The Politics of the Jeju 4.3 Holeomeong Bodies: Speaking and Emotion as Embodied Language

Abstract

This paper is based on ethnographic research on the holeomeong (widowed women) who lost their husbands and witnessed countless deaths during the April Third (4.3) Jeju Uprising, after which they were left to raise their children and reconstruct their villages. This research focuses on the ways in which they remember the Uprising, how they represent and re-enact it, as well as how they understand it. The holeomeong are those who stayed in the villages during the events of the Jeju Uprising when their husbands left to hide or die; they are the witnesses of violence, of massacre, and of death at the time of the Uprising. Generally, the testimonies and oral statements of women who have historical experiences are described as secondary or minor materials when inquiring into historical events. When women who have historical experiences of war or state violence speak about their lives they often avoid direct reference to those events, or they avoid speaking about them altogether. Instead, they speak about strife and how difficult the times were, which reflects their status in families and the gender roles assigned to women.