The Cultural Creation of the Ethnic Korean Minority in China

Abstract

Korean-Chinese literature after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) predominantly eulogized the lives of farmers. Such literature portrayed farmers' lives and how, through their work, they could transform both their own livelihoods and that of the nation, this time not in the name of imperialism, but communism. Although such stories reflect themes that one finds in Chinese literature from that period, stories written by Korean-Chinese authors are distinct because they do not shy away from depicting their shared historical experiences under Japanese colonial rule in Manchukuo. Moreover, this colonial experience was in fact highlighted to make it play an important role in the creation and fortification of a Korean-Chinese identity. The Korean-Chinese stories from this period focus exclusively on the local to conjure an image of community. Local problems, however, were often construed as colonial remnants from the Japanese rule in Manchukuo and, in turn, stressed the perceived existence of class differences inside Korean-Chinese communities. While their literature was an attempt to expunge such traits and unify the Korean-Chinese community, they inadvertently created new narratives that exacerbated existing tensions and divisiveness instead.