ABSTRACT

This article examines art works that problematise the contested memories of the Vietnam War in South Korea. The collective memories of the Vietnam War in South Korea are contested by the official memory, constructed by the military regime, and the counter-memories, generated by activists who call for Korea to apologise to the Vietnamese people for the atrocities committed by Korean soldiers. IM Heung-soon’s publication This War (2009) and the single-channel video Reborn II (2018) present memories of South Korean veterans and Vietnamese rape victims. Kim Seokyung and Kim Eunsung’s statue Vietnam Pieta (2015–2016) was installed in Vietnam and Korea as a gesture of apology for Korean soldiers’ rape and murder of Vietnamese women and children. Drawing on Maurice Halbwachs’ concept of collective memories and Jacques Derrida’s conditional apology, this article examines how these art projects represent the contested memories of the Vietnam War in Korea and the conditional apology suggested by Korean activism, relating them to the redress movements of historical justice for wartime atrocities in a transnational context. Analyses of these artworks suggest aesthetic, ethical and political limitations and possibilities in representing memories of wartime sexual violence and (un)conditional apologies in visual art.

摘要

这篇文章检视了那些将有争议的韩国越南战争记忆问题化的艺术作品。韩国越南战争的集体记忆受到军政权构建的官方记忆和呼吁韩国为韩国士兵所犯暴行向越南人民道歉的活动人士产生的反记忆的挑战。IM Heung-soon 的出版物This War (2009) 和单频道视频Reborn II (2018) 呈现了韩国退伍军人和越南强奸受害者的记忆。金锡京和金恩成的雕像越南圣母怜子图（2015-2016）安装在越南和韩国，作为对韩国士兵强奸和谋杀越南妇女和儿童的道歉姿态。本文借鉴莫里斯·哈尔布瓦克斯的集体记忆概念和雅克·德里达的有条件道歉，探讨这些艺术项目如何代表朝鲜越战的有争议记忆和韩国激进主义提出的有条件道歉，并将它们与历史正义的补救运动联系起来对于跨国背景下的战时暴行。对这些艺术品的分析表明，在视觉艺术中表现战时性暴力和（无）条件道歉的记忆的审美、伦理和政治限制和可能性。