창작과 비평

 

 

*Conference on ‘The Poetic World of Ko Un' / 8 May 2003 / Stockholm University, Sweden

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* Paper about the Korean poet Ko Un

 

This paper was first presented at the seminar, The Poetic World of Ko Un , at Stockholm University May the 8 th 2003. I think it is appropriate to make a few comments now: Due to the limited schedule that day in May in Stockholm it was impossible to present and treat the great and immense authorship of Ko Un as profoundly as it actually deserves. Still it is my hope that my presentation can help to make this great poet known also to Scandinavian readers.

 

At the end of my paper I have lined up some keywords in an attempt toㅡin a maybe too subjective wayㅡcharacterize Ko Un's poetic world. Those keywords are not systematic or exhaustive; I wrote them spontaneously in a mood of enthusiasm for Ko Un's poetry in an attempt to make a passionate rather than systematic ending of the paper.

 

Please allow me to specifically make a few comments on the keywords number 7 and 8: I use the expression “Son Buddhist Existentialism” (no. 7). As is generally known Existentialism is a philosophy developed among Westerners. On one hand it attempts to describe the basic conditions of life for all human beings but inevitably the historical base of Existentialism is related to Christianityㅡat least in a cultural perspective. Still, the attempted subject of Existentialism is the most basic conditions of human life. In Ko Un's Son poems I find a ( to some extent ) comparable focus on the basic conditions of human lifeㅡbut emancipated from the Christian mindset. To a Scandinavian reader as myself this is a very special and original feature ㅡto experience a Son Buddhist attempt to understand human existence.

 

The overall strength of Ko Un's poetry is that it is linked both to his own personal life and cultural backgroundㅡbut it is not “too Korean” or “too personal” but has universal validity to non-Korean readers as well. The universal validity of Ko Un's poetry is constituted by “Objective Correlatives”ㅡwith T.S. Eliot's expression. It means that Ko Un transcends his own personal experiences as a Korean through his poetry so that the poetic, aesthetic result at the same time conveys a personal image of a unique Korean life and experience but also wisdom with universal validity.

 

This explanation ( above ) of my thoughts might also serve as an explanation of the last keyword (no. 8). I state that Ko Un is “very much a Koreanㅡvery much a human being”.

 

If the reader is attracted to Asian culture, which many people in Scandinavia are these years, the reader will not be disappointed; Ko Un's poetry provides a rich and colourful image of the Korean culture. But this does not mean that his poetry is nationalistic in the negative meaning of the word or hermitically sealed to non-Korean readers; it does not mean that the reader cannot understand this poetry without the knowledge of many years of Korean studies.

 

Finally just one example among many other suitable to illustrate my explanations above. In the poem “Mountain is mountain” it says: “Eat your food. / Once you've eaten, go shit.” (Beyond Self, p. 18). Among possible interpretations one could be that we as human beings have to accept some basic existential conditions in a wide perspective, here symbolized with the necessity and logical order of eating and defecating. But at the same time Ko Un's words are maybe telling the reader about Son Buddhist philosophy; when something comes in something also has to go out. There needs to be balance and harmony. And because Ko Un has the courage to use such naked and down-to-earth-expressions the poem is far more interesting than most other poetry that too much aims to be beautiful and nice. Some readers might find expressions such as “go shit” offensive. But great poetry does not and cannot limit itself to the usual conventions of nice behaviour.

 

A Scandinavian View of Ko Un's Poetry

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My name is Jesper Matsumoto Mulbjerg. I am a bachelor in Korean, still a studentㅡand also a poet.

 

It is a pleasure and an honour for me to be here today to talk about the great Korean poet Ko Un. And I think that we are very fortunate to have Mr. Ko Un together with us.

 

By way of introduction I would like to say just a few words about how I have been working with Ko Un's poetry. Yet I have only caught a glimpse of his immense productionㅡmore than one hundred volumes of poems, essays, critical reviews and novels. As preparation for my talk today I have mainly focused on English translations because the majority of readers in Scandinavia and other Western countries can't read Korean. But during my reading of theㅡin my opinion very well translated English editions of, The Sound of My WavesㅡSelected Poems by Ko Un and Beyond Selfㅡ108 Korean Zen Poems by Ko Un from 1997 I have compared poems and parts of poems in both the English version and the original Korean version as well.

 

As also mentioned in “Translators Note” of Beyond Self ( ㅡ108 Korean Zen Poems ) the Western part of the world has come to know the meditative sect or branch of Buddhism by the Japanese word, “Zen”ㅡbut the word derives from Sanskritㅡand in Korean the word is, “Son”. So from now on I refer only to the word, “Son”.