동북아역사재단 2022년 04월호 뉴스레터
- Bae Dae-hwa, Professor Emeritus, Kyungnam University
When I received a request for translation from Dr. Kim Young-soo of the Northeast Asian History Foundation in 2012, I was surprised because 『Sakhalin Island』 (written by Anton Chekhov, translated by Bae Dae-hwa, Northeast Asian History Foundation, 2013) was important in understanding Chekhov's works, but it was neither a novel nor an ordinary travel diary, but rather an investigative report. There was no Korean translation at the time, probably because it did not seem to promise publishers much profit. The Northeast Asian History Foundation's decision to translate it was novel and quite meaningful.
Chekhov's Sakhalin
From 1858 before 1875, when it was officially recognized as Imperial Russian territory, Russia made Sakhalin a penal settlement for convicts sentenced to hard labor. For this reason, what used to be the land of Ainus, Ultas, Nivkhs, and Gilyaks was turned into a penal settlement. Most of the modern space in Sakhalin was created using the forced labor of convicts. The criminals fell from severe cold, hunger, and harsh forced labor and suffered from despair over losing their homeland.
According to the Russian census of 2010, the population of Sakhalin was 497,900, with the largest ethnic group being Russians, accounting for about 85%, and the second biggest ethnic group being Koreans, 24,993 people, accounting for 5.3% of the total population. It is believed that Koreans appeared in Sakhalin in 1870 for the first time. However, most Koreans currently living in Sakhalin are descendants of those drafted by Japanese imperialists, which is the result of the painful history following the loss of national sovereignty. In this way, Sakhalin is also closely related to Koreans.
Chekhov's grandfather, a serf, emigrated to Taganrog by the Sea of Azov and engaged in commerce. As Chekhov grew up in a local small merchant family, his short stories realistically depict the lives of local small merchants and peasants. Chekhov had a deep affection for Russian peasants, so much so that he said, "I have peasant blood, and it is only natural that they are good." In 1888, Chekhov heard about Sakhalin, which was a penal settlement, from actress Karatigina, who toured through the Maritime Provinces and Sakhalin. Chekhov was strongly drawn to the peasants suffering in the penal settlement on the frontier and decided to travel to Sakhalin.
Before the Trans-Siberian Railway was laid, the journey by wagon to Sakhalin across Siberia was perilous. Moreover, it was a reckless adventure for Chekhov, who began to show symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis, which was considered an incurable disease back then. At the time, Sakhalin was almost entirely perceived as the land of the “abandoned,” an island of convicts by European Russians. The harsh life of these abandoned people, mostly peasants, was not forgotten and revived through Chekhov's writings. This is the greatest value and literary power of 『Sakhalin Island』.
After 『Sakhalin Island』 (published as a book in 1895), Chekhov's literary world became more mature. His four major plays, 『The Seagull』, 『Three Sisters』, 『The Cherry Orchard』, and 『Uncle Vanya』 were written and performed at the Moscow Art Theater. After that, the Moscow Art Theater was renamed Chekhov Memorial Theater. His later short stories, including Chekhov's 「Room 6」, also intensely show the experience of the trip to Sakhalin.
Currently, in Sakhalin, Anton Chekhov Museums are erected in Alexandrovsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and there are several statues of Chekhov. His trip to Sakhalin significantly contributed to improving the Russian penal system. It allowed him to become a more prominent writer, forming an inseparable tie between Chekhov and Sakhalin.
Koreans in Sakhalin in Literature
Today, Sakhalin is a place where the footsteps of Koreans are deeply imprinted. As for literature, Lee Hoe-seong, a Korean-Japanese author who wrote novels on the theme of Koreans in Sakhalin, comes to mind. Lee was born in 1935 in South Sakhalin, then a Japanese territory, and grew up in Sakhalin until 1947. Sakhalin, where he spent his childhood, forms the instinctive background in Lee's literature. Lee became the first foreigner to receive the Akutagawa Literary Award in 1972 for 『The Woman Fulling Cloth』 (original title 『砧をうつ女』, published in Korean in 1972). 『The Woman Fulling Cloth』 gives a glimpse into the lives of Koreans in Sakhalin who lost their hometown and had to live under Japanese rule through the image of their father reflected in the eyes of a Korean boy.
Second, Anatoly Kim (1939~) is a Russian writer who represents writers appearing in Soviet Russian literature in the 1970s. The collection of Kim’s early short stories, including the medium-length 「Seaweed Collectors」 and 「Wanderers of Sakhalin」, published in 『Green Meadow』 (1976), depicted the souls of Koreans living in Sakhalin toiling through a difficult life in a wholesome way based on Korean folk tales and legends.
History of Sakhalin, Cornerstone of Literature: 『Sakhalin Island』
Chekhov's trip to Sakhalin and 『Sakhalin Island』 evoked various responses at the time, contributing to the reformation of the penal system in Imperial Russia and influencing literature. Recently, it appeared in Haruki Murakami's 『1Q84』, and it is rumored that it led to a slight increase in sales of 『Sakhalin Island』.
Chekhov recorded the lives of convicts, the lives of indigenous peoples, etc., from an objective point of view, by completely excluding his emotions. As a result, 『Sakhalin Island』 became a cornerstone of the modern historical record of Sakhalin, a tribute to the many victimized convicts, and a cornerstone of later Sakhalin literature.
동북아역사재단이 창작한 '『안톤 체호프 사할린 섬』, 체호프의 사할린과 그 이후' 저작물은 "공공누리" 출처표시-상업적이용금지-변경금지 조건에 따라 이용 할 수 있습니다.
