한국과 미국의 다양한 물의 온도에서 살아남기: 박이슬의 『이 물의 온도』

Abstract

Ishle Yi Park’s The Temperature of This Water is shot through with references to water, its equivalents, images, metaphors, and symbolism. Park props up as her role models Korean (American) women―her mother, her aunt, sea‐women at Jejudo, (ex‐)sex workers in Korean camptowns near U.S. military installations, and former “comfort women” in Korea―who have survived the diverse temperatures of “symbolic” waters in Korea and the U.S. In particular, she portrays sex workers in camptowns and comfort women as the survivors par excellence. Empowered by the example of these Korean women, Park overcomes the ethnocentric rejection―not only by the Korean/Asian American community but also by Hispanic American community―of her interracial romance with a Puerto Rican man. Her interracial love makes her ultimately argue that one of the best ways for Korean Americans to survive in the waters of the U.S., rife with racial conflicts best represented by the 1992 Los Angeles race riots, is to recognize the importance of interracial understanding and solidarity with other racial minorities such as African Americans and Hispanic Americans.