In this era of declining literary reading, Korean writer Cho Nam-joo created a miracle in the Korean literary world with "Kim Ji-young born in 1982". The novel, which depicts the daily lives of South Korean women, was read and sold more than a million copies two years after its publication, including even South Korea's current president, Moon Jae-in. The novel triggered a series of social effects, which made Zhao Nanzhu see the great power that literature can have, and was therefore inspired. Since then, she has documented for more women their "seemingly unspecific and no big deals" and published a new book, Her Name Is, two years later.
This is a collection of short stories on feminist themes. The author listened to the stories of more than sixty women from the ages of nine to 69 and wrote the novel from these voices. Whether in terms of content or style, this novel is a continuation of "Kim Ji-young born in 82", which presents 26 "Kim Ji-young" of different ages and different identities: "Kim Ji-young" who first entered the workplace, "Kim Ji-young" who was pregnant, "Kim Ji-young" who took care of her grandchildren, "Kim Ji-young" who had homosexuals, "Kim Ji-young" who was preparing for divorce, "Kim Ji-young" who was wandering alone in a foreign land... And their common name is "female".
The story presented in the book is very realistic, from love, professional life, marriage life to retirement of old age, I believe that as long as it is a woman, these contents will feel familiar. Many of the episodes and stories of everyday life come from real life, such as the physiological changes that occur when a woman becomes pregnant, gives birth to a child, or the differential treatment encountered in the workplace. The authenticity of the material sometimes makes it even unclear whether this is a "novel" or a social survey report that reveals the living conditions of contemporary Korean women. Zhao Nanzhu herself also admitted that she had worried that her works would be put on the shelves of non-fiction because of "unknown attributes", but she still insisted on using her own expression. She packages "reports" into "stories" that make them easy and boring to read. The various dilemmas faced by women presented in the story make people can't help but think about it after reading it.
Since the success of "Kim Ji-young born in 1982", feminist literary works have sprung up and become a force to be reckoned with in the Korean literary world. Today's feminism is more concerned with women in everyday life and their encounters, pursuing universality rather than particularity. The women presented in the book are extremely ordinary and familiar, and the reader will not even be able to tell whether the characters in the book are themselves. Because of this universality, it is possible for readers to enter the characters to empathize with them, thus forming a gender-based emotional community. Gender as "a powerful institution" makes women's experiences strikingly similar. The "Jin Zhiying" in the book are like a mirror, reflecting every "life as a woman", including the self that is deeply troubled and gradually lost, and our "mother" who sacrifices herself and dedicates herself to others all her life.
In this era of self-pursuit, women's self-awareness has greatly improved, and they no longer take "becoming a good wife and mother" as the only goal in life. They have their own dreams. However, the identity of "female" makes them run into walls in real life, and the loss of individual value has become the source of suffering for many women. The author keenly captures these questions and asks people through the novel: What is the problem?
From "Kim Ji-young, born in 1982" to "Her Name Is", the two works have caused great repercussions in South Korea and many countries and regions in Asia. In South Korea, although many men claim to be "awakened" by her work and deepen their understanding of women, the voices of opposition are also endless. Last October, the film "Kim Ji-young, born in 1982", based on the novel of the same name, was boycotted by many people after it was released in South Korea, and some people gave the film a low score on the website, claiming that it was "a carnival of paranoia women who were persecuted." In other parts of Asia, people pay attention to this work because it tears apart the gorgeous masks of many Korean idol dramas.
After decades of modernization, South Korea has undergone tremendous changes in society, but the gender order of male superiority over female inferiority has not fundamentally changed, and the attitude and concept of society towards women are still very conservative. In the chapter of the Divorce Diary, when the father learns that his daughter is going to divorce, he only blames the daughter for "not knowing how to bow her head" and "thinking that she is not worth it." He advised his daughter not to divorce because she concluded that "a woman who lives alone without a family will be unlucky". In "Written to Zhenming's Father", the daughter who is proud in the eyes of the mother, the daughter who was admitted to a prestigious university by her own strength and entered the work of a large enterprise after graduation, is a "zero-point daughter" in the eyes of others. Because the popular view in Korean society is: 100 points for full-time main women, 80 points for the daughters of civil servants or teachers who leave work on time, 50 points for the working daughters who can rush home before dinner, and zero points for the daughters of large enterprise employees who leave work at 12 o'clock at night.
Korean society has always regarded forbearance as a virtue. Hard work and unconditional contributions for the family are what people think of as a mother". There are also few exposés in the workplace because it violates the loyalty of subordinates to parental superiors. Such a social culture has created a "silent majority". As a writer, zhao Nanzhu's sense of social responsibility made zhao nanzhu realize that it is necessary to awaken the public's awareness of problems. Only when everyone strives to "break the silence" will society change. She claims that she is not trying to make some kind of claim or to confront men. Her message is: "I hope that society will not judge us because we are women, but treat us as real people, regardless of gender." Hopefully, every woman can be what she wants to be without gender. ”
If you want to say that the biggest difference between this book and "Jin Zhiying born in 82" is that it gives people a hope and shows people the courage of women to never give up despite adversity. The KTX female flight attendant in "Re-Glowing Us" was illegally dismissed by the company and carried out labor rights litigation for more than a decade, striving for a better employment environment for women. In "The Second Man," the female staff member who has been mentally tortured by exposing sexual harassment by her boss insists on insisting despite "regretting it every day and even every moment" because she does not want to see more victims. In the "Divorce Diary", the sister who decided to divorce advised her sister to marry well, but told her that "even if you are married, don't think about whose wife, whose daughter-in-law, whose mother, just be yourself."
The most pleasing character in the book is probably the protagonist of the last part of the novel, the 13-year-old girl Enri. At a young age, she is not only aware of sexual harassment and violence in schools, but also aware of the discriminatory meaning behind the titles people use, but also wants to change these situations by competing to become a student leader. This intelligent and courageous girl may be the hope for the future of Korean society in the author's eyes. Because from the girl, we can perceive that the belief that as long as you dare to speak and act, the world will change has taken root in people's hearts.
Author: Liu Jing (Doctor of Literature, Lecturer, Department of Korean Language, School of Oriental Languages, Shanghai University of Chinese) Editor: Guo Chaohao Responsible Editor: Liu Qing