[Special Feature] The World of Han Kang’s Literature
The Quarterly Changbi 206, Winter 2024
Abstract
The news of Han Kang’s winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, which arrived at a time of a troubled domestic situation, was a unexpected occasion of joy and a meaningful impetus toward reflection on what Korean literature has achieved so far and what it should do from now on. The news led us to urgently plan a special feature celebrating Han Kang’s prize, in which we present four articles discussing the world of Han Kang’s literature. Han Ki-wook richly analyzes how Han Kang’s novels both transcend representation-based narratives and also preserve the significance of representation. By presenting many important points related to the interpretation of Han’s works through the unique perspective of the relationship between “call” and “response,” this article anticipates further lively discussions.
While giving an overview of the world of Han Kang’s novels, which span three decades since the mid-1990s, Baik Ji-yeon carefully traces the process in which the author’s view of the world as a stage for tragedy and her self-consciousness as an artist in earlier phases have progressed toward historical memory. Baik persuasively discusses how Han’s literature calmly penetrates the vulnerability of human beings rather than being buried by it and how it is a story about the “power of heart” that moves toward solidarity with others in the world.
Song Jong-won’s article, also eye-opening, concretely examines the relationship between Han Kang’s literature and the history of modern Korean poetry. It is interesting to follow along as Song points out the elements in the history of modern Korean poetry corresponding to scenes in Han’s novels. Above all, his observation that Han’s “poetic prose” is connected to the dimension of our civic virtue or conscience is the result of Song’s profound insights.
The article by Professor Ryu Youngju, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, offers rich and vivid outside perspectives on Korean literature, from an educator who teaches Korean literature abroad. Through examples and comments, she tells us that Korean literature is not only discussed profoundly among scholars but also widely read and examined by young literary students, beyond the barrier of translation.