북한 여성 정체성의 소설적 형상화-2000년대 북한 소설을 중심으로-

A Study on Woman's Identity in North Korean Fictions

This thesis is intended to investigate the aspects of woman's identity in North Korean fictions that published in 《The Chosun Literature(조선문학)》from January 2000 to December 2002. The conclusion of this study is as follow. First, the role of women as revolutionary comrades is mostly taken by young women. Single women unmarried can fulfill their revolutionary works since only one role is expected from them. In relationships defined by revolutionary camaraderie, men and women are supposed to be equal partners. yet, in most North Korean fictions, women can come to the point of maturity only with the support and teaching of men whereas men grow up by themselves. In the fictions by female writers, we observe more egalitarian men-women relationship than in men's works. Secondly, when authors portray married women as comrades, they tend to show women in conflicts between two roles, a devoted mother and a revolutionary, finally overcoming them to fulfil their tasks. Although these works are short of revealing conflicts in realistic ways, we can draw from them that there are certain inexplicit resistances against the ruling ideologies. Thirdly, these works idolize 'great mothers', failing to appreciate many problems found in the cultivation of motherhood. Fourth, a critic is critical of a story that praises a woman character who has fulfilled her revolutionary tasks at the expense of mother roles. According to him, the story is out of balance and one-sided. This shows that ideal types of women in North Korea are nothing but 'superwomen' who can carry out multiple tasks successfully. The superwoman image is a myth to reinforce patriarchical ideologies. At times, there are a few works that emphasize the role of men as father as well as the need for men to share household works. Very few challenge whether women can be on equal with men as long as double roles are imposed only on women. This is a proof that the hegemonic ideology is run and controlled by men even if women participate in social labor and the society highly appreciate the role of women as mothers.