The Unveiling Differences Between the Choseonjok and the Korean Peninsula
“Cultural identities come from somewhere, have histories. But, like everything which is historically, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past, they are subject to the continuous ‘play’ of history, culture and power” (Hall 225). As stated by Stuart Hall, culture and group identities are bound to change over the years, and this is clearly exemplified in the movie.
The song about General Il-Sung Kim that Changho’s grandfather sings and the North Korean patriotic song that comes out on the television of Changho’s home when the defector eats have similar messages, but completely different meanings for the two. While the grandfather sings the song longing for his home and past, the song from the television drives the North Korean crazy, being unable to escape from the North Korean control even though he is in a different space.
The distinction between the two groups is marked even more noticeably when the North Koreans are no longer identified as “the people on that side of the river,” but as “defectors” after they cause so many problems for the villagers:
“Recently, there has been a great deal of harm arising caused by the people on that side of the river coming in and out of the town. The soybean from the tofu store has been stolen, the pollack has been lost, and the cow from grandfather Zhu and the sheep from LaoAi has been lost. The government has even stated that there will be a grant for catching the defectors. So please report right away if you find any.”
Through the announcement that the chief of the town makes, he officially changes the label of the North Koreans from “the people on that side of the river” to “defectors,” considering them no more as kin, but as dangerous beings they should watch out for and report. Here, boundaries have been formed: the good and the bad, the victim and the offender, the self and the other.
Although the grown-ups appear to be more merciful, even indifferent towards the North Koreans, the children react right away in revenge; Changho and his group of friends chase the North Korean kids away and even strike them. It is notable to see Changho’s grandfather not do much even when he finds out his granddaughter was raped; when the kids bully the North Korean thief who stole the sheep, the owner rather tells them to stop. Still, when Changho regards Jeongjin as the same as the reckless North Koreans by hitting him, Soonhee, the major victim, still treats Jeongjin warmly and provides him food to bring back. For the children at least, the North Koreans are not related to them at all, but rather people that have disrupted the town. Near the end of the film, the audience sees that ultimately, it is a kid that reports Jeongjin to the police, not a grown-up.
Although the elders might consider themselves very related to the North Koreans, the children just see the defectors as others that are harmful to their society. Even though the grown-ups are attached to South Korea as a place for financial support, the children view South Korea as a very faraway and foreign place that break apart their families. The Korean peninsula is not a home or an ideal place for the Choseonjok children.
Dooman River. Dir. Lu Zhang. Perf. Cui Jian, Yin Lan, Lin Jinlong. 2011. DVD.
Hall, Stuart. "Cultural Identity and Diaspora." Ed. Jonathan Rutherford. Identity: Community, Culture and Difference. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1990. 222-37. Print.
-To be continued
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