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English(English) Article

The Most Grotesque Is the Most Realistic: Novelist Chun Woon-young | LIST

About the Article

Article
http://list.or.kr/content/most-grotesque-most-realistic-novelist-chun-woon-young
Journal
list_Books from Korea
Issued Date
-
Page
-
Language
English(English)
Country
SOUTH KOREA
City
Seoul
Book
-
Writer
Cheon Un-yeong

About the Author

  • Cheon Un-yeong
  • Birth : - ~ Unknown
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : Un-yeong
  • Family Name : Cheon
  • Korean Name : 천운영
  • ISNI : 0000000046491424
  • Works : 17
Descriptions - 1 Languages
  • English(English)

The Most Grotesque Is the Most Realistic: Novelist Chun Woon-young Author's Profile By Shin Hyoung-cheol on Oct 19 2014 17:16:19 Vol.21 Autumn 2013           Shin Hyoung-cheol: “The Needle,” (2000) your debut work, is still talked about today and cited as your major work. Is it because of the intensity of the first encounter, or is it because it's your best work in reality?       Chun Woon-young: It could mean that “The Needle” really is a good piece of writing, or it could mean that in the 10 years since I wrote it, I haven’t been able to write anything that surpasses it. Either way, it’s like a fetter to me. What had built up inside me for 30 years came forth for the first time in the form of a story, so it must’ve had that much impact. And it naturally must have made a strong impression because it deals with a subject matter and theme rarely found in Korean literature. There has been enormous pressure from both inside and out to write something even more intense and original, but I’ve freed myself from that pressure. The intensity of the first encounter can never be relived. But you can show evolution and change over a period of time. My best work is nothing other than my best efforts to write what’s built up inside me.         Shin: Since the publication of “The Needle,” there have been imitations of your work, and critics have focused their attention on that. Perhaps “The Needle” has been able to meet the demands of the times. Did you write it with an awareness of what was lacking in Korean literature, or with an innate need to write?       Chun: I didn’t, of course, write it with a strategic decision regarding the current state of Korean literature. I’ve always thought that writing a novel means writing something my body has to do. It’s possible, though, that a thirst for what I didn’t see in Korean literature had built up inside my body.  

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