Hwang Tong-gyu (born April 9, 1938) is a South Korean poet, academic and critic.
1. Life
Hwang Tong-gyu was born in Seoul. He received a degree in English literature from Seoul National University, where he also completed his graduate studies. He made his debut with the publication of ` Si-wol” (시월 October) and ` Jeulgeo-un pyeonji” (즐거운 편지 A Letter of Delight) in the journal Hyundae Munhak. Hwang Tong-gyu is currently a professor of English literature at Seoul National University, and has received several Korean literary prizes.
2. Writing
The early poetry of Hwang Tong-gyu illustrates a sense of longing and anticipation through portrayal of melancholic interior landscapes, as seen in `October` and `A Letter of Delight.` His `Biga` (비가 Elegy) is written in the language of a wanderer or outcast in order to illustrate the conflict between the ego and reality. This particular work marks the poet`s first foray away from the abstraction of his earlier work into an exploration of concrete reality. In discarding his prior detachment from reality, the poet takes as subject the suffering of people living tragic lives. His works `Taepyeongga` (태평가 The Song of Peace), `Samname naelinun nun` (삼남에 내리는 눈 Snow Falling on the Three Southern Provinces), and `Yeolha-ilgi` (열하일기 Yeolha Diary) exemplify the use of irony in the poet`s narrative voice. Hwang Tong-gyu’s diction and general poetic aesthetic evolved continuously throughout his literary career. Oftentimes, the poet strips images to their bare, essential core, and employs a terse and unalloyed prose style. This poetic transformation suggests the poet’s attempt to revolutionize the traditional prosody into a general/ conventional, realistic form. While the poet meditates upon death by describing a will to tame it in `Pungjang` (풍장Wind Burial), his poetic language is more flexible in `Gyeondil su eobsi gabyeoun jonjaedeul` (견딜 수 없이 가벼운 존재들 The Intolerable Lightness of Being).
