Yi Mun-yol (born 1948) is a South Korean novelist.
1. Life
Yi Mun-yol was born in Seoul and attended Seoul National University, studying Korean language education, but did not graduate. He made his debut as a writer in 1977, publishing the short story "Najarereul asimnikka" (나자레를 아십니까 Do You Know Nazareth?) in the Maeil Sinmun. From 1994 to 1997, he taught Korean literature at Sejong University. Since 1999, he has served as the head of Buak Literary Center. In 1999, he was awarded the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts. Yi was also a visiting scholar at the Korea Institute, Harvard University.
Yi is the author of over thirty best-selling books including Saehagok (새하곡 Song of the Front), Urideurui ilgeureojin yeongung (우리들의 일그러진 영웅 Our Twisted Hero), Siin (시인 The Poet), Auwaui mannam (아우와의 만남 An Appointment with My Brother), and, most recently, Jugeo cheonnyeoneul sallira (죽어 천년을 살리라 I'll Live a Thousand Years in Death). His early life was marred by discrimination after his father defected to the North during the Korean War. The main theme in his writing is the abuse of political power and its effect on the morality and consciousness of the Korean people, often drawing from his extensive autobiographical materials. The recipient of Korea’s highest literary prizes, Yi has been published in over 20 countries including the U.S., France, Great Britain and Germany; over 60 titles of his translated works are available.
2. Writing
Yi Mun-yol is, first and foremost, a consummate storyteller of exceptional range, wit, and intellectual depth capable of both entertaining and enlightening his readers. Yi's works largely fall into two categories. The first, taking an allegorical view of Korean society, traces the ways in which various lives are shaped and governed by dominant ideology and power. This is manifested as the tension between authoritarianism and liberalism in Our Twisted Hero, and between traditionalism and modernism in Geumsijo (금시조 The Golden Phoenix) and "Sarajin geotdeureul wihayeo" (사라진 것들을 위하여 The Old Hatter). The second category focuses on Yi's internal world, fictionalizing his experience of growing up and the process by which his worldview was formed, exemplified by his epic novel Byeongyeong (변경 Border) and the short story "Appointment with My Brother." Finally, there is his interest in aestheticism, in his novels focusing on poetry and art.
Saramui adeul (사람의 아들 Son of Man), the work that catapulted Yi to critical and popular acclaim, is an investigation of God from an existentialist point of view. Nam, a police detective, is put on a murder case. His investigation reveals that the victim, Min Yo-seop, was a seminary student who denounced Jesus Christ as a "false son of man," and instead created another, "true son of man" that resembles Nietzsche's Antichrist. Through Min's spiritual suffering and intellectual wounds, the novel provides a unique insight into the nature of salvation and human existence.
Our Twisted Hero, set in the latter part of the era of military dictatorial rule, brings us a microcosm of society as demonstrated in an elementary school classroom, which serves as a metaphor for Korean society at the time. In a coda to the story, although the protagonist had been the only student who made any attempt to challenge the bully, he cannot help but feel ashamed for the helplessness he felt in the face of authoritarian might, embodying the sense of helplessness and guilt that plagued intellectuals in the 1980s.
The Poet, a quintessential example of Yi's artist novels, is based on the life of legendary Korean poet Kim Pyong-yon, better known as Kim Sakkat for his trademark bamboo wicker hat. It traces the development of his artistic sensibility, the transformation of his desire for status and the will to acquire power in a society that has forced upon him the burden of his grandfather's guilt.
