Oda Makoto and Literary Reconciliation: The Rise of Civil Societies in Japan and Korea in the Wake of the Asia-Pacific War

Abstract

Korean symbolism resides evocatively in the literature as well as literary criticism of Oda Makoto. Not only has the author/activist dedicated entire books to the study of Korea and her enigmatic relationship with Japan, but a large corpus of critical essays and fictional narratives feature a surprising plethora of Korean characters and themes. It is fair to say that Korea forms an integral part of Oda’s novelistic discourse that outpaced the confines of traditional Japanese literature.

Oda’s role in engaging with Korea during a time of tension and strained relationships, his philosophical travelogues through Korea and his candid exploration and portrayal of the Korean psyche in dialogue with its Japanese “other” paved the way toward reconciliation during the particularly antagonistic climate of postwar suspicion and rising tension. This chapter focuses on Oda’s alterative literary discourse, which engaged the dichotomy of Korean–Japanese relations in the wake of the Asia-Pacific War through a cathartic process of healing via literary rendition.

All translations in this text are my own unless otherwise stated.