Seo Jeong-in (born 1936) is a South Korean writer.
1. Life
Seo Jeong-in was born in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province. He obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in English literature from Seoul National University, and his Ph.D from Chonnam National University, specializing in Ezra Pound. Seo made his literary debut in 1962 with his short story "Husong" (후송 Evacuation), which won the Sasanggye New Writer's Prize. He continued to write and publish fiction while pursuing his studies in the US in the 1970s, as a research fellow at Harvard University and then at the University of Tulsa as a Fulbright scholar. In 1987 he became a professor of English literature at Chonbuk National University, where he remained until his retirement in 2002. Seo has authored over a dozen works of fiction, including the experimental Dalgung (달궁 Moon Bow) series.
2. Writing
Seo Jeong-in emerged in the literary scene of the 1960s. Seo uses his fiction for social critique, sometimes experimenting with formal genres to show the shoddy basis of modern life. He debuted with "Husong," a story revolving around existential angst towards the military and the medical condition Meniere's syndrome. In "Miro" (미로 Labyrinth), he depicts how free exploration of paths in life can become closed down. These early works are heavily existential, and focus on issues of human existence within the confines of coarse daily life. The best work of his classical phase, when he was consciously working on the formal aesthetics of the short story, is "Gang" (강 A River). This story recounts the predictable beats of a pointless and lonely life in a world that denies the dream of beauty.
His novel Dalgung (1987-1990) weaves together a series of interlinked stories. Seo’s unique style is central to examining his work, and that style is characterized by an ironic affinity for wordplay, anadiplosis, and anastrophe. The objective of this style is to dismantle the identification of ideas and reality. This in turn results from a tireless examination of reality and language. The book is divided into 300 sections that defy any attempt to summarize the plot, as all the characters appear in episodes of equal weight. In what may be called the confessions of a woman orphaned by the Korean War, the characters spend years wandering and repeating the process of escapes and returns. Their vivid exploits and realistic conversations make up most of the novel, in which through myriad relationships, Seo captures the tragic irony inherent to human life and society. The narrator’s remarkable self-perception and reserved, intelligent gaze discourages casual judgment. The aesthetic strength of this novel rests on its refusal to sacrifice any object or character to a dominant value or gaze. [1]
Reference
[1] Korean Literature Now. Special Edition, 2011. https://kln.or.kr/strings/tklView.do?bbsIdx=1517
