My data visualizations supported my hypothesis that there are many similarities in the topics of scar literature and the trauma writings of survivors of the Gwangju Uprising. However, it does not depict the similarities between the environments in which they were created. Unlike other literary and cultural movements occurring in East Asia during this period, the literature borne out of these traumatic events was primarily created by very young writers. During their coming-of-age period, these youth that experienced this trauma rarely had access to works deemed forbidden[1] by the regimes that governed them. Despite this, there is a strong desire to tell their story present in their trauma writings. Spontaneous and raw, their stories often lacked the refined techniques of former literary greats, yet their richness in expression and experiences provide, arguably, the most genuine and accurate depiction of these generations. To ignore these writings would be ignoring these experiences, and often, the youth’s vision of the future. Xu Bing, the artist of A Book from the Sky as well as a survivor of the Cultural Revolution, has said that “…if you want to probe deeply into the underpinnings of contemporary Chinese art, you have to consider the influence of the Cultural Revolution on [that] generation because it was entirely a unique experience”.[2] These representations of the traumatic event that they experienced reveal how trauma is recognized as their identities are transformed, how they processed their trauma through writing, how the agents that caused these tragedies in their writings can showcase more about the present ways in which tragedy is processed. The Cultural Revolution and the Gwangju Uprising are very complex historical, political, social, and ideological events that have left a deep scaron their respective nations’ hearts and minds. Through the analyses of the bottom-up perspective, we can learn how trauma is expressed culturally, and through the analyses of the top-down perspective, we can watch for signs and prevent trauma of this scale from happening again[3], that is if we listen.
[1] “Forbidden” works could include anything from theory, religious texts, and, in the case of some students in Gwangju, poetry written by authors such as Kim Ji-ha. There is a very interesting graphic novel titled Banned Book Club, that details the experience of Kim Hyun Sook, and her experience as a freshman at university in 1983, three years after the Gwangju Uprising, yet still in the middle of Chun Doo-hwan’s oppressive regime.
[2] Xu Bing. Interview with the author, May 27, 2000, Sydney.
[3] South Korea’s impeachment of Former President Park Geun-hye is an excellent example of a country learning from its past; however, due to the continued nature of Chinese politics, the same cannot be said for the continued support of President Xi Jinping.
“Xi Jinping’s brand new Cultural Revolution”. Taipei Times. 2018-08-23.