[Feature] Time of Nim Regained: Korean Poetry and Poetry Critique as Commons / Song Jong-won
The Quarterly Changbi 204, Summer 2024
Abstract
The feature, which reminds us of the power of true imagination, through the multi-layered genealogy of Korean poetry, presents four articles, together titled, “Korean Poetry Today, Achievements and Tasks.” While emphasizing the inherent possibility in poetry to lead us to nim, which can turn the needle of our fate, the Quarterly Changbi’s editorial board member and literary critic Song Jong-won points out the tendency in recent criticism, devoted to theories, to erase life and truth from poetry. Examining the poetic worlds of such important poets as Lee Sumyeong, Park Nohae, and Lee Seki, Song discusses poetry writing and reading as communing, and scrutinizes achievements made by Korean poetry as a commons.