Every piece of art is the embodiment of the world outlook and cultural codes of the author’s nation. Thus, it is always possible to decipher the collective representations, values, and strivings, which are spread in the culture that the author represents via the means of expressiveness in his/her writings. The analyzed stories written by the famous Korean writer Ch’ae Man-shik and Sudanese author Tayeb Salih both reflect the national consciousness and the mentality of the folk, which existed in the subordinate status. Therefore, they are full of hope for the preservation of the national heritage, traditions, and indigenous culture in general. Both writers created these stories in one time period. Even though they lived in distinct parts of the world, the gist of both stories is similar. The stories by Ch’ae Man-shik and Tayeb Salih are full of the national expressiveness because they incorporate the collective values and representations of the authors’ cultures.
The story My Innocent Uncle written by paper master https://papermasters.org author Ch’ae Man-shik deals with the reflection of the contradiction between two different world outlooks – socialism, which is based on the value of preserving the national identity and colonialism, which stresses the necessity to give up the interests of the Korean culture. Such controversy was peculiar to the intellectual atmosphere of this specific nation in the middle of the 20th century when Korea gained its independence from the Japanese government. The consequences of the colonial period were negative. Generally, “the Japanese occupation may be said to have deprived Koreans of their chance of modernizing themselves beyond the traditional characteristics. Moreover, after the liberation from Japan, the legacy of Japanese colonialism continued to influence the development of Korean culture in a negative way” (Yim 39). Therefore, the theme of the story was not a random choice of the author. On the contrary, the cultural development of his motherland dictated the necessity to speculate on the problem of national identification. Thus, the analyzed piece of art, the story of Ch’ae Man-shik, is not only a result of creation and inspiration but also the social phenomenon due to the representation of the controversies of the Korean cultural development.
The analyzed story is a narration of a young man, who considers his uncle to be unintelligent due to his devotion to the doctrine of socialism, which stresses the necessity to seek for the improvements for the sake of the nation’s welfare. It means that such approach denies the possibility to become dependent on another country so as to make the life simpler and avoid the responsibility for the collective future. The nephew rejects this doctrine, which he calls “scotchalism” not willing to make any efforts but to flow under the wing of the owner, who does not notice the interests and striving of the indigenous people.
The author also emphasizes the dichotomy between the individual and collective interests, and underlines that the collective are more significant. Ch’ae Man-shik shows that the nephew considers only his personal needs and does not presuppose the necessity to live in a way to maximize the happiness of the whole community. It is said that some of the people are poor as they were born in the inappropriate place during the wrong time period, or they are lazy. It is the way the things are, and the way this world is organized. It means that the nephew does not feel his responsibility for the whole nation and does not want to make efforts to improve the social situation in the country, which has become independent. On the contrary, the nephew wishes Korea to be a part of Japan with its social and cultural organization.
The second story, The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid, which is written by Tayeb Salih, demonstrates the magic and intimacy of the mythological world outlook peculiar to the indigenous people of Sudan. The representative of the indigenous people, an old man, is the embodiment of the harmony of the mythological worldview and the self-sufficiency of the Sudanese nation even if its members do not possess the facilities of the rationalized civilization. The narrator’s position embodies the author’s opinion on the cultural development and heritage of Sudan. Thus, the whole story is a reflection of the reinterpretation of the historical happenings that took place in the middle of the 20th century, when there were attempts to modernize Sudan in order to involve this country in the relationships with the capitalized world, where the crucial value is profit. It was the period of British control (1899-1955) when the British government wanted to ruin the local religion as “social identity” via modernization (Belle 96). It means that religion and social structure are intertwined in Sudanese culture, and the author of the short story demonstrates it with the help of the symbol of the sacred tree.
The whole narration is the affirmation of the cultural codes and the most crucial topics for the whole Sudanese society. It means that the author has finely interlaced the artistic notion and the reconsidered fragments of the real life of his nation. He uses the symbols and images, which are significant for the everyday life of the Sudanese nation. Moreover, Tayeb Salih approaches the description of the lifestyle of the indigenous people with specific tenderness and seriousness confirming the rational organization of the mythological thinking and cognition. Therefore, the analyzed short story is not just an artistic invention and fiction but a reflection of the culture in action.
If to compare the reflection of cultures in both short stories, then it becomes evident that both authors approach this task from two different perspectives. Tayeb Salih emphasizes the role of mythology, religion, and customs, whereas Ch’ae Man-shik stresses the role of economic and political factors in order to show the peculiarities of national development and controversies of the social organization of Korea. Even though both writers are the mediums of their national culture, they accomplish their mission individually. Therefore, it seems to be impossible to evaluate the level of proficiency in the reflection of the collective representations. Still, the attempt of Tayeb Salih can be considered more successful due to the atmosphere he creates with the help of the artistic means of expressiveness. It means that the appeal to the mythology and religion is more fundamental than the turns of the economic and social interrelations.
Overall, the analyzed short stories can be considered an illustrative example of how culture defines the development of art, especially, the topics in literature with the help of the general atmosphere in the society and the domination of particular cultural codes and collective consciousness. This issue dictates the cultural values that legitimate the life of the nation. Both stories embody the crucial turns of the history of Sudan and Korea of the middle of the 20th century and in this way they have a social significance. These are not just artistic creations but can also be appropriate materials that narrate the history and communicate the culture with the help of the literature images. In addition to that, the composition of Sudanese writer can be considered to be more successful in the representation of the local outlook than the one of Ch’ae Man-shik because Tayeb Salih managed to emphasize the religious and outlook peculiarities more sincere and bright. At the same time, they are more illustrative and serious. The religious customs and schemas of the collective thinking depicted in the story The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid reflect the cultural codes in more integral way. Generally, both stories demonstrate national expressiveness as they include the collective representations and values that are accepted in the cultures of the writers.

This post was edited by ginaaa4 on May 27 2022 01:50am