Remembering the Trauma of Division: A Comparative Study of Memory Spaces in Korea and Germany
My research examines how memory spaces in Korea and Germany represent and remember the trauma of division, with particular attention to how practices of remembrance may foster social healing from a cultural perspective. Its central questions are: How have societies shaped by the Cold War and division dealt with traumatic memories? In what ways have the traumas of division been memorialized to provide a foundation for a reflective and democratic memory culture?
Unhealed memories and the emotional structures formed by the trauma of division continue to function as underlying causes of political and social conflict. This study, therefore, focuses on social practices of remembrance that can transform memories of division into pathways toward healing. In particular, it explores practical modes of remembering that move away from conventional frameworks based on the extreme dichotomy of “friend versus foe,” and enable more complex and multilayered narratives.
Focusing on Germany, a society that has experienced the Cold War, division, and reunification, this project explores how the memory of division is currently being spatialized in different memorial sites. It analyzes whether these spaces remember division in ways that stimulate hostility and antagonism, or whether they foster reflection, democratic engagement, and social reconciliation. This research concentrates on their narratives and the ways these spaces have been organized and operated, in order to assess their effects, achievements, and limitations. Ultimately, this project undertakes a comparative analysis of German and Korean memory spaces dealing with the trauma of division. By doing so, it aims to identify possibilities for rethinking how division is remembered in Korea and to consider how memory practices might contribute to a more reflective, democratic, and healing-oriented public culture.
During her stay at the ZZF Potsdam Solji Park is Visiting Fellow in Dept. V: Globalizations in a Divided World.