창작과 비평

The Quarterly Changbi 206, Winter 2024

Abstract

For the “Searching for K-Discourse” series, we present a dialogue celebrating the publication of the first portion of the Changbi Anthology of Korean Thoughts, a project we began ahead of the 60th anniversary of Quarterly Changbi, to come in 2026. At the present time, when the limitations of Western discourse are being seriously discussed, a dialogue among Professor Baek Min Jung in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Korea, Professor Emeritus Lim Hyung-taek at Sungkyunkwan University, Professor Heo Seok in the Department of Won Buddhism at Wonkwang University, and literary critic Hwang Jung-a examines how Korean thoughts can contribute to overcoming the current global crisis and to the grand transformation of our civilization. At the present time people are wondering about Korean thought, in addition to K-culture and K-literature. So this dialogue asks: What is the identity of Korean thought? One answer: Korean thoughts, which cannot be classified under another well-known ideology or philosophy, are unique in their practicality and emphasis on statecraft. Changbi Anthology of Korean Thoughts is characterized by its inclusion of not only philosophers who envisioned the establishment of a Confucian country in the past, but also thinkers in various other fields, including religious thought, political thought, literature, and gender. This will be an opportunity to learn how the Korean peninsula, as a place where difficult global issues are concentrated, can be a source of new ideas as a result of its situation.