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English(English) Article

The Female Grotesque: Ruth Williams interviews Kim Hyesoon

About the Article

Article
https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/williams_kim_1_1_12/
Journal
Guernica
Issued Date
January 01, 2012
Page
-
Language
English(English)
Country
UNITED STATES
City
New York
Book
-
Writer
Kim Hyesoon

About the Author

  • Kim Hyesoon
  • Birth : 1955 ~ -
  • Occupation : Poet
  • First Name : Hyesoon
  • Family Name : Kim
  • Korean Name : 김혜순
  • ISNI : 0000000078656481
  • Works : 35
Descriptions - 1 Languages
  • English(English)

Within the South Korean literary tradition, women poets are called yŏryu siin (female poet). Male poets are simply called siin (poet). According to Kim Hyesoon, this gendered terminology results in the marginalization of women poets’ authentic voices, as yŏryu siin are expected to write pretty, sentimental verse that speaks in a passive voice. It’s not a stretch to see this, as Kim does, as an extension of Korean gender norms that define “acceptable” behavior for women according to three rigid roles: ch’ŏnyŏ (young unmarried woman/virgin), ajuma (middle-aged woman/mother), and halmoni (grandmother). Each role requires the woman to serve a different master, Kim has noted: “She must first obey her father, then her husband when she becomes an ajuma, and finally obey her son as a halmoni. Any woman who violates or lives outside of these roles is called a ch’angyŏ (prostitute).”   Source: https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/williams_kim_1_1_12/

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