The Lyricism of the Diaspora and the Diaspora of Lyricism

The Poetic World of Kim Si-jong, a Korean in Japan

Abstract

Often referred to as “East Asia’s greatest poet” by various researchers, Kim Si-jong is renowned as a poet of the Korean diaspora. Born in Busan in 1929 during the Japanese colonization of Korea, Kim Si-jong spoke Japanese as his native language. In 1949, after the liberation of Korea, he was involved in the Jeju Uprising and then fled to Japan amid Cold War tensions and the subsequent division of Korea into North and South. Through his poetry, however, Kim Si-jong exacted his revenge on Japan and the Japanese language. Kim’s poetic revenge gave rise to the creation of a new kind of Japanese literature, transforming the painful experiences of the Korean diaspora into meaningful cultural production. However, by focusing so heavily on these notable aspects of excellence in Kim’s work, there’s a risk of defining the poet and his creations in the very lyrical ways that Kim himself is most cautious of. Whether the painful lives of the people of the diaspora are particularized or universalized, in either case, many have elevated Kim Si-jong to the status of a mythical figure. His life and work become akin to a great biography on a bookshelf. Perhaps in this way we turn a blind eye to his otherness, his “suffering”, and take only the fruits that emerge from it. This is why Kim Si-jong’s work is truly exceptional for readers today. He seems to understand the contradictions of the concept of diaspora, as well as the desires of his readers, and explores new paths that are possible within it. This paper begins by identifying the points of confrontation within the concept of diaspora and the problems it creates, concluding that a singular point of view on diaspora cannot fully define Kim Si-jong’s work. Instead, he uses poetry to confront and attempt to overcome the problems posed by conflicting conceptualizations of diaspora.