Yi Munyol

Je ne fais que courir selon mon instinct. Je me demande jusqu’où s’enfonceront les racines de cet hiver... (p. 59).

S’il n’existe aucune valeur absolue et objective pour nous guider, c’est avec nos propres mains que nous devons bâtir notre salut. Nos vies ne sont plus faites pour se conformer à diverses attitudes, elles doivent être reconnues et valorisées par nous-mêmes et nos propres efforts. (p. 86-87).

Je ne me souviens plus pourquoi j’ai acheté ce livre, probablement au moment de sa parution, peut-être pour son titre aussi doux qu’un tapis de neige et pour sa couverture d’une grande délicatesse. Mais je ne m’attendais pas à cela en l’ouvrant, une sorte de [Sur la route] coréen, avec une plume certes plus retenue et un héros bien plus solitaire, mais c’est un peu de cela qu’il est question : un jeune homme en rupture de ban erre un peu au hasard sur les routes de Corée du Sud, dans les années 60, réfléchissant à son avenir et à comment il pourra trouver une place dans sa société.
Ce roman est en grande partie autobiographique. Yi Munyol étant le fils d’un communiste passé au Nord, ce qui, dans la société extrêmement crispée de la jeune Corée du Sud indépendante, est un handicap majeur.
Ce récit laisse voir une grande détresse, une profonde solitude, mais il se distingue aussi par sa grande retenue. Tout est dit à mot couvert, et sans jamais se plaindre. Le livre est peut-être un peu difficile à décrypter pour des personnes qui ne connaîtraient rien à la Corée du Sud dans ces années-là. J’ai pour ma part eu la chance de lire plus tôt cette année un récit graphique, [Un matin de ce printemps-là] qui décrit l’atmosphère étouffante de ce pays dans les années qui ont suivi la guerre de Corée. Cela m’a aidé à comprendre certains aspects de ce livre, à le replacer dans un contexte plus large, et à compléter la vision que j’avais de ce pays, car outre l’errance du personnage principal, on y voit la détresse économique dans laquelle vit une partie de la population, et parfois on a du mal à se souvenir que l’on est dans les années 60 dans un pays allié des Etats-Unis.
Une belle découverte que ce texte et cet auteur, il faudra que je découvre la partie de son œuvre non autobiographique.… (más)

Meeting With My Brother is a compelling story on two deliberately related themes as Yi Mun-Yol describes his first encounter with a younger brother he has never met. Towards the end of the Korean War Yi's father, an ardent supporter of the communist regime, fled into North Korea, leaving behind his wife and children in the hope that they would soon be reunited. As Korea remained divided this never came to pass and in trying to trace his father Yi discovers that he has remarried and raised a second family. It's a deeply personal narrative as Yi discovers that his father has recently died and is given the opportunity to meet one of his unknown siblings. The meeting is difficult and thought the narrative is restrained Yi manages to evoke the discomfort, the resentments, the misunderstandings and the uncertainty as two men bound by blood, but little else, jockey for understanding. It's an uncomfortable read but an affective one. Their culture, experience and politics are very different and they struggle to bridge religious and ideological gaps.

Alongside this exploration of the meaning of family runs a wider theme, that of the desirability and viability of a reunited Korea. This is addressed most directly in Yi's conversation with and about a pro-unificationist known as "Mr Unification". Interactions between this idealist and other more wary characters reveal the many challenges facing any plans for a united Korea. Mr Unifications calls on ties blood and a shared land and history, in short that a single "people" should have a single nation.

Yi's reservations about easy reunification based on such a romanticisation of a semi-historical, semi-mythological past are clear scepticism and caution and the practical difficulties and ideological tensions are openly discussed but they are most profoundly illustrated through his discussions with his brother. During these fraught exchanges there are some fascinating insights into Confucian and clan observations and rituals in South Korea and their equivalents (or lack thereof) in the North. The intricacies of family etiquette, particularly regarding the sons' relative responsibilities in honouring their dead father can occasionally be overwhelming but the confusion is actually a powerful support for the story as Yi's brother is equally unfamiliar with them and it becomes clear that a lack of an equally shared tradition shared ground causes suspicion and resentment. There is certainly a possibility for accord but the differences and challenges are starkly revealed.

Meeting With My Brother is a thoroughly realistic, personal and clear-sighted story. Yi is honest and clear about the the problems that dog both halves of Korea, from the economic problems of parts of North Korea to the corruption and exploitation in South Korea, openly admitting to his own collusion in the latter. It is a really admirable explication of the problems facing Koreans now and in the future and the emotional toll of unification on the small scale of two individuals powerfully illustrates the stakes.

Thank you to Columbia University Press and Netgalley for providing a free advance copy of this work.… (más)

After the Korean War, Yi’s father had deserted his family in South Korea and defected to the North. Now, years later, as the two countries contemplate reunification, Yi has learned not only of his father’s death but that he had another family in North Korea. He decides to meet his half-brother. At first, the meeting seems unlikely to accomplish anything because of shared distrust but, slowly, as the two trade stories of their lives, interestingly often mirroring each other, they begin to realize that although there are clearly differences, perhaps much of what they thought they knew or were taught about each other was not the whole truth.

Meeting with My Brother was written by South Korean author Yi Mun-Yol in 1994 and translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl with Yoosap Chang. The novella is both a semiautobiographical account of Yi’s own life – his father defected to the North after the war - and an examination of the differences and similarities between the two nations and the effects that reunification might have on both sides. Today, as the US and N Korea seem to be facing off in a deadly game of chicken, this book gives a fascinating, and surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic view of North Korea questioning many of the stereotypes of both the North and the South.

Meeting with MY Brother is short and the pacing is slow but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a very interesting read. Not only did I enjoy it but of all the books I have read this year, it may be the most important. It has made me question most of what I though I knew about North Korea and, in his nuanced portrayal of a country painted black by the western press, it provides hope that a peaceful solution to the rising conflict can be reached. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who is interested to see a different view of Korea than that portrayed in western media.

Thanks to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review… (más)