Korean literature. Korean writers and their works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Korean literature is currently one of the most sought after and popular on the Asian continent. Historically, works were created in Korean or in classical Chinese, since the country did not have its own alphabet until the middle of the 15th century. So, all writers and poets used exclusively Chinese characters. In this article, we will talk about famous Korean writers and their works.

Features

The uniqueness of Korean literature is determined by the list of genres that are characteristic of the classical works that have become popular in this country. Modern writers and poets shape their worldview under the influence of Western traditions and cultures, which are based on economic development and trade.

At the same time, classical Korean literature originates from folk tales and traditional beliefs. Researchers identify several major traditionalpoetic forms. Interestingly, Korean poetry was originally developed for singing. It is based on various groups of several syllables that represent the natural rhythm of the language.

Genres

Among the genres of Korean literature, hyanggu should be singled out. This is a poem written in the way I walk. This is the name of the archaic system of using hieroglyphs. Only 25 works that can be attributed to this genre have come down to us. Most of them are contained in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, written in 1279.

Sijo is a genre of lyrical poetry, which literally translates as "short song", which is fully consistent with its essence. Finally, kasa is a genre of medieval poetry, which is a large poetic work dedicated to the sights of the country, significant events, amazing features of the life of Korea itself and its neighbors.

Jung In Ji

One of the most famous medieval writers in Korean literature is Jung In-ji, who was also a prominent statesman and scholar. His life took place mainly in the 15th century.

Jung In-ji was born in Seoul in 1396. He was brought up in the family of a county ruler in the province of Gyeonggi-do. Under the fourth wang of the Korean state, Sejong received a significant place in the court academy, known as the "Pavilion of the assembly of sages".

He was directly involved in the creation of the national alphabet "Hangul", on which he worked from 1444 to 1446. was the author of a greatnumber of political, historical and military writings. He wrote several books on the exact sciences. The main work of his life is "History of Korea". In the 20th century, it was translated from Korean into Russian, and the book was published in Moscow in 1960.

Under Sejong, he served as First Minister. In politics, he opposed the spread of Buddhism in the country, for which he was eventually removed from office. He returned to the capital at the next van, and then received public recognition.

He died in 1478.

Kim Man Joon

This is a prominent Korean poet, scholar and politician of the 17th century. He was born in 1637. The poet's childhood passed in difficult conditions, as the country was dominated by the Manchus, and his father committed suicide after the capture of the capital shortly before his birth.

Kim Man Joon managed to get a classical education as a member of an aristocratic family. He became an official and was directly involved in the party struggle for power. As a result, he received the post of head of the military department. After the Western Party, to which he belonged, was removed from power, Kim Man-joon was exiled to Namhae Island. In exile, he died of pulmonary tuberculosis.

In 1689, the figure wrote "Lady Sa's Wanderings in the South." It was the first novel published exclusively in Korean. It tells the story of a woman who was slandered by a concubine, for which she was kicked out of her house. In this work, the author described the fate of Empress Inkhen. The novel was published"in hot pursuit". Still carried away by the political struggle, the author condemns his ruler, who was overly fond of concubines. In Korean literature, the work of Kim Man-jun was of great importance. It has become a model of family conflict. In subsequent novels, one may encounter the borrowing of the names of characters and even entire episodes.

In exile, Kim Man-jun writes his second novel, Dream in the Sky. The work becomes the result of his reflections on the essence of human nature, which has to be resisted by passions. The work is created in the form of a Buddhist parable.

Also, towards the end of his life, he wrote poetry in Chinese. Died in 1692.

Park Chiwon

Park Chiwon is a Korean writer, philosopher and scholar who is considered one of the brightest representatives of the Sirhak Pha intellectual movement in the 18th century. Its essence is to promote economic and social reforms that should benefit the country. In this case, the use of Western technologies is allowed. Known for harsh criticism of the contemporary system and metaphysical research. One of the first writers in Korean literature who began to use the most simplified style.

His early works are short stories published in a collection en titled "The Unofficial History of the Pangengak Pavilion". The most famous of them are "The Tale of Ye-Dok", "The Tale of Kwang Moon", "Tales of the Barners", written in 1754.

Zhehei Diary

Park Chiwon's largest work is the Zhehei Diary, which consists of ten books and 26 parts. These are his travel notes on a trip to China. Parts of the work are the utopian work "The Tale of Ho Sen", in which he describes a society of ideal equality, as well as the satirical novella "Tiger Scolding".

Wrote a lot of lyric-landscape and philosophical poems that are filled with faith in a happy future, patriotic pathos. In his research articles, he discusses the role of literature in the life of society.

Pac Kenny

South Korean writer Park Kenny was born in 1926. She had a difficult youth. Korea at that time was part of the Japanese Empire. During the Civil War, her husband was accused of participating in a communist conspiracy. He died in prison. The writer moved to Seoul to support her daughter. Worked in a bank.

Started writing in the 50s. Her first story "Calculation" was published in the journal "Modern Literature". In the 60s, she turned her attention to the history of Korea and the social problems of the country. The novel "Daughters of Apothecary Kim" is dedicated to this. However, another work brings her popularity. In 1969, the first part of the multi-volume epic "Earth" was published, which she completed only in 1994. The pages of the book describe the entire history of the country from 1897 to the liberation from Japan in 1954.

In 2008, Park Kenny died after an exacerbation of a chronic illness. She was 81 then.

Ko Eun

Ko Eun occupies a special place among Korean writers. He is considered the most prolific author of the 20th century. Born in 1933, became a Buddhist monk after the Korean War, but then returned to lay life. In the 60s he founded an orphanage.

During the Fourth Republic fought for civil rights. After a military coup in 1979, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but in reality he was released already in 1982

Began publishing at the end of 1950. He became a famous poet after the release of the collection "In the Muni village". It repeats the images of the wanderer, the way to return home. Among his works are a poem about the Korean War, a dozen and a half volumes of Maninbo, in which he describes more than three thousand people he has ever met in his life. His novel "The Little Wanderer" becomes a bestseller.

There are many biographical stories dedicated to famous Korean personalities in Ko Eun's work. They have been repeatedly criticized for being didactic and ideologically biased.

Kim Won Il

Prose writer Kim Won Il occupies an important place in modern Korean literature. He was born in 1942 in the city of Gimhae. His father, who was a communist, moved to the north of the peninsula. As the eldest child, according to Confucian traditions, the writer was supposed to act as the head of the family.

Kim Won Il belongs to a generation of Korean prose writers who see the division of the nation and the Korean War as a source ofall the troubles of the people. In 1966, he made his debut in Korean fiction with the story "Algeria", 1961. He became famous for the story "The Soul of Darkness", dedicated to the ideological confrontation in the country.

In 1988, a memoir novel "A house with a deep yard" was written. In it, he described a picture of his hungry and poor childhood. A television series of the same name was based on this work.

In 1990, Kim Won Il writes the novel "Prisoners of the Soul", the main character of which is the manager of a small book publishing house. At the Moscow International Fair, he gets acquainted with the novel by Anatoly Rybakov "Children of the Arbat" and wants to publish it faster than his competitors. The main theme of this work is the life of contemporaries, who in Korea are called the "generation of April 19", who survived the 1960 revolution. As a result, the First Republic was overthrown and the Second Republic was established.

Oh Seen

South Korean poet Oh Seen was born in 1942. He is a graduate of Seoul University. Oh Se-yeon graduated from the Department of Literature and completed his dissertation on Korean Romantic Poetry.

In 1974, he founded the "Society of Free Writers", which opposed the military administration of Chun Doo-hwan. After signing a petition against the military dictatorship, he was soon forced to resign from the university.

His books in Korean are very popular. O Seen is the author of nine collections of Buddhist poems and two dozen collections of poetry. Main topicsworks - the transience of life, summing up their path, memories of love, the sorrows of separation. All these states are inextricably linked with the surrounding nature, which participates in human life, reflecting through it. Using traditional images, he interweaves them with original similes and his own allusions.

O Seeena's poems are published in many languages of the world, there is a translation from Korean into Russian. The most famous collections of the poet are called "Resisting Light", "Nameless Love Poems", "Flowers Live Admiring the Stars", "Petal Mark", "Heaven, Open the Door", "Chessboard of the Night Sky".

Cho Haejin

She is a popular contemporary South Korean writer born in Seoul in 1976. She is a graduate of Women's University. Cho Haejin won the 2004 Emerging Writer Award. Her collection of short stories "City of the Celestials" became popular. It was followed by the novels "I Met Ro Keewan", "In an Endlessly Beautiful Dream", "Let's Meet Friday", "The Forest No One Has Seen".

In her works, the writer covers contemporary problems for Korean society. At the same time, she pays special attention to the poor, the sick, migrants, believing that they are the ones who most of all need love and care from others.

For example, in a novel called "I Met Ro Kiwang", Cho Haejin tells the story of a North Korean refugee whoappears in Belgium. This, like several of her other works, has been translated into Russian. In 2017, she became a participant in the International Book Fair, which was held in Moscow.