ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 presents a close reading of two works by Yi Yang-ji (1955–1992), a writer of ethnic Korean descent: Kazukime (1983) and Yuhi (1988). This analysis builds on the previous discussion of Sakiyama’s fiction since Yi’s work also inscribes violent memories of Japanese imperialism and plays with the appearance of her Japanese prose by scattering in words written in Korean hangul. However, while Sakiyama aims her most vibrant modes of attack at the Japanese language, Yi describes in visceral terms acts of violence against the female body and imbues her stories with themes of silence and absence. These tropes gesture to the long-lasting, discriminatory treatment of Koreans as an invisible other in Japanese society while Yi’s portrayals of bodily violence also recall the unspoken events of history, especially connected to Cheju Island. Although these texts are difficult to read, the conclusion of this analysis ventures an original reading of Yuhi as a progressive rewriting of Kazukime that adds another, intertextual dimension to my pursuit of alternative figures of translation.
