[Feature] Why Is Literary Criticism Important—The Ways in Which It Signifies Revolution / Yang Kyung Eon
The Quarterly Changbi 182, Winter 2018
Abstract
In order to signify the candlelight as a revolution we need to be constantly aware of and reflect on our current position, and reading literary works can be one approach to this task. After the Candlelight Revolution, literary criticism has also been struggling to break free from its own hermetic world. In order to signify this struggle, literary critic Yang Kyung Eon continues to ask the provocative question “whether what they do is enough,” through an examination of literary criticism by Cho Yeon-jeong, Paik Ji-eun, and Choi Jin-seok. Yang convincingly argues that “feminist literature” can ironically obstruct our imagination about women’s lives, and that the public discussion advocating for imagination outside of literary institutions can reinforce the transcendent status of literary criticism.