"This is Cousinland": The Korean War, Post-Armistice Poetics, and Reparative Aesthetics in Julayne Lee's Not My White Savior

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This article engages in an in-depth critical reading of Julayne Lee's poetry collection, Not My White Savior (2018). It focuses on how Lee's lyrics involve forms of repetition and variation to institute a reparative aesthetic. The article considers Lee's historical excavation of the Korean War and the violent manifestations that have occurred since the Armistice was signed in 1953. The article proceeds with readings that cover a variety of issues, including overseas Korean adoption, the plight of single Korean mothers, the need to develop more robust models for alternative kinships, as well as the speculative tropes deployed by Lee in these various poetic depictions. Finally, the article persistently investigates poetic techniques, including the refrain and the repetend, as part of Lee's lyrical approaches. Lee's lyric project ultimately reimagines overseas adopted Koreans as a fellowship, one promoting activism and social justice.