1. home
  2. Books
  3. Original Works

Original Works

We provide information on Korean literature titles (classical, modern and contemporary) in multiple languages.

Printed/Published Work Korean(한국어)

지상에 숟가락 하나

지상에 숟가락 하나
Original Title
지상에 숟가락 하나
Title Romanization
Jisange sutgarang hana
Title Sub
현기영 장편소설
English Title(Printed)
One Spoon on This Earth
Classification

KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 20th century > 1945-1999

Author
Hyun Ki Young
Co-Author
-
Published Year
1999
Publisher
실천문학
ISBN
893920347X
Main Characters
The narrator, his father, his mother, his grandmother, his grandfather
Subject/Theme
Modern and contemporary history of Jeju Island; life of Jeju people
Hyun Ki Young
  • Hyun Ki Young
  • Birth : 1941 ~ Unknown
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : Ki Young
  • Family Name : Hyun
  • Korean Name : 현기영
  • ISNI : 0000000083299300
  • Works : 10
Plot

At his father’s deathbed, the novel’s narrator recalls the past. Owing to his parents’ acrimonious relationship, he lives with his grandparents as a child, lonely and tearful. Eventually, he moves with his mother to the local town, where they live in poverty. Shortly thereafter, the Jeju uprising takes place, and the village is burned down, leaving survivors to live in fear. For several years, he does not go to school because of the war. In middle school, he hears that his father has started a new family, and much later he returns, having failed in his business ventures, even losing his home. He comes to hate his father, and towards the end of high school, he manages to obtain an apology from his father.

Descriptions(Languages 2)
  • Korean(한국어)
  • English(English)

1994년부터 1996년까지 <실천문학>에 연재되었던 현기영의 장편 연작 소설이다. 100편의 에피소드 들을 수필처럼 이어놓은 형식을 취하고 있다. 이 작품은 작가 자신의 기억 속에서 제주 사람들의 삶과 역사, 문화, 풍속들을 재현한다. '나'를 키워낸 환경들, 사람들, 역사들을 통해 지역 공동체의 삶을 보여줄 뿐만 아니라, 제주 4.3사건, 6.25 전쟁과 같은 사건들로 인해 파괴되는 공동체적 재앙까지 형상화하고 있다.

Originally serialized in Practical Literature from 1994 to 1996, One Spoon on This Earth by Hyun Ki-young takes the form of a series of 100 essay-like episodes. This novel depicts the life, history, culture, and customs of the Jeju people as the author himself remembers them. An autobiographical record of the everyday life of the local community, it portrays its inhabitants, and the environments and histories that nurtured the author, as well as the calamitous events that destroyed it, such as the Jeju uprising and the Korean War.

Translated Books3

  • 地上に匙ひとつ
    Japanese(日本語) Available
    地上に匙ひとつ
    Hyun Ki Young et al / 玄基栄 / 2002 / KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 20th century > 1945-1999
  • La cuchara en la tierra
    Spanish(Español) Funded by LTI Korea Available
    La cuchara en la tierra
    Hyun Ki Young et al / Hyun Ki-young / 2005 / KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 20th century > 1945-1999
  • One Spoon on This Earth
    English(English) Funded by LTI Korea Available
    One Spoon on This Earth
    Hyun Ki Young / Hyun Ki Young / 2013 / KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 20th century > 1945-1999

Related Resources1

Return to list