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Korean Literature Now

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Reconciling Age-old Memories: Goodbye, Mother by Kim Joo-Young scrap

by Jang Sungkyugo link October 26, 2014

Author Bio 작가 소개

김주영

Kim Juyeong

“The ceaseless murmur of water over stones beneath the brushwood bridge, heard day and night, was deep and mysterious. And the footsteps of passing peddlers hurried on across the stream of Bitnae Valley (Sogwangri or Sojowon), also known as Hoeum Bridge … The caravan only snatched a few winks of sleep at the posting inn in Bitnae valley, where rumor spoke of tigers descending by night and scratching at the wooden plank door, and at about the third hour before dawn, they rose and made ready to depart on their journey. Some half an hour after leaving the inn with the donkeys in front, they came upon a narrow, winding mountain path so steep that they might have touched it with their forehead, and on this path, they hastened their footsteps until their straw shoes were soaked with blood. Thus, the caravan of thirteen or fourteen merchants drew only haggard breaths and not a word of jest was heard among them. Though led by pack peddlers bearing official tokens, it was also joined by hired hands, men paid to carry heavy cargo to the market.” (Gaekju [The Innkeeper]. Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2013)


Kim Juyeong is a novelist who has mostly written historical fiction, including Gaekju (The Innkeeper), and whose writing effectively recreates a distinctly Korean folk sensibility.

In the history of modern Korean literature, Kim Joo-Young is known as an epic novelist who delves into the life of common people and their afflictions in the context of history. His outstanding re-creation of history and inquiry into the lives of people is held in very high esteem. Then, in 2012, he published an entirely different kind of a novel.

Goodbye, Mother is a book about a protagonist who is coming to terms with age-old memories of his mother. The protagonist’s falling out with his mother came about long ago when she remarried, for her marriage came as a big shock to a boy in his adolescence. Many years later, even at the news of his mother’s death, the protagonist is unable to come to terms with his unhappy memories associated with his mother.

However, while making arrangements for her funeral, and through dialogue with his stepbrother, the protagonist is able to retrace the past from his mother’s perspective; thus begins the process of reconciliation. He begins to understand that his mother’s choice was imposed upon her by the ruthlessness of modern Korean history, such as the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War; moreover, his complicated family history was also a by-product of those tragic eras. Through his mother’s death the protagonist makes peace with the past and understands his mother’s life in its entirety.

Reconciliation always takes place a little too late. But if it weren’t for this belated reconciliation, how forlorn would be the memories that sustain our lives? Herein lies the importance of Kim Joo-Young’s novel, Goodbye, Mother. The future is dictated by how one deals with past memories. The future of the protagonist, who is able to bid his mother goodbye, will perhaps be filled with peace. 

Writer 필자 소개

Jang Sungkyu

Jang Sungkyu

Literary Critic and Lecturer Seoul National University

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