Narratives of “borders conquered, disfigured” in Myung Mi Kim’s Under Flag

Abstract

The experimental nature of Myung Mi Kim’s first book Under Flag still defines her poetry as “too obscure” (Huang 86). This response is not exaggerated as the narratives of Korean immigrants, a substantial part of the book, are always obfuscated in fragments. Yet the obscurity of Kim’s poems also invites readers to reassemble pieces, fill in the gaps, and reconstruct a narrative, albeit incomplete, from various points of view. An example can derive from a contemporary understanding of “borders” that appears twice in the title poem, “Under Flag.” Borders have conventionally been deemed fixed and territorial, serving to divide a nation-state from others, to ensure sovereignty and national security, and to shape national identity and character. The migration and mobility, however, reindicates borders as the business of not only nation-states but also migrants who may find themselves as others inside territory. While migrants’ status reveals that “borders can be anywhere” (Rumford 13), borders also offer an opportunity for connection. The presence of borders leads us to recognize people outside the territory, interact with them, and influence each other. Under Flag embodies the complexity of borders to both divide and connect by focusing on the Korean War, frequently referred to as the “forgotten” war. Kim’s use of fragments can then be understood as a way to show the insufficient recognition of border-crossing effects in American society and thereby to reassess American heritage and history from the perspective of a Korean immigrant who experiences multiple borders. The notion “borders” cannot be overlooked at the beginning of “Under Flag”: