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English(English) Article

Land : A Classic Korean Novel | LIST

About the Article

Article
http://list.or.kr/node/1052
Journal
list_Books from Korea
Issued Date
-
Page
-
Language
English(English)
Country
SOUTH KOREA
City
Seoul
Book
Land
Writer
Pak Kyongni
Translator
Agnita M. Tennant

About the Author

  • Pak Kyongni
  • Birth : 1926 ~ 2008
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : Kyongni
  • Family Name : Pak
  • Korean Name : 박경리
  • ISNI : 0000000081196148
  • Works : 59
Descriptions - 1 Languages
  • English(English)

Land : A Classic Korean Novel   By Lee Seungha on Nov 15 2014 21:18:31 Vol.24 Summer 2014 The novel begins at the end of the 19th century during the autumn festival in 1897 when King Gojong was crowned emperor and the name of the country changed from Joseon to the Korean Empire; it ends on August 15, 1945, the day Korea was liberated from Japan. In other words, it is a historical novel that contains the 50 years of modern Korean history and at the same time a micro-history of the everyday lives of the people. It is similar to Balzac’s The Human Comedy or Zola’s Les Rougon-Macquart in that many intellectuals and farmers appear, and the scale of Land is reminiscent of Martin du Gard’s Les Thibault and Sholokhov’s And Quiet Flows the Don. In Pyeongsa-ri, Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do Province lives Deputy Minister Ch’oe who has been a wealthy landowner for five generations, his servants, and the villagers who are tenant farmers on his land. The only descendant of the Ch’oe family, a young girl named Sŏhui, is raised by her strict but loving grandmother and her father whom she fears. Kuch’ŏn, the new errand boy, seems troubled by secrets. Kuch’ŏn’s real name is Hwan, the son of Lady Yun who is the spiritual pillar of the Ch’oe family. Lady Yun lost her husband at a young age and gives birth to Hwan after a man rapes her. This man later goes on to incite a rebellion and is executed. Also involved in his father’s rebellion, Hwan assumes an alias and hides in the Ch’oe family house. Tormented by the secret of his birth and his love for Byeoldang Lady, the wife of his half-brother Ch’oe Ch’isu, Hwan elopes with her deep into the Jirisan Mountains.

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