I analyzed poetry of Hong Yong-am who has strong desire for unification among the Korean Chinese poets and has ethnic identity as Korean. Especially, on a basis of dandelions, white clouds and bridge etc images, he parsed perception of identity as diaspora of Korean Chinese and aspiration for unification.
Hong Yong-am analyzed the identification of diaspora through dandelions, imagination of freedom which could come and go to missing his homeland, expressing the desire for his mother country about the unification through the bridge, so I wrote the thesis on attempting to analyze these images.
Through his poetry including the title poem ‘The story of being white cloud’, he expressed the seed of white dandelions on the ground and white cloud on sky did mean Korean Chinese who wandered about aimlessly by diaspora. The dandelions symbolized white-clad folk in terms that color is white and the separated Korean Chinese who were scatted by leaving for the Korean peninsula. Therefore, the dandelions is the figuration of collective identity of the Korean Chinese as the diaspora. The dandelions is one of the main images which was expressed by Korean Chinese since the late of 1970’s. Hong Yong-am expressed the dandelions as the ethnic images according to the poetic convention.
White cloud is also symbolized the diaspora of the Korean people who wandered about aimlessly in a foreign land. White cloud, like the dandelions, means white-clad folk, the Korean people. Hong Yong-am provokes the recognition of ethnic identity of Korean Chinese who couldn’t settle anywhere leaving for the Korean peninsula and his pen name is Baek-un(white clouds).
The white cloud in ‘The story of being white cloud’, ‘I am a speck of cloud’ etc is symbolized the Korean Chinese even himself who wandered about aimlessly to China as diaspora. The white cloud means the Korean people, the color of white of white-clad folk. Korean people have collective unconscious as preference the color of white being called the white complex. The emotional affection to the color of white doesn’t unrelated to be called the Korean people as white-clad folk.
However, the existence is just a hope as the white cloud which could come and go to the Korean peninsula through the China. The Korean Chinese cannot go to their hometown practically if they wanted go there. In this regard, diplomatic relations between Korea and China in 1990’s, His poetry reflected reality which the Korean Chinese couldn’t come and go freely.
The poetry of Hong Yong-am expressed the aspiration of unification beyond longing repeatedly. Unification is the desire of korean national abroad as sharing blood, culture and history as well as the South and the North of Korea. He didn’t wish national unification simply but expressed the hope that he wanted to participate to make unification and commanded to the South and the North of Korea.
Hong Yong-am expressed the motive of his creation was dying ethnic identity of Korean Chinese and the sense of duty for recovering ethnic pride. He couldn’t have integrated identity as he was putted the situation surrounding discriminations against to Korean Chinese. In other words, he defined his attitude to identify the traditional a native culture but to ignore the mainstream cultures of Chinese. However, this upbringing helped him to have the firm national identify.
He realize ethnic group race as the nations sharing blood, culture, history and a common destiny. These conceptions could surpass the territory setting a nation-state. In other words, it’s the same conceptions of the long-distance nationalism by Benedict Anderson. As new form of this nationalism could come to the fore because of becoming more common diaspora. Korea makes group Korean national abroad as overseas residents and gives the right to vote to contribute to the advancement of their homeland. That is to say that Korea establishes the long distance nationalism as policy to korean national abroad to promote the development of Korea.
Through his poetry, I thought that he could express crossing the frontier in the nationalism of age of globalization, also made diaspora because of immigration having dual identities in separated political system from homeland and residence have affection to and pride of their homeland as the differentiated conception of the long distance nationalism. Therefore, We have to concerned about Korean national abroad and their literatures beyond the boundary of territory and nation in age of globalization.