Song Ki-Won
송기원
Song Ki-Won (1947) is a modern South Korean novelist and poet.
Life
Song Ki-Won was born in Boseong, South Jeolla Province. His father was a drunk and a gambler, and he was raised by his mother, a peddler, and his stepfather. The determination to overcome his "shameful" beginnings pushed Song to become a writer. He studied creative writing at Sorabol College of Arts. He made his debut winning multiple literary contests, including in 1974 when he caused a stir by winning the poetry category of the Dong-a Ilbo New Writer's Contest with his poem "Hoebokgiui norae" (회복기의 노래 Song of Recovery) as well as the fiction category of the JoongAng Ilbo contest with his story "Gyeongoe seongseo" (경외성서 Apocrypha).
Much of Song's work has been informed by personal tragedy, incuding the suicide of both his biological parents and the loss of his adult daughter to leukemia, as well as his rough-and-tumble upbringing and his struggle against Korea's military dictatorship, for which he was imprisoned four times. His published works include the short story collections Dasi wolmullieseo (다시 월문리에서 Again at Wolmulli), Saramui hyanggi (사람의 향기 The Scent of People), the novel Sum (숨 Breath), and the poetry collections Maeumsok bulgeun kkochip (마음속 붉은 꽃잎 Red Petals of My Heart) and Jeonyeok (저녁 Evening). He is the recipient of the Dong-in Literary Award, the Daesan Literary Award, and the Dong-ni Literary Award, among others.
Writing
The Wolmulli series of stories written at the beginning of Song Ki-Won's career affirms the vast distance between peasants and intellectuals and follows the process of discovering the wisdom hidden in the lives of the former. From the perspective of a first-person observer, the author portrays the social conditions of peasants and underscores labor as the mediating activity between man and nature. In doing so he confirms the power of land and explores the possibilities for a connection between intellectuals and peasants.
"Wolmullieseo 4" (월문리에서 4 At Wolmulli 4) contains a scene at its end in which an old man from North Korea, Cho Mandol, who displays no interest in politics even when the entire nation is clamoring about reuniting separated families, unexpectedly decides to go in search of his younger brother. This last scene is particularly impressive, in that it successfully captures the lives of the peasants and their hard-bred wisdom, both of which sustain themselves without break during the most turbulent of times. Song writes that their lives are "the hardest sort of earth, and an enormous and mysterious force in that earth which pushes upward to rise through the cracks it will make and the holes it will bore without regard for rock or the sharp edges of hoes or blades of shovels."
In "Dasi wolmullieseo," the conclusion of the Wolmulli series, the scene in which the protagonist, in prison, hears of his mother's death is repeatedly juxtaposed with the scene of his visit to her grave until the two are brought to an end with the protagonist's conviction that he 'will not live as easily as mother'. The protagonist's appreciation and understanding of his mother, and his own self-revelations at the end of the poem-cycle combine to produce a highly affecting and memorable piece.
Song's first novel, Neoege gama naege ora (너에게 가마 나에게 오라 Come to Me, I Will Gladly Go to You) is set in a marketplace and portrays the great pains of the common people in their search for love and hope. Although their lives are tainted by despair, insanity, and violence, the author convincingly portrays their corrupt behavior as arising not from a corrupt nature, but from their desolation. Song's lyrical style here is particularly effective in portraying their grotesque lives as possessing a shimmering, haunting beauty.
