The Korean War in Literature
The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, has had a complex and often muted representation in literature compared to other major conflicts of the twentieth century. Much of the literature surrounding the war emerged long after the fighting had ceased, with many American soldiers who served as peacekeepers later reflecting on their experiences. This delay in literary output may stem from a general uncertainty about the war's purpose and outcome, leading to a reluctance among writers to engage with its themes. Notably, the war did not evoke the same strong sentiments—either patriotic or antiwar—as seen in World War II or the Vietnam War, which further contributed to its relative silence in literary circles.
Despite the scarcity of immediate literary responses, several works became notable, including Duane Thorin's "A Ride to Panmunjom" and S.L.A. Marshall's "Pork Chop Hill," along with poetry collections like "The Hermit Kingdom: Poems of the Korean War." In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Korean War in literature, reflecting broader discussions about military interventions and the lasting impacts of the conflict on both Koreans and veterans. Authors like Ha Jin, Philip Roth, Chang-rae Lee, and Toni Morrison have incorporated Korean War themes into their works, expanding the narrative to include diverse perspectives, including those of Chinese troops. The literary exploration of the Korean War continues to evolve, often highlighting its status as a "forgotten" conflict and examining its complex legacy.
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The Korean War in Literature
Overview
In contrast to most of the major wars that have occurred in the twentieth century, the Korean War has often resisted attempts to render it in literature. Some of the best-known literature about the conflict has been written by American soldiers who were introduced to Korea by tours of duty as peacekeepers, and who only saw the area after the fighting ceased. Indeed, most of the literature that exists about the Korean War was written long after the war was over. While the war has been the focus of a crop of Hollywood films, for decades writers were largely silent on the subject.
One theory regarding this silence is James Jones's idea that although he was able to write about World War II, a popular and patriotic war, almost at will, those who served in Korea (and many of those at home in the United States and in Britain) were not certain what the war was about. Finally, with a shaky peace in place, it was necessary to maintain a military presence to enforce peace. The Korean War, in a sense, did not end. Some may even consider it to be the first war that America lost. Writers were loathe to present such a possibility in the 1950s, which were years of prosperity and contentment for many Americans.
At the same time, the Korean War was not hugely unpopular, as the Vietnam War was, so it sparked little protest. It neither generated a strong national prowar feeling, as World War II did, nor an antiwar feeling, as the Vietnam War did. The Korean War was also relatively short (1950–53). The war in Korea presented Americans with a conflict that was unclear in its results and purpose. Many Americans objected to being peacekeepers of the world, and when they came back, most Korean War veterans kept quiet about their experiences.
Despite the relative lack of Korean War literature, there are a number of novels and many personal memoirs that emerged in the immediate wake of the conflict. An important novel, published at the war's end, is Duane Thorin's A Ride to Panmunjom (1956). The account of the Battle of Pork Chop Hill by official US Army Historian S. L. A. Marshall, published in 1956 earned attention and was adapted into a popular film.
One of the few collection of poetry dedicated entirely to the Korean War is The Hermit Kingdom: Poems of the Korean War, published in 1995 by the Center for the Study of the Korean War. One poet to discuss Korea in his poetry is William Wantling, whose book The Source (1966) talks about the war, his morphine addiction after being wounded, the extreme cold of Korea, the ironies of fighting with South Koreans against North Koreans, and the taking of meaningless hills only to surrender them the next day, at the cost of lives. Wantling's is one of the first openly critical literary reflections on the war from someone who was there in the trenches.
A useful anthology is The Field of Crosses, published in 1988 by the British Korean Veterans Association. The literature it presents is a combination of the patriotic and the disaffected, and the anthology is wide-ranging in subjects and attitudes.
Many critics noted a surge in literary confrontations of the Korean War in the twenty-first century. Some scholars suggested that the new willingness to examine the conflict was due to the widespread questioning of American military interventions as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq developed. Many works on the subject also dealt with not just the official duration of the Korean War as experienced by US soldiers, but also the ongoing state of conflict on the divided Korean peninsula and the legacy of the war for Koreans, Korean Americans, and veterans. In fact, the very "forgotten" nature of the war often proved to be a rich theme. The perspectives of Chinese troops involved in the war also provided fodder for writers, perhaps most notably in the novel War Trash (2004) by Ha Jin, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the PEN/Faulkner Award. Other novels by important authors that incorporate Korean War themes include Indignation (2008) by Philip Roth, the Pulitzer-nominated The Surrendered (2010) by Chang-rae Lee, and Home (2012) by Toni Morrison.
Bibliography
Axelsson, Arne. Restrained Response: American Novels of the Cold War and Korea, 1945-1962. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1990.
Brother Anthony of Taizé (An Sonjae). "A Brief History of Korean Literature." British Council, 18 Mar. 2015, www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/brief-history-korean-literature. Accessed 19 Aug. 2019.
Coon, Gene L. Meanwhile, Back at the Front. New York: Crown, 1961.
Darda, Joseph. "The Literary Afterlife of the Korean War." American Literature, vol. 87, no. 1, 2015, pp. 79–105, doi:10.1215/00029831-2865199. Accessed 19 Aug. 2019.
Kim, Daniel Y., and Viet Thanh Nguyen. "The Literature of the Korean War and Vietnam War." The Cambridge Companion to Asian American Literature, edited by Crystal Parikh and Daniel Y. Kim, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 59–72.
Pollini, Francis. Night. Paris: Olympia Press, 1960.
Thorin, Duane. A Ride to Panmunjom. Chicago: Regnery, 1956.
Walker, Wilbert L. Stalemate at Panmunjom. Baltimore: Heritage Press, 1980.
Wantling, William. The Source. Paradise, Calif.: Dustbooks, 1966.
Woods, Denis J. British Forces in the Korean War. United Kingdom: The British Koreans Veterans Association, 1988.