No Longer a Guest: Christianity's Role in Hwang Sok-Yong's Metaphorical Exorcism

The title of Hwang Sŏk-Yŏng's historical fiction The Guest refers in part to two foreign ideologies that were introduced to Korea in the modern era-Christianity and Communism. The Guest explores the suffering caused by the arrival of these two foreign ideologies. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the novel's structure-modeled after traditional Korean exorcisms-incorporates elements of one of these two ideologies, Christianity, in its attempt to achieve reconciliation both within the text and on a broader level. It will explore how the book represents Christianity against the backdrop of the Korean tradition of Shamanism and how the Christian elements of atonement and confession are necessary in the healing process that Hwang strives to stimulate. This analysis will also include a discussion on how the protagonist Ryu Yosŏp is symbolically both a shaman and a Christ figure.