A Study on the Urbanization Narratives of Korean-Chinese : Kim Hyuk’s 『I saw her standing at Gukjaga』 and Geum Hee’s 『The Age of Tianjin』

This study examines the migration patterns of Chinese Koreans from the late 1990s to the present from the “urbanization” perspective, and analyzes 『I saw her standing at Gukjaga』 (hereinafter 『Gukjaga』) and 『The Age of Tianjin』, which reflect the initial pattern. Kim Hyuk’s 『Gukjaga』 portrays the “wish to enter the city” of the Korean-Chinese society reproduced as the “imitation desire,” through the tragic life of a woman who migrated to the city. Geum-hee’s 『The Age of Tianjin』 portrays the migration from rural to urban, through women undergoing changes in values in the city, as representing the birth of autonomous and reflective individuals. Both works portray the desire of women for a “better life,” which is the chief driving force underlying migration to the city. 『Gukjaga』 leads us to consider the structure that is bound to occur through the narrative of a woman who is constantly falling. 『The Age of Tianjin』 reflected that it was not a life made special through comparative advantage with others through the choice of a woman who contemplated what “better life” was like. The desire to “get better” is bound to be accompanied by comparison. 『The Gukjaga』 examined that “the desire to enter the city” was formed and reproduced through “imitation desire” through the competitive composition of “Sinae-Gyeongja.” 『The Age of Tianjin』 examined the process of reflective women making autonomous choices and affirming their present life through contrast with men who did not possess such desires. As the beginning of a study on the overall aspect of Chinese Korean urbanization narratives, we first analyzed the two works dealing with migration to Chinese cities to focus on changes in identity and values as “urban individuals” rather than national identity issues.