Aphasia between Historical Gaps and Languages’ Universality

Co-sponsored with the Korea Institute

This talk focuses on a young boy’s aphasic problem from a Russophone Korean family in South Korea. Drawing on my previous ethnographic research among Russophone Koreans (Koryo Saram) over the past two decades, I briefly present historical and cultural contexts regarding their linguistic and cultural transformations since the early 20th century. On one hand, there was a remarkable change for the Korean nation, fragmented across state borders, and the return of these overseas Koreans, especially Russophone Koreans, who witness and testify to these historical changes more acutely. However, globalization, which has proceeded towards the rigidification of the nation-state system, hardly allows space for historical narratives for Russophone Koreans. Tentatively, these are the historical and cultural gaps I refer to. On the other hand, Roman Jakobson suggested and believed in the universality of human language. His utopian vision of human languages, seemingly rooted in his experience of the Russian Revolution, turns to children’s language learning as a human universal. Notably, his work on aphasia was mainly carried out in exile in Sweden on his way to the United States. What, then, is the link between the historical context and his interest in children’s aphasia?