#2: "When my name was Keoko" by Linda Sue Park

[sweet-adelheid.livejournal.com]

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park (Random House, 2002)

This is the first beneficiary of my "prioritised reading program" in view of my upcoming departure from WHS. It's been on my to-read list for a long time: it was probably one of the first to be added, back when I was compiling my 50books_poc lists.

It tells the story of a family in Korea during the Japanese occupation, modelled on the family of the author's parents. When the government orders that all Koreans are to take a Japanese name, Sun-hee is renamed Keoko. And yet the family form their Japanese names very carefully, resisting the government even while they follow the law. Further, the narrative only ever refers to Sun-hee, her brother Tae-yul, and the other family members by their Korean names. The Japanese name is only used in the mouth of Japanese characters, particularly officials.

It would be something of an understatement to say that I learned a lot from reading this book. I am ashamed to say that while I knew that China, particularly Manchuria, was invaded and ruled by Japan in the middle of the 20th Century, I actually hadn't picked up that Korea was in the same situation.

There is a lot of heartrending stuff in here, particularly about the way in which the Japanese government removed Korean identity. It's nothing new - changing names, forbidding the use of Korean language, either spoken or written; just what generations of colonising governments have done. And non-colonising governments. The book is dedicated to Park's parents, to whom she gives three names: their Korean name, their Japanese name, and an English/American name. Which I think was one of the sadest things in reading the whole book.

And yet, the strength shown by these characters, keeping secrets, making sacrifices, just keeping on living in the face of opression and discrimination and cruelty... that strength is phenomenal and inspiring. The story of Sun-hee's mother and the Rose of Sharon is one such story, another is that of Mrs Ahn's method of resistance.

I think the two main things I'm going to take away from this book are the erasure of identity through names and language, and the Kim family's small, quiet, but no less meaningful ways of resistance. Definitely worth the read, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it.

(tags: fiction, women writers, korea, young adult, korean-american)

Comments

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I would also recommend Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi (http://community.livejournal.com/50books_poc/252168.html).

[b-writes.livejournal.com]

This sounds great, thanks for posting about it.