Shin Kyeong-nim (born 1936) is a South Korean poet.
1. Life
Shin Kyeong-nim was born on April 6, 1936, in North Chungcheong Province. When he was young, Shin frequented the people of Korea's rural villages and collected the traditional songs they sang. Much of his poetry represents a modernization of things he heard then. Shin graduated with a degree in English Literature from Dongguk University, from which time he strove to become a creative writer.
In 1955 and 1956, he made his formal literary debut with the publication of the poems "Natdal" (낮달 Day Moon), "Galdae" (갈대 Reeds) and "Seoksang" (석상 Statue of Stone) in the literary journal Munhak Yesul. He taught elementary school in his hometown for a period of time, before moving to Seoul to work as an editor for Hyundae Munhak and Donghwa Publishers. But his strong desire to create poetry continued.
Shin is the recipient of the inaugural Manhae Prize for Literature (1974), for Nongmu (농무 Farmers' Dance); the Korean Author's Literature Prize (1981), the Isan Literature Prize (1990), and the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts (2009).
2. Writing
Shin, widely known as a poet of the people, has literally spent decades writing verse on basically one subject: the life and people of Korean farming villages. He first came to critical fame with Farmers’ Dance, which consists of a series of realistic portraits of Korean farmers and migrant laborers in the actual conditions of their life—suffering and impoverishment brought on by rapid industrialization. The poetic voice remains highly physical; unlike earlier poets whose attempt to capture the farming village resulted in a landscape poem or a pastoral, Sin’s farming village is, first and foremost, the site of life. Filled with narrative elements—concise but highly accurate descriptions of farmer’s lives and perceptive observations that capture their ways of thought—Farmer’s Dance imparts a robust sense of reality. Suggested in Shin’s poetry is the feeling of communal solidarity shared by the classes that have been alienated by the process of industrialization.
Another significant aspect of Shin’s poetry is its combination of elements of modern poetry with rhythms from traditional Korean folksong. Taking an active part in the folksong revival movement, Shin produced such collections as Saejae (새재 The Pass) and Dal neomse (달 넘세 Let’s Cross Over the Moon). Not simply attempting to recreate the tonal quality found in folksongs or replicate their rhythmic structure, these poems seek to capture the indomitable spirit of the folk life contained within the form. The vivacious meter of folksong rhythms in Shin’s poetry reveal the vitality and resilience that pervade common people’s experiences of and responses to life. Thus, his use of folksong elements is not simply a matter of form, but of spirit.
Shin Kyeong-nim’s dual interests, in peasant life and the rhythms of folksongs, converge in Namhangang (남한강 Southern Han River), a poem of epic scale in which he deals with the common life and vision of the people. Reviving native words or local expressions no longer in use and incorporating folksong rhythms, he captures the verve of communal experience and spirit. Thus the main features characterizing Shin’s poetry might be summarized as follows: a vivid representation of the life of Korean farmers and laborers, deeply rooted in factuality of experience, combined with the spirit and rhythm of traditional Korean folksongs resulting in a poeticization of the language of the common people. [1]
Reference
[1] Yi, Nam-Ho, et al. Twentieth Century Korean Literature. Eastbridge Books, An Imprint Of Camphor Press, 2005. p.59-60
