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Couleur de peau: miel #3
Couleur de peau : miel, Tome 3
Jung clôt ce voyage intérieur par l'évocation de ses années de jeunesse, étudiant à l'Institut Saint-Luc, amateur de jolies filles et de dessins. Il évoque aussi ce récent voyage en Corée effectué en 2011 pour le tournage de l'adaptation audiovisuelle de la série. Soulagement, sentiment d'appartenance retrouvé ou acculturation définitive ? Ses sentiments sont complexes et troublants. Et son récit toujours bourré d'humour et d'émotions. Démarche autobiographique peu commune entamée en 2007, Couleur de peau : miel a déjà reçu un accueil sans précédent tant le témoignage est authentique et universel. Le courrier des lecteurs demeure abondant et bouleversant. L'adaptation cinéma a été présentée depuis le Japon jusqu'aux Émirats arabes unis, du Canada à l'Australie, et maintes fois récompensées. Jung a touché un point auquel nous sommes tous sensibles : nos racines. Savoir les situer, sur cette terre de mondialisation et de revendications nationalistes est peut-être une nécessité.
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First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 22, 2022
There's a lot of ground to cover in this volume - his young adulthood, his trip to Korea, and an attempt to connect his experience with other adoptees. I think that the popularity of this series ended up watering this one down. While the "self-observer effect" nourished his writing in the first volumes - as in, he was examining his past, which led him to change and grow as a person - it seems that by this volume, Jung was distracted by the filming of his story and the attention that the series had received. It made me sad, frustrated, even a little angry that his plan to travel to Korea with his wife and daughter was thwarted by the filming!
That being said, there are some really moving drawings, like pages 23 (very minimalist but meaningful. Is he walking through the fields or is he being born?) & 25 - are the roots welcoming him or are they going to grab him? Mohamed shows Jung that these tangled roots are not a merely a handicap, but can be used playfully and enjoyed. I wonder if Mohamed had success as a bédéiste?
Jung illustrates the movement from anger/rejection to acceptance as a long process with steps forward and back, sometimes in equal measure, weaving in story elements like the roots, masks as identity and Jung drawing Korean drummers/dancers without knowing (see vol. 2). In the original, French version, why do the dancers speak to him in English instead of Korean?? Is it because the reader presumably can at least understand "Welcome back home" whereas they wouldn't be able to read Korean characters. He has to use English to interact with Koreans as he never learned the language. Interesting choice and a kind of proof that he still doesn't fit in Korea.
His conversation with the two film crew members gives a kind of yin/yang perspective- one who tells Jung, yes you are Korean because you were born here, your roots are here and the other who says no, that without the same language, value, culture, you can never be Korean. It's interesting because the first view now seems to me very stereotypically American - I mean, very "power of positive thinking", accepting as a form of denying reality, brushing off the parts of the story that are troublesome. While the second now seems more French, more realistic, like accepting as a means of moving on and forward, building and growing. In a more general way I'd say the former is more youthful, childish and the latter is more mature, reasoned. Sadly, Jung's initial conclusion is that he isn't at home anywhere. But he could've equally concluded that he's lucky because he has connections to two worlds...
And he does get there, in a way. He realizes that he may not have learned to draw or become a graphic novelist if he hadn't needed to grapple with his identity. And he begins to understand the beauty of the scarring of his psyche - it's a link to his origins. And that 5 year old child who was "abandoned" and all of the other Korean international adoptees are part of his roots, that he indeed has an identity and a "home". The taste memory of kim chi drove him to eat spicy food, when he was untethered to his roots, it led to health problems (see vol. 2 for his hospitalization and two ulcers discovered here), and he finally draws connections to his culinary self-sabotage as a form of suicide attempt in ch. 7. I hope he eventually learned that kim chi, as a fermented food is a probiotic that aids in digestion (while Tobasco is not) ;).
PS- Jung, it's not your fault that Valerie died!
That being said, there are some really moving drawings, like pages 23 (very minimalist but meaningful. Is he walking through the fields or is he being born?) & 25 - are the roots welcoming him or are they going to grab him? Mohamed shows Jung that these tangled roots are not a merely a handicap, but can be used playfully and enjoyed. I wonder if Mohamed had success as a bédéiste?
Jung illustrates the movement from anger/rejection to acceptance as a long process with steps forward and back, sometimes in equal measure, weaving in story elements like the roots, masks as identity and Jung drawing Korean drummers/dancers without knowing (see vol. 2). In the original, French version, why do the dancers speak to him in English instead of Korean?? Is it because the reader presumably can at least understand "Welcome back home" whereas they wouldn't be able to read Korean characters. He has to use English to interact with Koreans as he never learned the language. Interesting choice and a kind of proof that he still doesn't fit in Korea.
His conversation with the two film crew members gives a kind of yin/yang perspective- one who tells Jung, yes you are Korean because you were born here, your roots are here and the other who says no, that without the same language, value, culture, you can never be Korean. It's interesting because the first view now seems to me very stereotypically American - I mean, very "power of positive thinking", accepting as a form of denying reality, brushing off the parts of the story that are troublesome. While the second now seems more French, more realistic, like accepting as a means of moving on and forward, building and growing. In a more general way I'd say the former is more youthful, childish and the latter is more mature, reasoned. Sadly, Jung's initial conclusion is that he isn't at home anywhere. But he could've equally concluded that he's lucky because he has connections to two worlds...
And he does get there, in a way. He realizes that he may not have learned to draw or become a graphic novelist if he hadn't needed to grapple with his identity. And he begins to understand the beauty of the scarring of his psyche - it's a link to his origins. And that 5 year old child who was "abandoned" and all of the other Korean international adoptees are part of his roots, that he indeed has an identity and a "home". The taste memory of kim chi drove him to eat spicy food, when he was untethered to his roots, it led to health problems (see vol. 2 for his hospitalization and two ulcers discovered here), and he finally draws connections to his culinary self-sabotage as a form of suicide attempt in ch. 7. I hope he eventually learned that kim chi, as a fermented food is a probiotic that aids in digestion (while Tobasco is not) ;).
PS- Jung, it's not your fault that Valerie died!
March 8, 2025
Le tome qui m'a le plus touchée
August 16, 2020
Après son enfance et son adolescence racontées dans les deux premiers volumes, l'auteur retourne en Corée pour la première fois depuis son adoption par une famille belge à l'âge de cinq ans. J'avoue que l'intérêt suscité par le premier tome est un peu retombé, mais je vais quand même lire le quatrième tome.
August 20, 2022
Une bande dessinée remplie de tendresse et de douceur. Cette quête d’identité est touchante et les illustrations magnifiques. Un livre dont il faut savourer les pages avec lenteur et bonheur.
December 12, 2023
Hasta ahora es el que más me gustó de la saga, muy emotivo e íntimo.
March 1, 2025
J’ai pleuré beaucoup avec cette tome. Je crois que tu va aussi.
L’art est plus émotive et ajoute beaucoup des sentiments profonds sur l’histoire.
Enjoy!
L’art est plus émotive et ajoute beaucoup des sentiments profonds sur l’histoire.
Enjoy!
April 3, 2016
Če je bil tok življenja prekinjen, ga je treba obnoviti. To nam bo uspelo le, če se sprijaznimo sami s sabo in s tem, od kod izviramo ... s svojimi koreninami. Da najdeš pravo ravnotežje potrebuješ čas. A v življenju je vse mogoče. Treba je samo najti načine, da to dosežeš. V vseh teh letih sem se naučil, da se prekinjena življenjska nit lahko ponovno stke ... Odkril sem ljubezen, si ustvaril družino. Nevidna nit me veže z najglobljimi koreninami te zemlje, zaman sem jo skušal pretrgati, a življenje bi bilo pretvara, če bi svoje korenine pretrgal ... Tega potovanja je konec, obenem pa je to začetek sprave med mojima dvema identitetama.
Tebi, ki se še vedno iščeš: vedi, da je kakovost zemlje, bolj kot njen izvor, tista, ki ti omogoča pognati korenine najgloblje v tvojo bit.
Tebi, ki se še vedno iščeš: vedi, da je kakovost zemlje, bolj kot njen izvor, tista, ki ti omogoča pognati korenine najgloblje v tvojo bit.
April 1, 2014
Une superbe bande-dessinée. Du tome 1 au tome 3, on suit le parcours autobiographique de Jung, sans en laisser une miette !
Un dessin magnifique, un destin atypique... Sans compter les splendides dédicaces dont j'ai eu l'honneur de bénéficier.
Un dessin magnifique, un destin atypique... Sans compter les splendides dédicaces dont j'ai eu l'honneur de bénéficier.
May 23, 2015
Jolie bd sur l'adoption..
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews