Jeong Yi Hyun has authored four novels, four short story collections, and three essay collections. Her first novel, Sweet City of Mine (2006), excerpted here, was adapted into the TV series My Sweet Seoul. Her novel Foundation of Love: A Couple’s Story (2013) was part of a two-volume series exploring issues of love, marriage, and family, with Alain de Botton writing the second part. She has received the Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award and Hyundae Literary Award. Her books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Thai.
1. Life
Jeong Yi Hyun was born in Seoul in 1972. She studied political science and gender studies at Sungshin Women`s University and creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Jeong began her literary career in 2002, winning the New Writer`s Award from Literature and Society for her short story `Nangmanjeong saranggwa sahoe` (낭만적 사랑과 사회 Romantic Love and Society). She has since authored four novels, four short story collections, and three essay collections. Jeong`s first novel, Dalkomhan nauidosi (달콤한 나의도시 Sweet City of Mine) is considered to be the beginning of her fame. Regarded as igniting the chick lit boom in South Korea, it was adapted into the TV series My Sweet Seoul. Her novel Sarangui gicho: yeonindeul (사랑의 기초-연인들 Foundation of Love: A Couple’s Story) was part of a two-volume series exploring issues of love, marriage, and family, with Alain de Botton writing the second part. Jeong is the recipient of the the Lee Hyoseok Literary Award for her short story `Tainui godok` (타인의 고독 The Loneliness of Others) and the Hyundae Munhak Literary Award for `Sampungbaekwajeom` (삼풍백화점 Sampoong Department Store).
2. Writing
In contrast to the Korean literary tradition of focusing on the marginalized and dispossessed, Jeong Yi Hyun`s work depicts the dating, marriage, career lives, desires and conflicts of urban women. Her works are frequently set in the wealthy Seoul neighborhood of Gangnam, with snappy, upbeat descriptions. Jeong chooses to handle this reality through “politics of masquerade” in the Baudrillardian sense. Jeong’s characters happen to be young women with office jobs who are blatantly well-adjusted to the system. They are vicious and not ashamed of their desires to climb the socioeconomic ladder. `Nangmanjeong saranggwa sahoe,` the author`s debut work, borrows its title from Jacqueline Sarsby`s Romantic Love and Society. Jeong recounts about writing the story: `In grad school I did some research on the sexual experiences of unmarried women in their 20s. At the time a lot of research on women’s sexuality and the body was being published. My story was a kind of experiment combining social science case studies with literature. Even though it was published [20] years ago, I still meet women in their 20s who express their shock at reading it. I am intrigued that there are still people who find it radical. Since it means that the reality faced by 20-something women has hardly changed, I hope that ceases to be the case.`[1] Regarding her most well-known work, Dalkomhan nauidosi, whose television adaptation My Sweet Seoul is credited with the chick lit boom in South Korea, Jeong says: `I’m not sure about that, as chick lit has a set pattern. Chick lit always ends with the triumph of a female character; she undergoes a great deal of trouble but in the end she achieves success in both love and career. In that sense, My Sweet Seoul might be anti-chick lit. The story I wanted to tell did not lie within or outside established institutions. Rather, it was about the character—a kind of coming-of-age story that begins with the character at the starting line and ends with her still there.` [1]
Reference
[1] Korea Literature Now. Vol.16, Summer 2012. https://www.kln.or.kr/frames/interviewsView.do?bbsIdx=517
