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English(English) Article

Society & The Imagination: Novels Testify to Their Era | LIST

About the Article

Society & The Imagination: Novels Testify to Their Era | LIST
Article
http://list.or.kr/node/956
Journal
list_Books from Korea
Issued Date
-
Page
-
Language
English(English)
Country
SOUTH KOREA
City
Seoul
Book
-
Writer
Hwang Sok-yong , Choi In-hun , Yi Chong-Jun , Cho Sehee

About the Author

Hwang Sok-yong
  • Hwang Sok-yong
  • Birth : 1943 ~ -
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : Sok-yong
  • Family Name : Hwang
  • Korean Name : 황석영
  • ISNI : 0000000121322250
  • Works : 135
Descriptions - 1 Languages
  • English(English)

Society & The Imagination: Novels Testify to Their Era   By Jeong Young-hoon on Nov 09 2014 23:16:53 Special Edition 2011 Japanese literary critic Karatani Kojin once talked of the death of modern literature. Although literature used to deal with matters that politicians couldn't handle, he claimed that in the current era, modern literature had given up this role, thereby signaling its own demise. An interesting fact is that Karatani held up Korea as evidence of this decline. In reality, South Korean writers exposed various contradictions facing society, focusing their efforts on portraying the people's difficulties in navigating a paradoxical society. They accomplished many achievements big and small in visualizing these struggles. It is no exaggeration to say that the power of social visualization played a dominant role in the work of Korean writers. Due to this influence, we can see the various detailed facets of life from historical periods portrayed in fiction. On the other hand, to achieve a better understanding of Korean novels, one sometimes has to be informed about the social, political, and historical currents prevalent in Korean history. Choi In-hun's novel The Square covers the period immediately after Korean liberation to the beginning of the armistice ending the Korean War in 1953. The protagonist is Lee Myong-jun, a college student in the South who is persecuted for having a father in the North. He returns home and participates in the Korean War on the side of the North. Lee is captured and after the armistice chooses to live in a third country. On his way to a new land, he flings himself into the sea.

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