Squeezing, Tearing, and Rebirth: Constructing Dream as Thirdspace in The Vegetarian

Abstract

Han Kang’s The Vegetarian is renowned for its visceral exploration of trauma, yet the specific narrative function of its dreamscapes remains underexplored. This paper integrates Freudian psychoanalysis with Edward W. Soja’s theory of “Thirdspace” to examine how dreams are constructed as a radical spatial entity in the novel. By analyzing the “dream-work” mechanisms of condensation, displacement, and distortion, the study argues that Han Kang constructs a heterogeneous space characterized by grotesque aesthetics and non-linear temporality. Within this space, the structural violence of the patriarchal order is manifested as a relentless “squeezing” of the subject, which in turn leads to an internal “tearing” of the self-a duality of victim and perpetrator that echoes Arendt’s “banality of evil.” However, the paper contends that the dream functions ultimately as a “Real-and-Imagined” Thirdspace: a site of strategic resistance. Through Yeong-hye’s somatic “plant-becoming” and spatial inversion (the handstand), and In-hye’s epistemological awakening, the dream deconstructs the binary logic of the anthropocentric reality. This study concludes that the dreamscape in The Vegetarian serves as a critical spatial practice, offering a post-human possibility for rebirth amidst the ruins of the symbolic order.