Immigrants’ Sense of Dislocation and Identity Crisis in Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko

Abstract

This research aims to illustrate the Immigrant’s sense of dislocation and identity crisis in Min Jin Lee's Pachinko. This project explores the hardship and suffering of Korean immigrants to settle in new cultural environment. This research is done under the theoretical light of Salman Rushdie’s notion of sense of belongingness and past memory, Straut Halls’ concept of cultural identity, Homi K Bhabha’s notion of mimicry, ambivalence and hybridity, and Ashcroft, Griffith and Tiffin’s idea of hybridity. In the novel, Sunja feels alienated and dislocated when she finds that others have neglected her authentic identity. When Japanese people dominate Koreans considering the latter as savage, the Koreans go through alienation and identity crisis. Sunja suffers just because she is not Japanese. It is something like ignoring second person’s existence. Another major character Noa faces identity crisis in terms of class, culture, ethnicity, and prejudices. He shows civilized behavior and acquires the life of Japanese people but when Japanese people treat him as other he loses his sense of identity and commits suicide. Thus, the Korean's sense of identity is questioned, problematized, and troubled in Japan. Keywords: Diaspora, Dislocation, Discrimination, Hybridity, Identity crisis