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Christianity and Shamanism:
The Reasons for Akiko and Richard's Discord
By Jie Won Im

Nora Okja Keller depicts the sensitive issue of religion and human relationships in her novel Comfort Woman. As a comfort woman, a sex slave for the Japanese soldiers in the second World War, physically and spiritually bruised Akiko follows her missionary husband Richard to the United States. Though Richard wants to heal Akiko of her pain, he does not seem to understand her Shamanistic traditions - her falling into spirtual trances - and neither does Akiko fully accept Christianity which Richard imposes on her. Akiko is not healed by Richard because of two reasons: not only the incompatibility of Christianity and Shamanism, but also the effect of stereotypical images deriving from these religions. In this paper, I will first compare Christianity and Shamanism to show these religions are in fact incompatible, and give examples of Akiko and Richard's troubles to support this idea. Next, I will discuss how the stereotypical views deriving from these religions are developed to actually have an impact on Akiko and Richard's judgement and love relationship.

Christianity and Shamanism is a common example of the two most incompatible religions. Christianity mentioned here refers specifically to Evangelical Protestantism to which Richard is devoted, since the examples given below about the clash of the two religions are those affecting Akiko and Richard's relationship directly. Christianity is monotheistic, and therefore, capitalizes God to glorify Him as the one and only deity. Also, it has a set rules of doctrines written in the Bible. Moreover, Christians believe salvation comes exclusively through personal belief and love of God. The personal and active interaction with God is a prayer and this is emphasized more than the preachers' sermons which is receiving God's words. On the other hand, Shamanism is polytheistic and thinks there is a god for every meaningful happening in life. Also, Shamans think salvation comes through a higher-being, a person who can talk to the spirits, namely a "mu-dang" (Choi). When a mu-dang reaches a climax of spiritual ecstacy via a ritual called "kut," the mu-dang is able to communicate with spirits by soothing the restless spirits still present on the earth and listening to the prophecies they give (Shamanism). Though the two seem similar in that both respect their deceased ancestors and wish them a good afterlife, the process in which this is carried out differs. Christians pray and wish them a good life in heaven with God, but people believing in Shamanism think their ancestors become gods when they pass away and they worship their ancestors. This is unacceptable for Christians for they believe there is only one God. Moreover, Christianity is a personally involved religion compared to Shamanism, and this is shown in the terminology Christian and Shaman. Christian is the person who actively participate in the religion, but Shaman is the middle-woman who talks for the people substituting the direct communication with the gods.

Such clash in doctrines and practices of Christianity and Shamanism is shown in the novel Comfort Woman through the conflicts between Akiko and Richard. The first example is when Akiko is baptised. She resists being baptised and deliberately plunges into the river, but Richard violently forces her up by her hair (Keller 103). After being baptised and married, she stuffs a handful of dirt in her mouth so that Korea "would always be a part of [her]" (104). She refuses to give up her Shamanistic traditions even more because she was forced into Christianity. The two rituals of baptism and eating dirt are each worshipping different gods. This creates an unharmonious atmosphere for the two characters. The second example is when Richard prays for Akiko in a trance. Richard keeps asking God for His forgiveness for Akiko's unholy actions, which is her singing and dancing to invoke her gods. When Akiko continues her ritual, Richard finally strikes her down, cutting her off from the interaction with her gods (196). When both are calling on different gods simultaneously, the two cannot communicate rationally at all. These examples clearly prove Akiko and Richard show no compromise when it comes to religion. The disparity between Christianity and Shamanism's gods, practices, doctrines are too big a gap for the two characters to give a chance of understanding and healing each other.

People with different religions have more problems in their relationship mostly because of religious incompatibility. Religion is a very personal mental sphere and is impossible to impose it on one another (Gordon). According to a research conducted on Koreans by Hong, Koreans usually do not lead a happy life with those with different religions and tend to marry those who share their belief from the beginning (Hong 131). This is true especially for people believing in traditional beliefs such as Shamanism. 77.8 percent of the people believing in traditional beliefs marry those with similar beliefs (131). The reason is that traditional beliefs require complex rituals which are difficult to follow, and it is easier for those who share the belief to do a religious service. This in turn is thought to be an unconscious action in preserving the minority of the people engaged in their religion (Traditional). Contradictingly, only 60 percent of the Christian population have the same religion as their spouses. This reflects the Christian doctrine of spreading God's words to "all ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Christians are obliged to disseminate the holy scripture, and this is the main reason the missionaries came to Korea during the war. By marrying people of different religions, Christians can spread their doctrines to non-believers. Richard, true to his belief, believes that he can heal Akiko through his and God's love (Keller 94). Nevertheless, Akiko feels invaded by this coersion of religion and is repelled by his excessive watch over her Shamanistic practices. Also, even though Richard is determined to heal Akiko through Christianity, he is unable to tolerate Akiko's stubbornness towards his religion. Although Richard's intention is good, the clashes in doctrine and religious practices are a great hindrance to their relationship.

However, dogma is not the sole reason for their discord. The stereotypical views Akiko and Richard have about each other's religions cause them to be hostile. As husband and wife, their two extremely different backgrounds hamper their understanding in the every day life. There must be an effect which has an impact even on the common daily activities that can explain the disagreement between the two. This effect comes from the stereotypical views of their greatest difference, their religion. The images acquired from the people devoted to these religious dogma affect perception of others. I will first explain what a stereotype is and give specific examples of stereotype relating to the novel and the two main characters.

Stereotype is "an oversimplified generalization about a person or group of people without regard for individual differences" (Zanna). Every time two people meet, evaluating each other's character, style, and ideas consumes time. However, when a person is categorized into a mentally fixed group, analyzing a person does not require much time and effort. This mentally fixed group is formed by the exposure of a person to society. After mental groups are fixed, categorizing a person becomes an "automatic process" (Kim 9). People tend to remember information concurring with their mental group - in other words a "developing" stereotype - quicker rather than information which does not concur (11). Such concurring information is then established as a concrete stereotype. If there is a person who does not conform with this stereotype, people tend to object to this person's individuality (Garcia-Marques). Prejudicial comments derive from this concretely-built stereotype.

Amoug stereotypes, religious stereotype is one of the most concretely-built mental group. This is because religion has existed along with human evolution and people of all ages have been in contact with religion more than any other aspects of human activities. People have fairly fixed stereotyical views about Christianity and Shamanism. In Hong's survey, the majority of the Koreans have a stereotype that Christians are outgoing, yet demanding (Hong 129). This is because Christians, especially those influenced by the early western missionaries believing in Evangelical Protestantism, consider gospel preaching an important task, and by preaching they try to impose Christianity on non-believers. On the other hand, many consider Shamanism as a religion for "crazy" people (Keller 9) and those who are detached from the real world (Hong 129). People who believe in Shamans appear superstitious, because Shamanistic rituals such as dances and giving offerings look like witchcraft to the non-believer's eye. These are stereotypical views people have towards the religions. However, due to the religious traits embedded in themselves, Christians and people believing in Shamanism have stereotypical views about other people who do not conform to their religion. According to Hong, Christians have especially higher stereotypical views than other religious groups (Hong 130). Christians believe they must save non-Christians from going to hell, and therefore categorize all the other religions into a mental group such as "damned for hell." Shamanism, though, is less imposing and is rather self-centered, for each member wants the Shaman to foretell their future and do not care much about other people's fate. Therefore, a Christian and a Shaman-believer have different prejudices about each other, making it impossible to evade disagreement. Also, prejudice and involvement in religion are proportionate (Batson and Burris). Because the more devoted a person is to religion, the more prejudiced the person is, preacher Richard and Shaman Akiko have a even more difficult time with each other's beliefs. These stereotypes - that Christians consider people of other religions abject and themselves those who should condescend upon the wretched, and that Shamanism is a religion of the possessed - affect Akiko and Richard.

Akiko and Richard acquire their stereotypes from different environments. Akiko develops her stereotype of Christians at the Christian camp in Pyongyang. Akiko hears sermons about the righteous ways of becoming a Christian. Contradictory to what she hears, that Christians are loving and considerate people, Akiko is angry when Richard acts the opposite of the Christian she expected, trying to impose Christianity on her. Another stereotypical view makes her appalled by her husband's pleasure in sex (146). She thinks all Christians should be holy and ascetic (94) and when Richard is not quite the Christian she imagined, she criticizes him, ironically, by using metaphors from the Bible such as "quick as a snake" (93), a snake symbolizing a devil. It can be counter-argued that Akiko did not have enough time to develop a stereotype during the few months she was in Pyongyang. Nevertheles, she lived in a totally Christian community where she was in contact with the religion all day. Also, she learned the Christian doctrine which gave her a stable foundation on which she can develop images of Christianity. A stereotype is developed when a person is in constant contact with the image at hand (Kim 11). Akiko is in a controlled and shut-in environment where she can easily develop a stereotype of Christians, where Christians in the camp show their most stereotypical images of love and care. Because of her idealistic image of Christians is overthrown by Richard, Akiko does not open up to Richard. She scorns Richard for not understanding her and says the Shamanistic spirit Induk is a part of her rather than God (146). Also, she never thoroughly explains her past to Richard, and when Richard mistakes her for a prostitute, she just cries (196).

Richard's stereotype is that he thinks all other religions except Christianity are evil and possessed. Akiko knows this and thinks he would never listen because he thinks she is crazy. Richard is ashamed of Akiko (195) when she does her traditional Shamanistic dances. In this case, he is upset that his stereotype about non-Christians is true. Because both are very faithful to their beliefs, their stereotype is too well established.

Akiko and Richard can love each other if they try to overcome their stereotypes. Giving up a stereotype is not something that can be accomplished in a short period of time. Therefore, the two need a mediator to guide them to gradually recover from the pains they inflicted on each other. If the two try to find a field in which both are interested in, they may have a chance of understanding each other better (Kim 23). In Akiko and Richard's case, their new baby has the potential to become a common denominator between them. They can first be healed by their baby and then move on to heal themselves through the shared emotions for their baby. Another way is trying to accept some aspects of each other's religion and applying it on their own. For example, Richard can try to understand Akiko's love for her deceased family and in turn Akiko can consent to the sharing of love and care of Christianity. Such acceptance of a minor part of each other's religion can be the first step in appeasing the tension between the two. People need to make conscious efforts to properly accept each other's differences and reach mutual understanding.

Christianity and Shamanism have few common grounds and the disparity between the doctrines of these two religions prevent Akiko and Richard from having a stable relationship. Not only the dogmas themselves, but also the stereotypical criticalness between Akiko and Richard is another decisive factor in their discord. Both are devoted adherents to their religions, and because they refuse to properly understand the other's religion, they ultimately never understand each other as lovers. Akiko and Richard must relieve themselves of tensions against each other, and take the first step to cure their bruised souls through the baby they share. Though the clash of religion and stereotypic veil are a great impediment from properly healing, giving in a small part of a selfish claim can trigger people to gradually recover from their pain.

Christianity and Shamanism Resolved Through a Modern Day Pari

By J.W. Chung

A predominantly Christian world and a Korean Shamanistic world clash for Beccah in Nora Okja Keller's Comfort Woman. Like many people in an ever-increasing global community, Beccah grows up in a conflict between the customs and ideas of domestic and public culture. These two are each expressed respectively as her mother's Korean Shamanism (henceforth, Shamanism) and her father's Christianity. Growing up between both influences, Beccah is sufficiently familiar with both. Her young mind is first torn between the two, but eventually settles on as an ideal the role of Princess Pari, who is comparable to Jesus Christ. Though her life seems unstable, she instinctively recognizes the similarities between the two and grasps at it as a foothold to establish her understanding of her mother and more importantly, her own identity, as an American
with a Korean heritage, but even more so as a mature person. In the first part of this paper, the Christianity and Shamanism will be examined. Due to the widely varying manifestations of the Christian religion, references will be drawn from mainstream Catholicism and Protestantism. Next comparison will focus on Christ as the figurehead of Christianity, and Pari as the representative Shamanistic deity. The common narrative structure of the two will be reflected upon Beccah's life and her relationship with her parents in the last part of this paper.

Christianity and Shamanism

At first glance, the differences between Christianity and Shamanism seem irreconcilable. The different forms of worship and rituals are immediately evident. It is hard to relate the image of an enraptured manshin (honorific title for female shaman) dancing atop knives to the stern yet benevolent figure of a nun, solemnly praying before the Virgin Mary. The "giddy atmosphere of a kut" (Kendall 165) with people wildly dancing, drinking and singing is unlike the solemn service of Sunday or Christmas morning at a church or chapel. The basic doctrines are incompatible as the former is monotheistic, believing in only one Supreme being, while the latter is polytheistic, leaving a niche in the pantheon for almost everybody, even allowing for the possibility of the layman to someday become some sort of deity. Even careful study by a variety of scholars ranging from historians to theologians has often led to the conclusion that Shamanism is a radically different religion compared to Christianity or other religions. However their work has oftentimes been tainted by their prejudices and ulterior motives in studying Shamanism, such as establishing it as a specifically Korean cultural expression independent from Chinese influence or a superstitious belief system common to societies with a colonial past, or most frequently attempting to assert Shamanism as an inferior and primitive religion compared to Christianity (Y.Chang 168).

On further inspection from a position that needs to understand both like Beccah, one can find congruence in the myths of the two religions. Though some Christian hardliners will maintain that each and every word in the Bible is fact, not myth, their numbers are meager, and nobody takes them seriously. Most historians would agree that "the whole tradition [of Christianity] is 'mythological'" (Watts 6) in the sense that myths are "to be defined as a complex of stories-some no doubt fact, and some fantasy-which for various reasons, human beings regard as demonstrations of the inner meaning of the universe and of human life" (Watts 7). According to French structuralist Claude Levi-Strauss, such myths are "variations on a number of basic themes," which"[are] inherent in the human mind itself" (Eagleton 103-04). Many "basic themes" in connection to Christianity and Shamanism can be found in Comfort Woman. The images of death and rebirth through water revolve around Akiko's life, and are associated with the Christian custom of baptism. The various colors and their symbolism apply to the different spirits that possess Akiko and dress her up in their preferred color, as well as to the Christian color associations pertaining to Madonna, the "Blue Lady" (Dark Angel 1ADE16) or Satan, the Prince of "darkness." Many other parallels can be drawn with archetypal symbols like the circle, the number three, the Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Trickster, the garden, or patterns such as creation and immortality, etcetera (Guerin 161-66).

Christ and Pari

Before we compare Christ and Pari, a little introduction of Pari seems necessary. Princess Pari's proper name is Parideggie; "Pari" being a verb root meaning "to discard, abandon" and "-deggie" a suffix similar to English "-ling," specifying "one connected with or having the quality of." The fact that she is a princess abandoned by her parents is one thing that does not change in the different versions of the Parideggie Muga, "Ballad of Parideggie." The shamanistic tradition being orally handed down, slight alterations by region are inevitable, but the essence of the tale is as follows:

A fortune teller (probably a shaman) informs King Ogu that if he marries the lady Gildae, she will bear him an heir. In his impatience (he is only fourteen in one version), he marries her before the day deemed auspicious for marriage by the fortune teller. Bad luck follows, and the couple has six daughters in a row. Queen Gildae has a taemong, "birth dream," that her next child will be an exiled angel from heaven, the daughter of the angel Seowangmo, possessor of the elixir of life. When Princess Pari comes along as the seventh, King Ogu is exasperated and in his anger he orders her to be expelled from the palace. The disowned princess is left to perish at some strange and exotic place which is, depending on the rendition learnt by the performing shaman, sometimes "the dragons' fen," sometimes an amaranth field, sometimes just some cave deep in the mountains. However she is rescued by a supernatural force (Dragon Queen, Buddha, etc...) or the servant of such supernatural forces, and grows up showing signs of excellence. One day her father and/or mother falls terminally and incurably sick (serves him right) as punishment for throwing Pari away, and Pari returns to the palace. She volunteers to take the long and dangerous journey through the netherworld to SeocheonSeoyukGuk, a westward heaven beyond India, to retrieve a cure for her dying parent(s). She braves many perils (such as washing black laundry white and white laundry black, or being tread upon by a monk, or more seriously tempting fiends) along the way (of course with a little help), and finally procures the potion in exchange of wedlock and a few sons
to a celestial being. On the way back home, she prays for the wandering ghosts of those whose deaths were untimely and unfair, before returning to this world. She revives her father, and is forgiven by her parents for marrying without their consent. Finally she becomes a god that receives the Ogu (death rites) and also the fairy god mother of shamans.

Christ and Pari resemble each other in many ways. First of all, they both fit in to the hero narrative. They are both of noble and even holy descent. Jesus is born of the line of David (King David, the shepherd boy who beat Goliath), and more importantly is the son of God. Pari's parents are king and queen of the human world, but she is also the daughter of Seowangmo. Princess Pari is exiled from society, being abandoned by her family the first time and voluntarily taking the road through hell to heaven later. Jesus is likewise hated by the Jews and the Romans alike, and wanders the lands preaching. At the end of their long quests, both become scapegoats to save others. Jesus Christ is crucified to atone for all humanity's sin, and Princess Pari marries someone she barely knows to save her parents who are being punished for their sin. This self sacrifice serves as a rite of passage in both cases, with Jesus being recognized as society by the one and only Messiah, and Princess Pari being accepted back into the palace.

The beliefs of the two systems are tied into the narrative structure, instead of the similarities simply ending with the narrative structure. The figments that hold the narrative web together also imbue meaning to it. The hero narrative's central theme of sacrifice, transformation, and redemption forms the backbone of belief held in the story of the Princess Pari and in the Christian understanding of humankind and Jesus Christ. The sacrifice is necessary because of sin.

The sin that needs cleansing is not inherent in the hero (hamartia), like the mere mortal heroes Oedipus or Hamlet, but is universal to all humankind. This sin is formed by social oppression, the same kind that would persecute Akiko as a mad woman. King Ogu's actions are more than just criminal; they are equivalent to the original sin. As Adam and Eve severed themselves from God and were banned to a human society outside of Eden, King Ogu disinherits Parideggie because society demands of him a male heir instead of an heiress. He forsakes the natural relationship between parent and child for the duties assigned to him as king by social institution (D. Kim 34-35). This universal human sin is finally purged and the relationship that was once severed is now recovered between parent and child, God and mankind. For such a noble end, Pari's ultimate sacrifice through marriage pales before that of Jesus. Moreover, by marrying into the established patriarchal system, one might mistake that the Parideggie myth is supporting those social institutions that oppose natural law. Of course, an explanation like that of Dae-Jin Kim is possible, that she is actually opposing the social norm by marrying without permission. However the facts once again suggest holy redemption, as one must note that her bridegroom is not a human abject to such human laws; he is a celestial being. And she herself is a celestial being reborn in the human flesh. Her surrender to him is the same reunification of God with God accompanying humanity that happens when Christ submits himself to the Creator. The result of course in both cases is the "medicine of the world" (Watts 164).

Beccah and Her Parents

Comfort Woman, at least in Beccah's half, is a story of growing up, and the symbols from the two religions converge in this theme. The "Hero" archetype, or in this case heroine, is the core myth "point[ing] to the structures of the human mind common to all people" (Guerin 336) in Comfort Woman. It is not coincidental that Beccah chooses Princess Pari as a role model (50); while effectively representing many of the common aspects of the two spheres Beccah lives in, she also mirrors the trajectory of Akiko's life, while suggesting a possible conciliation between Beccah's parents.

Beccah grows up by choosing and fulfilling the same heroic quest of redemption, but with a slight twist; her mother has already done all the suffering. The fact that Akiko's life was full of hardships is beyond question. The singularity of her life is its peculiar resemblance to that of Princess Pari's. Just like Pari, she was born the youngest daughter and abandoned into the wide world. Escaping from the Japanese comfort station, she is rescued by a manshin and with her help completes the long journey to the missionaries in Pyongyang. Her journey goes even further and finally her marriage (with a holy man) consummates in her daughter, Beccah. However, she does not receive a quick fix to set things right. Instead she must wait for her daughter to grow into a world that has changed from the one that sacrificed Akiko herself.

Beccah's initial quest is slightly misguided, as she attempts to become the strong protector of her mother. She constantly feels threatened that the outside world will persecute her mother, who is revered by her fortune telling customers, but would be condemned to a madhouse by most other people. After her mother's suicide attempt, she vows to "be like Princess Pari, and...rescue [her mom]" (50). Her early infantile fantasies of being rescued by her father (2) or being recognized and picked up by a movie agent (27) give way to her desire to become her mother's savior. This however turns out to be a mistaken role, as she learns later that it was not she protecting her mother, but the other way round.

Though Beccah does not literally rescue her mother from the mouth of hell, she finally does succeed in her quest; not by sacrificing herself like Pari, but by becoming the medicine and fulfilling her mother's quest. At the end of the novel she is able to perform the rituals for Akiko, facing and accepting the connection between mother and daughter. At the same time, by realizing her mother's true identity she reconciles the relationship between her mother and father, and likewise the Shamanistic and Christian worlds surrounding her. As she asserts her own identity, first by becoming a mature person truly independent of her mother and second by realizing that her Korean tradition is not weird at all and embracing it, she finds an understanding between her two parents which they perhaps had not known themselves. Her confusion in designating her mother before the Manoa Walker as "not Christian" but "uh, Korean" (167), is cleared as she finally submits to her mother's pull and finds "air, clean and blue" and "a thin blue river of light spiraling down" (213) from the sky to herself in her mother's womb, in the water that is as blue as her father's eyes.

Beccah leads a surely remarkable life with her shaman mother, but it is not as unfamiliar as it may seem to the western eye. The themes that occupy her mind are drawn from the common ground that lies between the two cultures. Of course one might say, "But those so-called archetypes are just elements that make it fun and interesting, what's so important about them?" The point is of course, why they make it so fun and interesting, why they have captivated human minds for millennia. The answer may be as simple as that they come from that common cultural reservoir of human experience that Beccah stumbles upon. She picks up the heroic quest where her mother left off and finds maturation, self-identification, and true to her name, Rebeccah, or in Korean Bek-
hap (116), she ties her parents together, as well as their beliefs.

Works Consulted

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Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983.

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Kendall, Laurel. Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean
Ritual Life. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985.

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Keller, Nora Okja. Comfort Woman. New York: Penguin Books, 1998.

Lee, Neung-hwa. Survey of Chosun Shamanism. 1929. Seoul: Youngsin Academy Institute for Korean Studies, 1977.

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The Yalu River Leads Akiko to Death and Revives Her

By Jung, Ockjae

A Korean mother and a daughter are doing their laundry the side of a river, and they are talking each other happily. This is one of the scene of Comfort Woman, by Nora Okja Keller (1997). People called this river the Yalu, which means literally green ducks. The Yalu River flows between Korea and China. One day, the daughter, doing laundry near the Yalu, was taken as a comfort woman into Japanese army, and she is called Akiko. However, Akiko always miss the Yalu River, and then she escapes from the comfort station, so she arrives at the Yalu River because the Yalu River always gives Akiko life throughout her life.

Thus, Keller depicts the Yalu River is the source of life as well as the end of her life. In this paper, I will regard all streams of Comfort Woman as one of the second Yalu “rivers” because the role of the Yalu River is absolutely identical with the roles of the others and the Yalu plays the main role to Akiko. The second Yalu “rivers” are the Taedong River, the Aku ponds, and other small streams. In this novel, the north of the Yalu River means death and the south signifies life, so the Yalu is the boundary between death and life. In addition, the Yalu River’s flowing down also symbolizes the course of becoming of full life. In my paper, at first I will introduce the Yalu River’s historic and geographical meanings to Korean, and then I will discuss that the Yalu River leads Akiko to death and revives her in Comfort Woman.

According to the history and geography of Korea, the Yalu River represents the starting point of Korea. First, the Yalu River means the starting point of Korean history and geography, because the Yalu River divides Korea from China. Throughout the history of Korea, the Yalu River plays the main role as a fortress against China. At the origin of Korea, “ A mythical and spiritual king, Tangun, reputedly unified the various tribes along the Yalu River in 2,333 BC to form the ancient state, Kojosun” (Window to Korea). Kojosun often defended China’s attack, and Kojosun sometimes attacked China across the Yalu Rver. “Facing various barbarian states and old China to her north, Koguryo continued to fought off the barbarian states and China incursions at all time” (Window to Korea ).

Koguryo also originated as an old Korean empire from the mid-Yalu River (Window to Korea). On the other hand, Tang and Soo (China’s old empires) attacked through the Yalu River, and then at the beginning of Chosun Dynasty (1492 – 1910) China tried to attack Korea, but Koreans defended through the Yalu River. The Yalu River starts from the top of Mt. Paekdusan, the highest peak in Korea (Korea Information Site). Jongyoul You, one of famous Korean history scholars, asserts, “Mt. Paekdusan is the life as well as the origin of Korean people, so Mt. Paekdusan the hometown of all Koreans” (You 29), and many Koreans have the same opinion of You’s. Because Mt. Paekdusan is the hometown as well as the origin of Korean and the Yalu River originates from Mt. Paekdusan, both the Yalu River and Mt. Paekdusan symbolize not only the origin of Korea but also the fort of Korea throughout the history of Korea.

In addition to the starting point, the Yalu River divides Korea from China. For a long time, the boundary of Korea and China was very clear. Mireuk Lee, the last Korean novelist lived in German, asserts, ”For a long time the (Yalu) River flows continuously, and the Yalu River divides our nation Korea from the wide Majuria, China” (173). However, Japan attacked both Korea and China, and under Japanese colonization, the borderline between China and Korea became unclear because Japan occupied both China and Korea. Although Japan occupied Korea, in Korean’s minds, including Akiko, the Yalu River means Korean’s pride as well as Korean’s hometown.

Not only the Yalu River divides Korean from China, but also Korea’s territory begins with the Yalu River. After Korea’s colonization under Japan (1910-1945) and then Korean War, Korea was divided into south and north. The Republic of Korea was established in the southern and the Chosun Democratic People’s Republic was created in the northern. When north and south Korea conclude a treaty of truce with each other after Korean War, the Cease-Fire line lies between south and north Korea after Korean War. However, many Koreans, included Akiko, think the Yalu River is the start of his or her life as well as the fortress against China. Therefore, Korea’s geographic territory and can originate from the Yalu River.

In addition to the Yalu River’s role of the symbol of the starting point of Korea’s history and geography, water and other streams in Comfort Woman mean the second Yalu “rivers”. First, the Taedong River in Pyongyang, Korea, is the second Yalu River. The Korean novel, Baettaragi, by Dongin Kim, says the Taedong River in Pyongyang is the dream, song, and emotion that cleans out the worries of Pyongyang people, so “the River is literally the great vein of Pyongyang” (Daedongkang). The Taedong River plays the same role of the Yalu River in Comfort Woman, and in the river Akiko is baptized by one of the missionaries, it means both death and Akiko’s new birth (Keller 102). As in the Yalu River Akiko’s youth was dead and born again (Keller 15), in the Taedong River Akiko was dead as a worldly person, and born as a Christian (Keller 104). The missionaries say, “You are born again, said the woman who had given me wedding gown. As a Christian, as a wife, and as an American” (Keller 104).

Thus, she was dead as a Korean, and then reborn as an American in the Taedong River because she was baptized in the Taedong River and get married with an American minister. Because the Taedong River gives Askiko and new life as Christian, the Taedong River’s role in Comfort Woman is very similar to the Yalu River. Therefore, the Taedong River is the second Yalu River in Comfort Woman.

In addition to the Taedong River, the Aku ponds in Hawaii can be also one of the second Yalu River. In the Aku ponds, in Hawaii, Beccah and her boyfriend said that they obtained Knowledge about their bodies each other (Keller 133). She said, “Where I learned the sudden, blind animal taste of a man and the tart taste of myself from his lips” (Keller 133). The ponds play the same role as the Yalu River where led Akiko to feel men’s smell and taste in a comfort station. Thus that night Beccah entered her house, Akiko, her mother, yells “stink poji-cunt” (Keller 134). Korean word “Poji” is a woman’s sexual organ. At the moment, the smell from Beccah reminded Akiko of her ex-comfort woman life. After the next day of Akiko’s death, Beccah wants to hear “sing the river song” (Keller 139). In this case, the river song means both prayer for her mother’s death and blessing for her mother’s new life. Thus, Beccah feels the death from the Aku ponds, and after her mother’s death she wants to hear the river song, the Aku ponds in Hawaii and the river song means both life and death, like the Yalu River. Therefore, the Aku pond in Hawaii is the second Yalu River in Comfort Woman.

Besides the Akiu ponds, as symbols, water and other small streams also represents the second Yalu Rivers in Comfort Woman. First, in Akiko’s childhood Akiko used to help her mother laundering by hand near a river “Yalu Aniya, Older sister to the Yalu” (Keller 17). Before washing machines were used, many mothers and their daughters used to do laundering beside a river in Korea. If laundering clothes means creating from old and dirty clothes to new and clean ones, laundering near the river symbolizes from death to life of clothes, which is similar to Akiko’s death and new life in Comfort Woman. Therefore, in this novel doing laundry is connected very closely with the imagery of the Yalu River. On the other hand, whenever Beccah dreams about her swimming in water, water as a symbol means her death (Keller 121). In addition to Beccah’s dream, when Akiko’s soul comes in a crimson river in Akiko’s dream, the crimson river was the path toward Hell (Keller 125). Other streams in Comfort Woman are similar to the Yalu River because they mean both life and death. Induk’s corpse, Akiko 40’s, who was a comfort woman as a Korean, was also discovered by Akiko 41 on one of the upper streams of the Yalu River, where her body was thrown away (Keller 36). Thus, an “unnamed stream” (Keller 36) also means Akiko’s death and new birth. Therefore, like the Yalu River, not only the unnamed stream and the Aku ponds but just the crimson river of Beccah’s dream symbolizes life as well as death in Comfort Woman.

Not only water and other streams mean the second Yalu “rivers”, but also the Yalu River’s flowing down symbolizes the course of becoming full of life in Comfort Woman. First, the Yalu River’s flowing down represents the course of accomplishing life. The only freedom of comfort women during World War II was to go down to the side of the Yalu River (Keller 19). The Yalu River washed their bodies, so the Yalu River’s flowing down is to clear away their stains because the currents of the river represents the elimination of death, dirtiness, and the conveyance of life. Besides this meaning, in the Yalu River’s currents she escapes from the comfort station (Keller 23). In addition to the Yalu River’s letting Akiko escape from the comfort station, the Yalu River also has its own aim. Because the Yalu’s flow is not complete, when the river comes to the ocean, the river gains complete liberty (Keller 71). Therefore, the Yalu River’s flowing down to the ocean means the course becoming full of life, and when the river comes at the ocean, the Yalu River obtains the full of life, liberty.

In addition to the Yalu’s flowing down, the north of the Yalu River symbolizes Korean woman’s death during World War II in Comfort Woman. During World War II, many Korean women were taken to the north of the Yalu, China, the north of the Yalu River signifies death to Korean women, according to Akiko’s husband, “Being sent north of the Yalu” (Keller 94) means that a woman is led to death as a woman in view of Korean people during World War II. If Akiko had gone home across the south of the Yalu River, her hometown’s people would have treated Akiko as “Sulsulham” (Keller 101). In Korean language, “Sulsulaham” means very strange to people. In other words, many Korean women who came back from China in the north of the Yalu were treated as prostitutes by their village people, so in the north of the Yalu River, China, what Akiko had served to Japanese soldiers as a comfort woman means death as a woman. In addition, in Akiko’s dream “The sentries at the Yalu River checkpoint” (Keller 115) were the guardians of the death area. In the dream, Akiko tries to escape from a fire dragon, but the soldiers prevent her. Thus, because the soldiers are the guards of the death, the place where the soldiers keep also means the death. Therefore, not only “Sulsulham” of the village people but just the place the guards keep represents the north of the Yalu River, so the north means the territory of death to Akiko being comfort women during World War II.

Not only the north of the Ylau River symbolizes Korean woman’s death, but also the south of the Yalu River signifies Korea woman’s life during World War II. When the Allies defeated Japan during World War II, the Allies came across the south of the Yalu River, their march toward the south of the Yalu River symbolized the salvation from the Japanese reign. As a result, the leaders of Korea’s independence movement entered the area of life, the south of the Yalu River (Keller 99). Going across from the north to the south of the Yalu River was entering the area of new life as well as obtaining the independence from Japan during World War II. Most of all, the south of the Yalu River means the place Akiko loves her mother and father (Keller 17). Therefore, the south of the Yalu River symbolizes Akiko’s new life area.

Besides the Yalu River’s flowing down symbolizes the course of becoming full of life the Yalu River leads Akiko in to death and revives her. First, the Yalu river also has the imagery of death. In the Yalu River, Akiko discovered the dead bodies, when she went down the river. One of the dead, there was Induk’s body. Induk’s dead body’s eyes were staring toward the river because the river symbolizes death (Keller 54). On the other hand, when Akiko imagines the independence of Korea, its landscape was that Japanese dead bodies were scattered on the river (Keller 92). In Beccah’s dream, she yells, “my bed was ferried down the river toward hell” (Keller 156). First of all, Akiko imagines, “ I was twelve when I was murdered fourteen when I looked into the Yalu River and, finding no face looking back at me, knew that I was dead” (Keller 15). In addition to Akiko’s imagination, before Japan occupied the Yalu was famous for people’s committing suicides (Keller 15). Thus, the Yalu River means death to Induk, Akiko, and Beccah. Therefore the Yalu River implies not just life but also death.

In addition the death imagery, the Yalu River revives Akiko. After Akiko was taken into the comfort stations in China and she escaped from the stations, the Yalu River revives Akiko. Akiko hopes, “the Yalu’s currents carry my body to where it might find my spirit again” (Keller 15). Akiko’s doctor does not think that Akiko cannot escape from the place because Akiko was very weak. When the doctor does not watch her, she succeeds in escaping, and she washes out her bloods on her clothes (Keller 39). That is to say, the Yalu River purifies, and revives Akiko. Thus, Akiko sings, “Pururun mul, sumanun saradul-i, Blue waters, how many lives have you carried away? jugugat-na? Moot saram-ui seulpumdo hulro hulro sa ganora (Keller 40).

Although many comfort women were thrown in the Yalu River, the river clears away the sorrow of people and revives the living people, including Akiko. Though Akiko’s companions, comfort women, were dead carried away along the river, the Yalu River revives not only Akiko but also other comfort women.

Besides reviving Akiko, the Yalu River leads Akiko and Beccah another new life. For example, Akiko think the woman’s menstruation is the Yalu River. Akiko always said to Beccah that “the rituals that accompanied the major transitions in a womans life-birth, puberty, child birth, and death- involved the flow of blood and the freeing of the spirit” (Keller 185). Akiko said that when a woman bleeds monthly her soul come out of her blood. The soul out of the blood entered the blood river (Keller 185), but the souls will be died unless they do not take the seed (Keller 185). In other words, when a woman bleeds monthly, it means both life and death. Its meaning is connected with theYalu River, because the Yalu River symbolizes both. In addition, after her menstruation, Akiko said, “You must come back across running water” (Keller 189). Besides these words, Akiko said that after menstruation the soul gets away along the river, the soul comes back along the river (Keller 191). Because a woman’s menstruation signifies both life and death, the river symbolizes both of them because after menstruation a woman’s soul go out of body and come back the river in Comfort Woman. On the other hand, after Akiko death Beccah scatters Akiko’s ashes on the river, Akiko is dead but along the river. “To Korea. To Sulsulham. And across the River of heaven to the Seven Sisters” (Keller 212). Not only a woman’s menstruation but also the Yalu River leads Akiko death and another new life, heaven, and the river takes Beccah into the river, where her mother is dead, but Beccah does not go to the ocean along the river, but she is “Instead of ocean, I swam through sky, higher and higher” (Keller 213). Therefore, the Yalu River revives Akiko, the river became the sky to Beccah, Beccah swam through the sky and in the end with her mother Beccah goes into another new life, Heaven. Throughout Comfort Woman, by Keller, and my paper, I assert the Yalu River represents both death and life for Akiko. First, the Yalu River symbolizes both the starting line and the hometown of Korea’s history and geography, so Korean feels new life from the Yalu River throughout the history. When Korean lost the Yalu River during Japanese colonization, they continuously tried to regain the river. In addition, during Japanese ruling times, the north of the Yalu means death, but the south means life. In Comfort Woman, as a symbol, water and many other streams mean the second Yalu River because the river’s role is very similar to the Yalu River, so I assert all rivers in Comfort Woman are the Yalu “rivers”. Furthermore, the Yalu River’s flowing down symbolizes the course of becoming full of life. Thus, Akiko often sings the river song, and Beccah reminds her song her own death and life because the Yalu River’s imagery leads Akiko to death and revives her. Therefore, the Yalu River leads Akiko to death and revives her as follows:

“Nodle Kang-byon pururunmul
Kang muldo mot miduriroda
Su manun saramdul-I jugugat-na” (Keller 71)

(This means that near the river’s blue currents I do not believe the river because many people was dead in the river)

“Moot saram-ui seulpumdo diwana bolga
Moot saram-ui seulpumdo hulro hulro sa ganora” (Keller 72)

(This means that I would like to erase all people’s sorrow on earth, and the sorrow goes down along the current of the river).

Works Consulted

“Daedongkang” 11 Nov. 2002.
<http://www.woorimal.net/nagul/hyundai-essay/daedongkang.htm>.

Keller, Nora Okja. Comfort Woman. New York: Penguin Books, 1997.

Korea Information Site. 11 Nov. 2002.
<http://www.koreainfogate.com/aboutkorea/aboutkorea.asp?title=Geog>.

Lee, Mireuk. The Yalu River Flows. Rev. ed. Trans. Jeon, Hyaerin. Seoul: Bumwoosa, 2000.

Window to Korea. 11 Nov. 2002. <http:www.hprco.com/wintokor2.htm>.

You, Jongyoul. Mt. Paekdusan. Seoul: Taewangsa. 1992.

The Nationality of the Literature

By Cho, Hye Rim

In 1964, The Martyred, Korean American Richard E. Kim's English novel, was published in America by Braxiller. At that time, it was very shocking news to the Korean literary circles because it was almost the first case that Korean author's novel became known to America. However, a lot of Koreans did not accept it as a Korean literature though Kim writes his experience on the Korean War as a material of the novel. It was hard for Korean to admit the English novel The Martyred to a Korean literature because the national cultural theory was predominant in Korean literary world going through an aggression of the Japanese Empire and the partition of Korean peninsula.

In 1990s, American publishing society began to notice Korean American writers’ appearances. "A lot of their [Korean American writers] literatures were about the Korean War in which America intervened militarily, so many Americans considered those as dramatic and interesting?(Kim). Then Korean American novelist Nora Okja Keller's novel Comfort Woman came out in 1997 and it shocked American society. It is the story about Kim Soonhyo, who becomes a comfort woman by force when she is only twelve years old. Keller impeaches Japanese past brutalities during the Second World War through it. In this time, it was translated into Korean and many Koreans read it. However, the nationality of this kind of novel is still so vague. Is it an American literature or a Korean literature? In this paper, I will define what is Korean literature first, and then discuss the nationality of the novel Comfort Woman.

There are two definitions of the Korean literature: general and broader definitions. The former has a linguistic criterion and the latter has a thematic one. The nationality of a literature depends on these standards.

According to the Korean language dictionary (Dong-A, 1999), the Korean literature is the literature written in Korean language (254). Literature is the language art. That is to say, literature is composed of language and language is one of the most important components of the literature. The language in which a literary work is written is a basic and fundamental criterion for deciding the nationality of the literature. For this reason, Comfort Woman can be an American literature because it is written in English.

This linguistic criterion, however, has some problems. For example, though Korea has about 2,000 years long literary history, there are a lot of literary works written in classical Chinese before the creation of "Hangul,?the Korean alphabet: "The dominance of Hanmun (Chinese writing) underwent a challenge when in 1446, during the reign of the illustrious Yi Dynasty King, Sejong, the Korean script, Hangul, was devised?(Paik 323). Hwangjoga (Song of the Yellow Birds) is a love verse written in 17 B.C. by King Yuri of Koguryo, one of the early Korean kingdoms. It is a very famous Korean ancient literature though it is written in Chinese character (Paik 321). In addition, a lot of old Hyanggas (Korean folk songs) were transcribed in the way of Hyangchal that is a phonetic representation by borrowing the Chinese character's pronunciation and rendering (Paik 322). These literatures are not written in Korean but it is difficult to deny that those are Korean literature. In short, the dictionary or general definition of Korean literature cannot comprehend the special qualities of Korean literature.

For indicating Korean literature more precisely and appropriately, deepen and broader definition is indispensable. The Korean Education Ministry clarifies the definition of Korean literature in the third grade high school students?textbook like this: "Korean literature is the literature that Korean writes his or her valuable experience such as thoughts or emotion and it has to include Korean national spirit, consciousness, and life feelings?(translation mine). This definition looks ambiguous but it merges various features of Korean literature. In other words, it presents the best method to divide the nationalities of literary works. The contents and the thought in a literary work are more important than the formality, that is, the language, so the broader definition is more persuasive than the general definition.

The characteristics of Korean literature are 1) the author is Korean and s/he has a Korean national identity 2) the main characters are Korean 3) the theme or motif reflects Korean culture and the phases of its times. From this point of view, Comfort Woman is a Korean literature.

First of all, Keller is a Korean. She was born in Seoul, Korea. Her father was German and her mother was Korean, that is, she is a child of mixed racial origins. Though she grew up in Hawaii and her nationality is an American, Keller says she is a Korean because "she was raised primarily by her mother?(Birnbaum). She is a Korean living in America. She says that she was confused her national identity and spirit in her teen's but later she has an ardent passion about her root and origin (JooungAng Hi, translation mine). In the interview with Jocelyn Lieu, Keller says how she began writing Comfort Woman:

The thing that drew me to write Comfort Woman in 1993 was a lecture I attended where a former comfort woman, Keum Ja Hwang spoke about her experiences as a young girl forced into a comfort camp where she was forced to sexually serve Japanese soldiers. That was the first time I had ever heard about that and I remember thinking, 'Why is this the first time I've ever heard about this? Why am I only hearing about it now? Why doesn't everyone hear about it? Why isn't it a part of our national consciousness of world history? She heard the testimony of Hwang in a lecture of the University of Hawaii and she felt the need to release the story out into the world. Korea is her mother's native country and it is her own country, too. Though she is a 1.5 immigrant generation from Asia and she is an Americanized English native speaker, she grew up under the mother who has a Korean language as her mother tongue. Keller got a Korean cultural background as well as Korean language through her mother. Hearing her family history and Korean tradition strengthen Keller's national identity as Korean.

In addition, Akiko and Beccah, two main characters in Comfort Woman, are also Korean. Keller has been concerned about Korean women's problem like comfort women in Korean history and culture. She says that she really wants to write the life of Korean women who are estranged by society and cast out from society such as comfort women during Second World War or half-blood prostitutes in military camp side town in Korea (JooungAng Hi, translation mine). Keller expresses Korean culture through Soonhyo's whole life and Beccah who is a Korean American teenager has several commons with Keller. "Comfort Woman takes the narrative strategy of alternating between Akiko (Kim Soonhyo), a mother who had been a comfort woman, and Beccah, her mixed-blood daughter's perspective, who tries to understand her mother's mental degeneration? (So).

This kind of character creation of Keller is similar to that of Park Kyung Ni, the standard female writer in Korea. "With few exceptions the protagonists of most of her [Park Kyung Ni] works are of the same character. Park's typical protagonist is a young and proud war-widow endowed with beauty and intellect?(Choi 402). Most main characters of Park's novel are women, especially women who are bereaved of her husband by the war. Usually they have to support her mother, daughter, or young son and they have a very close relationship in the name of "family.?Park wants to show how the corrupted social conditions after the war inflict another kind of violence on the women protagonist of her novel. Keller also wants to show how the distorted and incorrect history makes a lot of Korean women victims of war.

Though Akiko and Beccah are made-up persons, their lives are based on the reality. The novel Comfort Woman is founded on historical fact, Second World War. Keller wants more people to pay attention to comfort women problem and Korean history through her novel. The characters of a literature reveal the novel's theme through its voice and action in place of the author's. Akiko and Beccah also serve as Keller's own thoughts and emotion with Korean national identities. Therefore, the novel Comfort Woman is a Korean literature.

One of the salient features of Comfort Woman is that it gives a vivid picture of characters, which represent Korean's life well. In other words, Keller shows Korean traditional customs, national sentiment, and racial consciousness through her novel's protagonists.

Korean traditional women's picture and obligation appear in several places of Comfort Woman. In Korea, women have to bear sons for preservation of her husband's family because only the man has the right of succeeding the headship of the family. Keller describes directly this unjust tradition through Soonhyo (Akiko)'s marriage process:

She [Soonhyo] had time only to listen to her future parents?lecture: Marriage is not about love but about duty. About having sons. About keeping the family name. My mother bowed twice to her new in-laws and was married by morning. My mother never heard her name again? Only when the time came to bury her did my sisters and I even wonder what name my mother was born with. In the end, we merely carved Omoni, mother, into the sixth plank of her coffin, the one that faced the sky (180).

Korean woman lose her own name after the marriage, and then she became just "a wife,”or "a mother.” Because the identity as a wife or a mother is stronger than that as a woman or a person, a lot of former comfort women have kept up silence. Not only was it painful for them to speak about it and to relive it through the telling, but they also felt ashamed themselves. In other words, they think their comfort women experience in the past would bring dishonor on their family. Keller points out this situation well in her novel Comfort Woman.

Shamanism as a traditional primitive religion in Korea is an important motif, too. In the novel, Akiko looks like a crazy woman or a mentally deranged person. From the shamanism's viewpoint, however, she may be just an exorcist or a spiritualistic medium possessed by a spirit. Korean famous novel The Picture of a Female Shaman (Eulyoo Munwhasa, 1947) by Kim Dong Ni presents an unrealistic and mythological world well. "In 'The Picture of a Female Shaman,?Christianity comes into contact with a traditional society in which shamanism plays a dominant part, causing a dire conflict between a son and his mother?(Choi 204). The theme of shamanism versus Christianity expresses the process of history both the conflict of manners and customs and the opposition of ideologies from a cultural and religious standpoint.

Keller mentions about "sal” through Akiko's voice. "Sal?is a Korean word and it has double meaning in Comfort Woman. "When I [Beccah] entered the world, bottom first, arrows impacted my body with such force that it took twelve years for them to work their way back to the surface of my skin?(Keller, 73). In Korean pronunciation, one of the meanings of the word "sal” is an arrow but in this novel it does not mean the real arrow. It is a just symbol of another meaning of "sal.?"'Sal,” she [Akiko] announced. 'This is the shattered arrowhead working its way out, making all kinds of trouble. We've got to watch for more of these?(Keller, 80). The genuine implication of "sal” is an evil spirit or a baleful influence. Akiko is a female shaman, so she often feels the movements of
spirit and "sal.” Keller explains the reason of Akiko's odd and peculiar behaviors on the basis of shamanism. She also uses the double meaning of Korean word by means of symbol and metaphor.

In 1995, Keller received the Pushcart Prize for a short story "Mother Tongue." In 1997, she wrote her first novel Comfort Woman that includes the short story "Mother Tongue”as a chapter. The novel was the winner of the 1998 American Book Award. It was a good chance to show her real ability and to publicize Korean culture. Most Korean American literary works primarily deal with personal issues that are raised from Korea's history and culture. Similarly, though Comfort Woman starts from a former comfort woman's testimony, it comprehends various Korean cultures, history, and racial characteristics of Korea and Korean. Keller grew up in America, and majored in English literature but she is a Korean and writes Korean literature. The literature is undoubtedly the language art. The literature is, however, essentially the thoughts. Therefore, the language can transcend its nationality in literature. Comfort Woman is written in English, and published in America. It is, however, not only an American literature but also a Korean literature. The nationality of literature is not unconditional. Today's global literature advocates the multilingualism and multiculturalism, so the concept of one specific national language is pointless.

Works Cited

"A Guidance Plan of High School Third Grade Korean Literature.” Home page. Youngran High School. 10 Nov. 2002 wrls.kr/study/3_Third/3_Botong/2_Mun_hak/1-1.htm>.

Birnbaum, Robert. "Interview: Nora Okja Keller - Author of Comfort Woman and Fox Girl talks with Robert Birnbaum.” Home page. Matt Borondy Author Database Submission Guidelines. 15 Nov. 2002 .

Choi, Tong Ho, et al. Who's Who in Korean Literature. Seoul: The Korean Culture & Arts Foundation, 1996.

Keller, Nora Okja. Comfort Woman. New York: Penguin Books, 1998.

Kim, Jun Gil. "Kim Jun Gil's Global Accounts of Cultural Travel (8): The Story of

Korean Author's English Novels.” Monthly Chosun: Digital Chosun Ilbo July.
2000. 14 Nov. 2002 .html/200006/200006210017_1.html>.

Lee, Ki Mun (chief editor). Dong-A New Korean Language Dictionary. Seoul: Dong-A
Publishing & Printing, 1999.

Lieu, Jocelyn. "Releasing the Story to the World: An Interview with Nora Okja Keller. Coloredgirls Site. 16 Nov. 2002 wrls.com/Otherviews/nok_interview.html>.

"Novel about Half-blood Girls in Foreign Military Campside Town by Korean American Author Nora Okja Keller.” Home page. JoongAng Hi. 10 Nov. 2002 0409-2.htm>.

Paik, Chul. "Introduction to Korean Literature.”Trans. Marshall R. Pihl. Literature East & West Vol. 14: 320-36.

So, Carolyn. "Issues of Tradition and Modernity in Korean American Literature.” Korean American Museum Site. 15 Nov. 2002. www.kamuseum.org/culture/base.htm>.

Water Motif in "Comfort Women"

By Seoyeon Goo

Nora Cobb Keller's "Comfort Woman" is about a comfort woman named Akiko whose life was affected by the trauma of being forced into prostitution in Japanese camp during World War II. Her traumatized experience interferes her to lead a normal life even after the war and furthermore, influences her daughter Beccah's mental state. The frequently recurring water motif in the story aids to see the outcomes of the influences Akiko's past experience has on Akiko's life after the war and Beccah.

Water as an after-death world arouses suicidal wishes to Akiko and thus, causes Beccah to be affected by Akiko's suicidal attempts. At first, this essay will discuss the reason Akiko perceives water as an after-death world, how it affects her life after the war and drives her to attempt suicides. The second part will discuss how Akiko's suicidal attempts influenced the representation of water in Beccah's dreams. Psychological theories support the claims of the paper for the most part.

First, the role of water plays in Akiko's memories explains why she relates water to the after-death world. According to E. E. Boesch, two processes are involved to identify an object. The first involves social demonstration of an object and the second concerns the individual formation of the subjective significance of object. In addition, he says that the most important aspects of the formation of the subjective significance of objects rely upon experiences and evaluations and thus, are shaped during childhood and adolescent (Boesch, 187). Similarly, Akiko's childhood experience on the death ceremony of her little brother contributes in composing Akiko's perception of water as after-death world. Her brother was born dead and the death ceremony Akiko's mother gave him was the first funeral Akiko witnessed. Akiko's mother lets the current of the river pull the dead baby away (Keller, 40) and this is how Akiko learned the importance of preparing corpse and performing death ceremony with water.

Water becomes the "mediating" object that mediates Akiko's past and present. This explains why she was tormented by Induk's spirit. Douglas asserts that functionally, the most important aspect of the elicited connotations is that they [of the objects] mediate between past and present. Linking the past with the present establishes continuity; it also establishes consistency, thereby enhancing the "unity-of-self-experience" (Douglas, 188). When Akiko and her colleagues finds Induk's "skewered body" whose eyes were "dry and open and staring toward the river," (Keller, 54) the scenes of Induk's dead body and river probably reminded Akiko of her past experience on funeral. This explains why Akiko believes Induk's eyes were "staring toward the river", because from the recollections of her past experience on death, the dead body should be prepared with water. Thus, Akiko probably thought that Induk's body wanted preparation with water. However, Akiko neglects Induk's body out of the fear of Japanese and it bothers her even in the present and makes her feel that she did not followed the ritual that is designed to secure benefit in the sphere of spirits and sphere of humans.

Akiko's belief on water as after-death world eventually drives her to perform "symbolic act" of suicide. According to Boesch, subjectively identified objects establish guiding structures for people's actions. Akiko believes that spirits reside in water, and this belief led her to perform "symbolic act" of "retrieving" her spirits, which in reality presented as suicides. Akiko continually says that she was "dead" and "murdered". These signify her 'spiritual' death because she was physically alive in reality. Her saying that she "wanted to let the Yalu's currents carry [her] body to where it might find [her] spirit again" (Keller, 15) implies that she believes she would find her spirit only if she was carried by water. Akiko's explanation on her intention for suicides that "it's not a matter of leaving you, but of retrieving something that I lost" (Keller, 48) when Beccah asks why Akiko tries to leave her reaffirms her belief on possibilities of "retrieving" lost spirit through water. Evidently, attempting suicides through water connotes her ardent wish to regain her 'believed-to-be' lost spirit. Water in Akiko's childhood memory relates to the death ceremony and thus, marks as the after-death world in her consciousness. Besides mediating Akiko's past and present, water which Akiko identified as after-death world of spirits eventually contorls her actions.

Second, representation of water in Beccah's dreams explains Beccah's attitude towards Akiko before and after Beccah understands Akiko's life. All dreams are guidance dreams (Pat, 39). Thus, dreams often reflect what has occupied the dreamer's waking mind and thereby, can provide a "fix" for the situation which has caused the person to dream such dreams. Before Beccah finds out about Akiko's life, she dreams of water that threatens her life. Her dream starts with swimming in pure and beautiful water. However, something soon interrupts and yanks away her freedom to enjoy the water. One time she was "wrenched form behind" (121). On another, long and thick hair of her mother tightened her legs and prevented them from kicking the water. Hostile sea animals such as jellyfish or shark would sometimes threaten her life, too.

Beccah dreams of negative water images because water is associated with tragic experiences she experienced through Akiko. The 'Classical Conditioning' theory of 'Learning Psychology' explains that a person shows a particular response to a particular situation because he or she was learned to give "conditioned response" to a "conditioned stimulus" (Hwang, 87). For example, John Watson had an experiment on a 11 months old baby named Albert who was not afraid of a white mouse in the beginning. However, Watson presented white mouse with ear-deafening noise. Albert revealed fear toward the noise and after several presentations of mouse in association with the noise, the mouse became the "conditioned stimulus" for deriving "conditioned response" of fear from Albert. Consequently, Albert showed fear toward anything that had white fur, such as rabbit, dog or white hair, which the mouse had. Similarly, Akiko's first suicide attempt was in the bathtub and the second one was by jumping into the canal of Ala Wai. Suicide attempts through water were the "conditioned stimulus" and the negative response such as shock, fear or dread was Beccah's "conditioned response" to them. Thus, Beccah acquisited negative image of water because Akiko's suicide attempts through water stimulated and conditioned Beccah to respond negatively towards water. Beccah's "conditioned response" to water is negative also because she could not understand Akiko's intention for suicides. Beccah says that she "asked her [Akiko] why she wanted to leave me [Beccah] when she said I was the only thing she loved" (Keller, 48). The question reveals that Beccah understands Akiko's suicide attempt as a wishful act to leave Beccah. Thus, Beccah recognizes water as that separates her from her mother by taking her mother away.

However, after Beccah finds out about the life Akiko led she understands Akiko better and thus, dissociates her life from Akiko's influence and moves on to her future. Beccah's understanding of Akiko is shown in her act of scattering Akiko's ashes in the river behind their home instead of in the garden. She knew about the spirits of the deads live in water but could not understand the importance of preparing the dead bodies in the river. This is where the discrepancies in Akiko and Beccah existed. Akiko regards spirits as important as she does bodies and thus, affirming that spirits were placed in comfortable place in life after-death was as important as bodies belong to places on earth where they feel comfortable. Akiko knows that Beccah is not interested in preparing dead body with water but she believes Beccah will gladly perform the ceremony only if she recognized the significance it held. She could tell directly about its importance but she does not. Instead, she tells Beccah a tale of 'Little Frog'. It is a tale of a frog which buried its mother near the river instead of in the mountain, cries out of fear that her tomb will carry away with water whenever there is rain. The tale has significant meaning to Akiko because it talks about two places for burial. What Akiko wants out of two is to be buried near the river so her spirit could join the water, unlike the mother frog of the tale which wished the opposite. However, when Beccah asks Akiko what she wants, she does not answer. She might have wanted Beccah to find it out by herself. As she trusted, Beccah performs exactly what Akiko had in mind and thereby, it uncovers Beccah's understanding of Akiko.

Beccah's last dream signifies that Beccah frees herself from Akiko's grasps and moves on to her own life. In her last dream she swims in deep water again. At one point, she feels the pull on her legs and sees her mother. She yields, not because she wants to be with her mother but because she forgot that she is already free from Akiko's influence. Thus, yielding is an act of letting her mother to take control over her. "I opened my mouth to drown, expecting to suck in heavy water," (Keller, 213) clearly delineates that Beccah does not attempt to flee from Akiko even from the beginning but absolutely surrenders herself. However, then she "breathed in air, clear and blue" (213) and finds herself in the sky, feeling the freedom of light and air. The transition from water to sky implies moving over from the tied and influenced life to a free, independent and new one. Water is deeply associated with past experiences and memories of Akiko whereas nothing is associated with sky. Beccah has to create experiences that will associate with sky in the future. Water images in Beccah's dreams are negative when Akiko's influences affect Beccah. However after Beccah understands Akiko, negative water images disappear and Beccah dreams of positive dream of moving on to her new life. Water plays an important role in unweaving the complexity of the mother and daughter relationship of Akiko and Beccah in "Comfort Woman". The role of water plays in Akiko's memories explain why she relates water to an after-death world and how it affects her actions and life after the war. The effects of suicidal attempts of Akiko explain the representation of water to Beccah. Tracing how the water imageries changes from negative to positive before and after Beccah's realization of Akiko's past explains the change of Beccah's recognition of Akiko. Overall, the significance of water motif lies in providing deeper understanding of Akiko and Beccah to the readers.

What Made Japanese Policy Cruel in Colonial Times?– Bakuhu System -
By Shin Kim

Opening

Nora Okja Keller shows comfort women’s hard life during the war and how the experience affected to comfort women’s whole life and their descents in her novel, Comfort Woman. In fact, Former comfort women declare their cruel life in the comfort station which Japanese government established in the World War periods. They were drafted, raped, abused, hit and even killed. They have been asking Japanese government apology and compensation but the government has been ignoring them even though there are lots of evidences of existing comfort women like testimonies of former Japanese soldiers and army documents (“Korean”). Besides the comfort women, Japanese drafted students as soldiers, exploited labors, did chemical experiment to colonial people and so on.

However, Japan still denys their hostile crimes which they did in their imperial time and is the only country who regards its war criminals as heroes. There are also many people who go to Japanese temple, Yaskuni Shin-sa to cherish the war criminals even other countries criticize this behavior(“Japan”).

What made Japanese could ignore outside criticism of not reflecting their past and how could Japanese exploit colonial and their people harshly in their imperial time? Japanese society is characterized strongly by its socio-historical background represented by Bakuhu system, the former social structure before they opened their market to western power in 1858. The character of Bakuhu system was an important socio-historical background of Japanese imperialism and this Japanese character affected to their imperial policies.

Body

Foundation and development of Bakuhu

There were nobilities in the central government and they controlled the whole of Japan but the powerful families came into possession of land. The powerful families made private army, which was consist of Samurais who were in the knight class, to defend. The first Bakuhu was established in 1192. This Bakuhu is called Kamakura Bakuhu(Eui-sik 74). This is a kind of manorial system. The Samurais raised the power and became a lord of an area. They fought each other until late 16 century. Doyotomi Hideyosi conquered Japan and he invaded Korea because Samurais needed another enemy after unification. The Bakuhu system had remained as a control method until they opened the gate to western power and changed the system to power-centered emperor system(“Bakuhu”). Originally, emperor had little right compared with Showgun, the general who controlled the whole things like army and judicature, but after Japanese met western power, they began to think that they need more power-centered system. They finally got true emperor system after defeating other parties like Showgun’s. (Beasley 71).

Distinctive characteristic of society in Bakuhu system

Bakuhu system was deeply related to wars. The most distinctive point is the Samurai class. Samurai was like knight in west but their relationship with their lord was much more concrete. Their relationship was not just a contract between them. The Samurai was extremely loyal to their lords because showing loyalty was the only way to survive in those days(Ienaga 189). For example, when one Bakuhu won a war, it was normal that the winners killed whole loser’s family because of long wars. Remaining inheritor meant future threats. Samurais also killed whole family of betrayers to prevent betraying during the combat. It means that winning was the only way to protect their families and himself for Samurais. Moreover, because of long war and Confucianism made dying during the battle, extreme loyalty to the lord Samurai spirit as a virtue. And the relationship between master and servant became applicable in whole relation. There are always higher person and lower person in any relation even among families like parents and descents, husband and wife, brothers and sisters(Ienaga 190)

There were the traditional Four Classes of society (i.e. aristocrats, farmers, artisans and tradesmen) in Bakuhu system but the people mainly divided into two classes. One is Samurai and the other is normal people. The Samurai class controlled their manor and other people in normal time and fought in wars. Because Samrai didn’t work and collected much money from their serf class, the life of normal people was equally poor(Eui-sik 100).

However, the discrimination against women was much more severe(Ienaga 190). In fact, women regarded as a possession of a man by patriarchal system. If women had committed adultery, they would have been killed while adulteries committed by men were dealt generously. During wars women’s only weapon was their own body. Winner killed loser’s whole family but if a woman had given him her body, the winner let her free or took her. Following winner was the woman in losers party’s only chance to survive because if she didn’t follow the winner, she and her parents’ family would be killed. Women often gave their life to the enemy who even killed her husband and children to survive. If the winner had taken her, he also would have remained her parents’ party’s family.

Bakuhu system’s effect on imperialism

Japanese emperor got the whole authority after Meiji Restoration. He just had little power before but emperor was becoming get whole power. Emperor centered system started but the characteristic of Bakuju system contined(“Korean”).

Bakuhu system’s effects were well shown in war. At first, Japanese govern structure was like army. They showed absolute loyalty to the emperor. They drafted girls as sexual labor or did chemical experiment on colonial people and whatever things the soldiers did following the order, it regarded positive things because they did for nation. Second, the discrimination against lower classes and women wasn’t regarded serious. They could think that was usual things. In short, they asked the other people the loyalty to the emperor and they must have thought that was the people’s duty.

Moreover, the development of merchant class enabled Japan produced merchant goods faster than other Asian countries and they were able to get power to be the imperial country. It means that they had more lower class and women who they could do anything for the nation(“Korean”).

Conclusion

Wars in Japanese history were part of Japanese life and those wars gave tremendous effect to Japanese society. Wars changed their attitude to war and war crimes. They thought that they could do anything to win or survive. In fact, the women who lived Bakuhu period sold their body easily to survive. They gave their body to intruders and ignored the intruders killed their children when the intruders won their lord. The only things people could do to survive and protect their children and wives was absolutely loyal to their lords even giving up their lives. The method would be no problem. This social characteristic remained in Japanese imperialism after they changed their govern system because of western powers. Even now, Japanese government structure has been changing but Bakuhu system still remains in their soul as nationalism. Many Japanese still think that the war criminals were their heroes who made correct decision for their country.

It is important to know Japanese former social system when people want to understand Japanese attitude to war crimes and their reaction. Without knowing this social background, all approach will be useless when people try to get apology and Japanese different reaction.

Living things always changes their forms to survive because environment changes. Bakuhu system could be the best system in Japanese history but now it needs to be changed. Japanese should try to change their thought. The idea of Bakuhu system is not available in this world. Current world is not full of enemy. Other countries are not only competitors but also colleague especially in global economy because impacts in one country affect other countries. And this change can start only after Japanese reflect on their fault which they did before. For example, Japanese government should apologize and compensate to former comfort women. That would be the first and best step to change Japan for the real powerful nation in the world.

The strong nation is not only the nation which has power but also the nation which is respectable.

Works Cited

Keller, Nora Okja. Comfort Woman. New York: Penguin, 1998.

W.G. Beasley. Japanese Modern History. Seoul: Eulyoumunwha, 1996.

Gong, Eui-sik and et al. New view of understanding about Japan. Seoul: Dalakwon,
2002.

Saburo, Ienaga. Japanese Cultural, Social history. Rev. ed. Trance. Young Lee. Seoul: Kachi,1999.

“Korean women drafted for military sexual service by Japan.” The Korea Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. 11 September 2002 < http://witness.peacenet.or.kr/e_comfort/library/Linda-re.htm>.

“Bakuhu Period” Yong-ho Elementary School Cyber Education Center
<http://www.cwyh-e.es.kr/project/culture/6210lhw/html/japan03.htm>.

Kim, Sung-Kyu. “Japan Doesn’t Care About Countries.” Dongailbo. 14 August. 2001: A3.

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