America is a unique country founded upon immigration and the vision of its Founding Fathers. Thus, scholars of American studies often note that America was more of an idea than a conventional nation when it was established in 1776. It is only natural, therefore, that a recurring theme in US literature is the question, “What is America?”
In his insightful book, "Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America," Thomas C. Foster explored how great literary works have played a crucial role in forming the American ethos and mythos. Although Korea is different from the US, Korean writers, too, have produced seminal literary works that have shaped their nation.
In his novel, "The Heartless," Yi Kwang-su portrayed a young Korean man who defiantly denounces a pre-modern Confucian past and boldly adopts a modern consciousness. Through his anguish and struggles, “The Heartless” enlightened the Korean public during a tumultuous era, helping them find a path to overcome colonial subjugation. Han Yong-un’s celebrated poem, “The Silence of Love,” also superbly delineated the Korean people’s sorrow of losing their sovereignty in the early 20th century.
Similarly, Yi Sang’s “Wings” brilliantly depicted the predicament of a Korean intellectual who felt bored, lost, and hopelessly reduced to a "stuffed specimen" under colonial rule. At the story's climax, the protagonist awakens from his forced slumber, escapes his stifling environment, and attempts to spread his wings atop a tall building to fly away from a nightmarish reality. “Wings” profoundly stirred the Korean psyche and spirit during the colonial period.
Other works captured deep-seated uniquely Korean sentiments. Yi Hyo-seok’s “The Buckwheat Season” revealed a Korean worldview centered on the cycle of life, symbolized by motifs such as the moon, a watermill, and a father’s reunion with his estranged son. Kim So-wol’s beloved poem, “Azaleas,” also shaped Korea by splendidly rendering the subtle, intricate grief and longing of the Korean people through heightened poetic sensitivity. Similarly influential was Seo Jeong-ju’s frequently recited poem, “Beside a Chrysanthemum.”
As Korea modernized, literature documented its spiritual shifts. Kim Dong-ri’s short story, “Portrait of a Shaman,” described a transitional society where shamanism, Korea’s indigenous spirituality, was rapidly supplanted by Western Christianity. Hwang Sun-won’s “Rain Shower” also illuminated the period of Westernization following the Korean War. In this context, the brief, platonic romance between a pure-hearted country boy and an exuberant but dying girl from a fallen family serves as a poignant symbol of nostalgia for a vanishing traditional culture.
Political and historical upheavals provided further material for national self-reflection. Jeon Gwang-yong’s “Kapitan Lee” chronicled the turbulent life of Dr. Lee In-gook, who navigated major historical disruptions of Korea, including the Japanese occupation, Russian military rule in the North, and the US military government in the South. Dr. Lee not only survives but thrives within the geopolitical whirlpool of the Korean Peninsula due to his resilience and adaptability.
On a grander scale, Pak Kyong-ni’s roman-fleuve, "The Land," delineated the lives of those dispossessed by domestic and international conflicts. Land suggested that humanity prevails over adversity, and that lost ground can be reclaimed through endurance, determination, and spiritual awakening.
Literary works dealing directly with the Korean War also left an indelible mark on the nation's identity. In Choi In-hun’s novel, "The Square," the protagonist becomes disillusioned by both North Korea’s closed society and South Korea’s compromised public square, ultimately choosing to sail to a neutral third country. Hwang Sok-yong’s novel, "The Guest," exposed how two uninvited foreign guests — Marxism and Christianity — divided and devastated the Korean people during the war.
Post-war literature pivoted toward political resistance and the costs of rapid modernization. Kim Su-yeong’s poem, “Blue Sky,” embodied the dauntless Korean spirit immediately following the April 19 Student Revolution, while Kim Chi-ha’s satirical poem, “Five Bandits,” poignantly criticized the May 16 military coup and the subsequent dictatorship that crushed those democratic ideals.
Meanwhile, Kim Seung-ok’s “Seoul: Winter 1964” brilliantly portrayed the dehumanizing, barren social landscape of the mid-1960s, a period when Korea was swiftly and ruthlessly industrialized. In "A Dwarf Launches a Little Ball," Cho Se-hui utilized allegory to illustrate the frustrations of marginalized individuals victimized by the relentless industrialization of the 1970s. Yun Heung-gil’s "The Man Who Was Left with Nine Pairs of Shoes" similarly offers a portrait of a poor but proud man alienated by inhumane urban development. Transitioning to political allegory, Yi Mun-yeol’s novel, "Our Twisted Hero," exposed Korea’s political predicament by using a classroom as a microcosm of society under a military dictatorship.
Finally, literary criticism, too, played an equally vital role in Korea’s intellectual formation. Lee O-young’s seminal book, "In This Earth, In That Wind," opened the eyes of young Koreans in the 1960s by analyzing unique Korean lifestyles and mindsets through the lens of Western culture. In the 1970s, Kim Uchang’s "Poets in a Destitute Time" expanded the intellectual horizons of the Korean people, encouraging a global mindset that transcended rigid dichotomies and binary oppositions.
By reading these monumental literary works that have shaped the nation, one can ultimately discern a profound answer to the question, “What is Korea?”
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Kim Seong-kon
Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer's own. — Ed
khnews@heraldcorp.com
