PAK TU-JIN / 박두진 / 2005 / KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Complete Collection > Library > Complete Collection (individual)

Pak Tu-jin is one of Korea's most revered and influential modern poets. This Pak Tu-jin helped free modern Korean literature in the 1940s from its preoccupation with decadence and fashionable literary trends, finding a new voice rooted in nature and Korean traditions. Pak also represents Christian faith and original philosophical reflection in the development of modern Korean culture and he writes poignantly of his own spiritual struggles. He stood courageously, and at great cost, for freedom and human rights during the long years of military dictatorship in recent Korean history, and the strength of his convictions brings vitality and power to his works.Pak's aesthetic is distinctly Korean while his voice echoes legends and traditions from aspects of many Western and other Asian cultures. His poems of social comment and protest draw the reader into a turmoil of malevolent political and cultural conflict contraposed by his love poems and lyric verses where his great heart exults in the sheer joy of life. His poetry illuminates the themes forming modern Korean consciousness and the hearts of the ordinary people engaged in the extraordinary struggles and relationships of Korean life.