The Struggle with Disease Taxonomy in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian

Abstract

The root cause of the suffering of Yeong-hye denies all clear-cut medical nomenclatures in Han Kang’s novel The Vegetarian. This paper discusses how heath institutions (in the context of the text) negate the aspects of cultural oppression, sexual trauma and power-play (referring to Michel Foucault) within the family structure while formulating a categorical taxonomy of a disease. In a constant struggle with anorexia, vegetal metamorphosis and parallel dream sequences, the cause-effect relationships in the illness of Yeonghye and her sister In-hye defers end-significations with plurality. Bringing in Susan Bordo, the hierarchy of gender in the control over food choices is discussed in the light of etiology of Yeong-hye’s disease, its “whatness”, and how medical institutions define her clinical condition.