Korean Literature

Its Classical Heritage and Modern Breakthroughs

This volume, Korean Literature: Its Classical Heritage and Modern Breakthroughs, consists of 24 articles that are still considered valuable in the field as academic articles or critical essays that have appeared in the Korea Journal over the past 40 years. The articles were carefully selected under the guidance of Professor Hwang Jong-yon.

The present volume is divided into five major themes. Part I includes an explanation of the historical and critical bases for understanding modernity as expressed in Korean literature. Part II consists of major reviews of representative writers and their works over the past 100 years of Korean modern literature. Part III is a compilation of explanatory writings that facilitate readers' comprehension of traditional literary genres--from pansori to Korean poetry in Chinese--and their aesthetics and ideology, which have influenced both the creation and critique of contemporary Korean literature. Part IV critically evaluates the literatures of both North and South Korea after the Korean War. The final section approaches Korean literature from an international perspective in examining the literature of Korean immigrants living abroad.

In recent days, both researchers and general readers outside Korea have taken an increasing interest in Korean literature. Accordingly, translations of and writings about Korean literature have been increasingly produced.

We hope this volume can serve as a textbook and reference manual for scholars, students, and anyone else interested in Korean literature.

Table of Contents

I. Rethinking Korean Literary Modernity

· Kim, Uchang. Extravagance and Authenticity: Romantic Love and the Self in Early Modem Korean Literature

· Choi, Won-shik. Rethinking Korean Literary Modernity

· Hwang' Jong-yon. The Emergence of Aesthetic Ideology in Modem Korean Literary Criticism: An Essay on Yi Kwang-su

II. Twentieth-Century Canonical Writers and Works

· Kang, Young-zu. Hong Myong-hui: Korea's Finest Historical Novelist

· Yorn, Moo-ung. A Study of Manhae Hari Yong-un

· Kister, Daniel A. The Early Poetry of Chong Chi-yong

· Lee, Tae-dong. The Poetic Reconciliation between Present and Eternal: A Study of Modem Korean Poet So Chong-ju

· Yu Jongho. Shin Tong-yop: A Retrospective Prophet, vol. 39: 4

III. Legacy of Classical Korean Literature

· Rutt, Richard. Sijo Verse in Korea

· McCann, David R. Between Literary and Folk: The Art of the Twelve Kasa Songs

· Cho, Dong-iI. The General Nature of P'ansori

· Pak, No-chun. Pak Chi-won--Satirist of the Aristocratic Society

· Song, Chae-so. The Poetry of Tasan Chong Yak-yong

· Kirn, Jong-gil. Mot: Korea's Unique Aesthetic and Moral Value: In Comparison with Japanese lid

IV. Changing Scenes of Contemporary Korean Literature

· O'Rourke, Kevin. Literature After the Korean War

· Kim, Byoung-ik. The Korean War and Viewpoints of Korean Novels

· Kim, Yun-shik. The Korean Novel in an Age of Industrialization

· Pihl, Marshall R. The Nation, the People, and a Srnall Ball: Literary Nationalism and Literary Populism in Contemporary Korea

· Oh, Saeng-keun. Seoul and 'Seoulness' as Portrayed in Literature

· Kwon, Young-min. Literature and Art in North Korea

V. Korean Literature Across National Border

· Yi, Hye-sun. Korean Literature ad Adjacent Literatures

· Kim, Young-moo. Pablo Neruda and Today's Korean Poetry

· Miller, Roy Andrew. A Koreari Poet in Eighteenth Century Japan

· Kim, Elaine H. Searching for a Door to America: Younghill Kang, Korean American Writer