The Hetero-Image of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the Contemporary Prose of the Republic of Korea: Imagological Approach

The article presents the imagological interpretation of the perception of the North Korean “Other” by the contemporary South Korean writers in the novels Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong (2007) and I Met Lo Kiwan (2011) by Cho Haejin. The aim of the research is to analyze how the contemporary literature of the Republic of Korea is affected by the ongoing political process designed to pursue the conciliation between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The novels Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong and I Met Lo Kiwan by Cho Haejin are notable literary works dealing with North Korean topics and reflecting the desire of the South Korean writers to comprehend the North Korean “Other” in the context of globalization and intensification of communication between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hwang Sok-yong's and Cho Haejin's goals in their novels are accordant with the ideas of imagology aiming to deconstruct national stereotypes, to release human mind from national categories and to open the ways to equal multicultural dialogue. Despite their common historical origin and cultural background, South and North Koreans represent different ideologies and national identities after long decades of the Division. Many of present-day South Korean people seem to regard North Koreans not as their countrymen, but as the “Others”, whose lifestyle and culture are strikingly different. But, in their novels, Hwang Sok-yong and Cho Haejin depict the hard living and heartache of North Korean men and women, who encounter hunger, fear and loss of their close relatives. The tragic fates of the North Korean characters seem to be meant to arouse South Korean readers' sympathy. At the same time, the descriptions of the psychological condition and family relations of North Korean people confirm that Confucian virtues and universal values are still held in esteem among them, like in South Korea. In their novels, Hwang Sok-yong and Cho Haejin take the responsibility of telling about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the readers of the Republic of Korea, because in today's situation North Koreans living in the political isolation are not able to promote their self-image. The novelists take the problem of the Korean conflict from the local to the global level showing its influence on the entire world, invoke South Korean readers to see their reflection in the North Korean “Others”, suggest stopping the ideological confrontation for the sake of mutual aid and compassion. Ruining the out-of-date ideas about the estrangement of the two Korean states, Hwang Sok-yong and Cho Haejin endeavor to eliminate the conception of North Koreans as of the enemies and incomprehensible “Others” and to create the hetero-image of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as of a nation like-minded with South Koreans and the global community.

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