국제결혼 가족과 자녀의 성장: '여러 종류'의 한국인이 가족으로 살아가기 (Living Together as a Family: Ethnic Identities for Children of Intermarriages between Korean Women and South/east Asian Men)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국문화인류학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국문화인류학 / 41권 / 1호 / 51 ~ 89페이지
· 저자명 : 김민정

초록

이 글은 초등학생을 둔 한국인 어머니와 동남/남아시아 이주노동자 아
버지 가족을 대상으로‘, 혼혈’자녀의 정체성 형성과 변화를 둘러싼 환경
요인을 가족과 학교로 나누어 분석하고, 외모 및 젠더가 작동하는 방식을
설명한다. 초등학교에서 아이들은 스스로를 한국인으로 정체화하는 문제
에 본격적으로 직면한다. 가족관계에서 외국인 아버지가 자국 정체성을
강하게 내세우는지와 한국에서 불평등한 대접을 받는지 여부는 중요한
변수이다. 아이의 학교 선생님은 인종과 민족, 성과 계급에 대한 사회적
편견을 받아들이며, 특히 한국인 어머니에 대해 부정적인 태도를 보인다.
아이들의 외모는 티가 나지 않는 것이 중요하나, 사춘기에 접어드는 여자
아이의 경우 이국적인 미는 또래집단관계에서 문화자본으로 작동한다.
어머니가 중심이 되는 국제결혼가족모임은 아이들의 또래집단 관계를 보
완하는‘일종의 사촌관계’를 제공한다. 한편 최근‘다문화가정 자녀’라는
용어 사용에서‘, 한국인’어머니와‘시민권상 한국인’인 아버지 사이에서
성장하는‘이중범주’속의 자녀는 외국인 이주자 가족 자녀와 함께 분류
된다. 혼란스러운‘다문화’담론의 확대에 앞서‘인종(혼혈)’과‘문화’사
이에 놓여 있는‘민족’과‘국민’개념에 대한 사회적 인식을 바꾸고‘, 다
양한 한국인’에 대한 상상력을 넓히는 것이 필요해 보인다.

영어초록

This article analyzes how children of intermarriages between Korean women and
South/east Asian men identify themselves as‘ Koreans’and how the relationships
with their parents, peer groups, and teachers affect ethnic identities.
In Korean society, the term‘ multi-cultural’is replacing‘ mixed-race,’which has
a definitely discriminatory connotation. A result is that children of intermarriages are
now categorized as belonging to cultural groups different from the homogeneous
mainstream of Korean society. This article emphasizes the reality that so called
‘multi-cultural families’employ three ways of defining ‘Korean’(citizenship), in
terms of race, culture and legal status. Coming from such multi-cultural family
backgrounds, children have been constructing and changing their‘ mixed’identities
through the processes of social recognition and denial, occurring mainly within peer
group relations and school lives. In order to correct the discrimination toward
‘mixed-racial’children, Korean people should reconstitute the concept of the
‘Korean’and accept various kinds of‘ Korean.’
Children’s double attachment to their two parents resulted in various types of
blended ethnic identities under different circumstances. The critical factors for
children are the foreign fathers’social status in Korean society, and the peer groups’
and school teachers’views of the family situations of‘ mixed-race’children. Many
children seem to have sympathy for their fathers’difficulties in Korea, but they tend
to be distanced from their fathers for fear of being excluded from the Korean
mainstream society. During the developmental stages of childhood, an individual’s
evaluation and recognition by members of the peer group are decisive in building up
one’s identity. Many children are under pressure of being distanced from cultural and
ethnic affiliations of their fathers’due to peer group teasing. However, teachers tend
to represent biased views and attitudes on‘ mixed-race,’as typical of ordinary people
in the society. In reality, there are not any proper and specific educational directions
or teaching methods on integrating the‘ mixed-race’children into the school. The
teachers’negative attitudes toward Korean mothers are notable probably because of
prejudice against women in the patrilineal kinship culture. They treat‘ mixed-race’
children differently by using ambiguous indications of membership in a special
group, such as‘ one-parent family’or‘ immigrant worker’s family.’
An individual’s appearance and gender are certainly the most decisive factors
shaping and changing‘ mixed’identities. With regards to appearance, it is important
not to have a much of a foreign look, but a slightly foreign look makes a person of
mixed-race considered to be attractive, especially in the case of girls. In
intermarriages between Korean women and men from other Asian countries, the
social networks tend to be formed centering on the Korean wives. This is a different
feature from the intermarriage cases between Korean men and women from other
Asian countries. Within the mothers’core network children can have ‘pseudocousin’relationships
with other‘ mixed-race’children.

참고자료

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