The Metamorphosing Field of Chaoxianzu Oral Literature
Peace B. Lee
The Chaoxianzu are ethnic Koreans who live in China as one of China's 55 ethnic minority groups.1 Defining Chaoxianzu oral tradition is not a simple task. In characterizing oral literature, Chaoxianzu and Korean scholars place emphasis on the process and mechanics of oral transmission, with its vernacular origin, composition in performance, and artistic qualifications as important key features (Gang 2002, Gim 1999). However, oral performance practices in the field of oral traditions do not fully conform to that description. Chaoxianzu collector-scholars (such as Piao Changmo) are confronted with the dilemmas in which actual "oral" literary practices that exhibit influences from printed texts and/or other media conflict with academically construed oral literature.
In general, Chaoxianzu academic approaches to their oral traditions can be broadly categorized into three types. The first is the tradition of active collection and textualization of oral literatures by native investigators. Second are motif-indexes formulated by scholars (such as Jin Dongxun) and based on textualized oral literatures; these have supported various comparative studies between Chaoxianzu oral literatures and those of other Chinese ethnic groups. Third, in what is perhaps the most important category, Chaoxianzu scholars are experimenting with different approaches to develop a theoretical groundwork for their oral traditions. Chaoxianzu scholars are, from prior experience, aware of the danger in blindly following the theoretical approaches of the West, which cannot reflect the historical and social contexts of the indigenous traditions.
Within China, the scholarly study of Chaoxianzu oral literature is in a transitional phase, carefully testing and combining different theoretical and [End Page 101] methodological approaches drawn from both domestic and Western origins. Scholars from different hemispheres have explored oral tradition-related fields during the past few decades. Jin Dongxun (Gim Donghun in Korean) and Piao Changmo (Bak Changmuk) have taken the lead in studying their own ethnic group's oral literature and culture. Piao Changmo's collection (Bak 1996) contains numerous stories that reflect Chaoxianzu characteristics and history. Park Heh-rahn, a native South Korean scholar living in America, has examined the relationship between the nation-state narratives of the People's Republic of China and the Chaoxianzu narratives of their own history, and the influences of nation-state narratives on the subjectivism of Chaoxianzu (1996). Korean scholars of folklore and folklore-related fields, such as Im Jaehae and Gim In-hee, are helping to bridge the gap between the West and the Chaoxianzu oral literary field through analyzing Western approaches such as performance theory and actively engaging in fieldwork among Chinese minorities. Western scholars, such as Mark Bender, Vibeke Børdahl, and Louisa Schein have carried out fieldwork on local oral traditions in a number of areas in China. Although their research does not directly include Chaoxianzu oral traditions, their studies have contributed to facilitating a scholarly dialogue between China and the West.
As an "immigrant nationality," the Chaoxianzu are experiencing
transformation at many levels of their society. Included in these changes
is the shift in responsibility for acting as tradition-bearers from the
immigrant generation to the younger generations of Chaoxianzu born in
China. One of the many possible directions in the field of Chaoxianzu
oral literature studies is to closely follow and examine the effects of
social changes on Chaoxianzu oral literature. Other possible interesting
future directions include an expansion of the above-mentioned comparative
studies. Research in the images of "self" and "other" expressed in oral
traditions within the Korean diaspora (including the unique perspective
of North Korea) may provide a key to understanding and resolving the
different political and historical agendas within Korean communities.
Peace B. Lee is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Ohio State University. Her research focuses upon the cultures and oral traditions of ethnic minorities in northeast China. Her transcription and translation of "Seongju puri" is included in the forthcoming Reader in Folk and Popular Literature in China.
© by Peace B. Lee.
References
Bak 1996
Bak Changmuk (Piao Changmo). Jungguk Joseonjok Gujeonseolhua
(Traditional Oral Narratives of the Korean Chinese). Seoul: Baeksong.
[End Page 102]
Bender 2001
Mark Bender. "Ethnic Minority Literature." In The Columbia
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Børdahl 1999
Vibeke Børdahl, ed. The Eternal Storyteller:
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Gang 2002
Gang Deunghak, ed. Hanguk Gubimunhakui Yihae (Understanding
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Gim 1999
Gim Donghun (Jin Dongxun). Jungguk Joseonjok Gujeonseolhua
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Im 1992
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Park 1996
Park Heh-Rahn. "Narratives of Migration: From the
Formation of Korean Chinese Nationality in the PRC to the Emergence
of Korean Chinese Migrants in South Korea." Ph.D. Diss., University
of Washington.
Piao 1990
Changyu Piao. "The History of Koreans in China and the
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture." In Koreans in China. Ed. by
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Schein 2000
Louisa Schein. Minority Rules: The Miao and the Feminine
in China's Cultural Politics. Durham: Duke University Press.
Footnote
1. This article uses the romanization system current in South Korea, the Chinese Pinyin system (in the case of the Chinese word "Chaoxianzu"). In the case of some personal names, the individual author's own romanization preference is followed.
