Jeon Kwangyong (全光鏞, 1919-1988) was a South Korean novelist and scholar of Korean literature. Known as “the author who wrote with his feet”[1] thanks to his habit of personally visiting settings to do research for his writing, Jeon made use of short, unemotional sentence compositions in his work. He began his literary career in 1955 when he won the Chosun Ilbo New Writer’s Contest with the short story “Heuksando” (흑산도 Heuksando Island). His representative works include “Kkeoppittan Ri” (꺼삐딴 리 Kapitan Ri) (1962).[2] Jeon was the recipient of the Dongin Literary Award and the Sasanggye Research Prize.
1. Life
Jeon Kwangyong was born in Bukcheong, South Hamgyeong Province, in 1918. He attended Bukcheong Public Agricultural School and Gyeongseong Economic Vocational School before being accepted to the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Seoul National University in 1947. He completed the master’s and doctorate programs at the same university, and received his PhD in Korean Literature in 1973. Jeon served as an instructor at Sookmyung Girls’ High School and Duksung Women’s University before being hired as a professor at Seoul National University’s Department of Korean Language and Literature as a professor in 1955. He retired in 1984.
Jeon’s writing career officially began in 1955 when he won the Chosun Ilbo New Writer’s Contest with “Heuksando,”[3] but he had already made his literary debut in 1939, when his children’s story “Byeolnara gongjuwa tokki” (별나라 공주와 토끼 The Princess from the Stars and the Rabbit). He had continued his literary activities in independent literary publications such as Sitap and Jumak alongside fellow writers Jung Hanmo and Jung Hansuk starting in 1947, and in 1949, he had published the short story “Amnokgang” (압록강 The Amnok River) on the Seoul National University campus paper.[4]
From the beginning of his career as a writer in 1955 to his serialization of Jeolmeun soyongdori (젊은 소용돌이 Youthful Whirlpool) in Hyundae Munhak, Jeon published over 30 short stories and four full-length novels. His early works vividly depict the hypocrisies of postwar South Korea and dark realities of the human condition, while Jeon’s novels reflect a critical perspective on the frailty, hypocrisy, and the confusing of values of intellectuals in South Korea during the tumultuous era of the April Revolution and the May 16 Coup. In the 1970s, however, Jeon’s passion for fiction dimmed. He published only a few autobiographical books centering on nostalgia for his hometown in North Korea and his mother.[5]
In addition to his career as a writer, Jeon Kwangyong was a scholar of Korean literature. He spent his academic career at his alma mater of Seoul National University on sinsoseol research, which ultimately led to the establishment of a structured history of contemporary Korean literature. His research paper “Seoljungmae” (雪中梅 Plum Flower in the Snow) earned him the Sasanggye Research Prize in 1956.[6]
Jeon died of a chronic condition on June 21, 2988. Prior to his death, he served as the representative of the Association of Korean Novelists, chair of the Korean Comparative Literature Association, vice-president of the Korean Centre of PEN International, director of the Society of Korean Language and Literature, and the chair of the Society of Korean Language and Literature.
2. Writing
Literary debut and career
Most of Jeon Kwangyong’s stories focus on the pursuit of truth about life and reality, with the themes expressed via strict ethical values. Human lives are depicted from a detached perspective, highlighting Jeon’s critical outlook on reality.[7]
Jeon’s debut work, “Heuksando,” is based on his excursion to Heuksando Island in September of 1954, which was led by Seoul National University and the National Museum of Korea. The story is based on the lives of the fishing community and its members on the island. Other works by Jeon are similarly based on personal experience. His short stories “Donghyeolingan” (동혈인간 Cold-Blooded People) (1956), “Jicheung” (지층 Stratum) (1958), “G.M.C.” (G.M.C.) (1959), “Sasu” (사수 Gunner) (1959), and “Crown Jang” (크라운장 Crown Jang) (1959) are detailed depictions of the hypocrisies of postwar South Korea and the dark side of humanity. In the 1960s, he published the short stories “Chungmaehwa” (충매화 Entomophily) (1960), “Chohongok” (초혼곡 Lamentation) (1960), “Kapitan Ri,” and “Jugeumui jase” (죽음의 자세 Attitude of Death) (1963), and the full-length novels Taebaeksanmaek (태백산맥 The Taebaek Mountain Range) (1963), Nasin (나신 Nakedness) (1963), Jeolmeun soyongdori (1966), and Changgwa byeok (창과 벽 Windows and Walls) (1967).
Kapitan Ri
Jeon’s most famous work, Kapitan Ri centers on the silver-tongued doctor Lee Inguk, who goes through the chaos of the Japanese occupation, liberation, and the Korean War and lives only for himself. During the occupation, he is a firm supporter of the Japanese, but immediately changes allegiances to Russia following the liberation of Korea. He quickly learns Russian and happens to treat a Russian officer and gains his favor. However, during the Third Battle of Seoul in the Korean War, Lee again changes allegiances and sides with the US forces. With his fluent English skills, he goes to the US Embassy and negotiates to receive an invitation to the Department of State. Before authority, Lee Inguk is a crafty opportunist and a hypocritical individualist, a chameleon of a man who follows the flow of power to enjoy the best of what the era offers. The prose is largely objective in nature and emotionlessly paints a portrait of the protagonist as one of many faces that can be found in Korean society. At the same time, the novel is an accusation against the slavish life of groveling that Lee Inguk lives, and uses his story to draw readers’ attention to the tragic backdrop of modern Korean history.
Later works
In the 1970s, Jeon’s detached observation and strict ethical values faltered rapidly. His journey to Seoul in 1947 was the final time he saw his family, and his longing for his mother and hometown remained with Jeon his entire life. Jeon poured out his nostalgia into fiction form with the short story “Mokdanganghaeng yeolcha” (목단강행 열차 The Train to Mokdangang River), the representative work of his later career and one of many Korean literary works that express the pain of those separated by the division of the peninsula.
Reference
[1] Lee, Hyeong-gi, “The Theory of Jeon Kwangyong: The Perspective of Protecting Humanity,” Collection of Contemporary Korean Literature 5, Shingu, 1968.
[2] Encyclopedia of Contemporary Korean Literature, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=335470&cid=41708&categoryId=41737.
[3] Encyclopedia of Contemporary Korean Literature, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=335470&cid=41708&categoryId=41737.
[4] “Author Timeline,” Jeon Kwangyong munhakjeonjip 1: Kapitan Ri and Others, Taehagsa, 2011.
[5] Encyclopedia of Contemporary Korean Literature, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=335470&cid=41708&categoryId=41737.
[6] Encyclopedia of Contemporary Korean Literature, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=335470&cid=41708&categoryId=41737.
[7] Kim, Jong-uk, “An Encounter with Death and the Ethics of Life,” Kapitan Ri, Moonji, 2012.
