literature had with Vietnam was after the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992. At this point, the previously severed relationship between the two countries was reestablished and Korean literature too recalled the “Other” called Vietnam. Lee Dae-hwan’s Slow Bullet evoked the Vietnam War through a character that suffered from the effects of exposure to defoliants. Seo Seong-ran’s Paprika encountered Vietnam through a married immigrant woman. While both these works do not reflect on Korea’s actions in the war, they do criticize the orientalism that makes Koreans disparage the Vietnamese because of their conception of Vietnam as a poor country. In spite of this, these works show no interest in Vietnam’s latent native history or universality. On the other hand, Bang Hyeon-seok’s A Form of Existence shows true hospitality towards Vietnamese, accepts the questions they actively put forth to Koreans, and questions pensively the fetishistic values and Orientalist thinking latent in almost every Korean.