People do not understand each other based on birthplace and bloodline anymore. Rather, people can see clearer boundaries when they define each other via cultural and economic lines. Novelists are also the same. The author can be explained through his or her imagination, but that imagination is placed within the cultural boundaries that form a person’s life. Chung So-Sung is a part of the group that has been culturally influenced within the boundaries of French literature, which is rare in Korean literature, but still has considerable impact. Chung So-Sung, with a background as a graduate of Seoul National University’s French literature studies along with Yi In-seong and Choi Suchol, is a writer who has written novels that discuss the ideological problems and the loss of humanity from the reality of a divided country, as well as the resulting violence and oppression.
1. Life
Chung So-Sung was born in Bonghwa, Gyeongsangbuk-do in 1944. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French literature from Seoul National University. He then received his doctorate in French literature from the University of Grenoble III in France. From 1985 until 2009 he was the French literature professor at Dankook University’s college of liberal arts. In 1977, when Chung So-Sung was the French literature professor at Chonnam University’s college of education, he made his literary debut with the publication of his story “Jilju” (질주 Rush) in Hyundae Munhak. Toward the end of his study abroad in France, he published the novel “Cheonnyeoneul naerineun nun” (천년을 내리는 눈 The Snow of Thousand Years) in 1983. After he published “Atene ganeun bae” (아테네 가는 배 The Ship Bound for Athens) in early 1985, he won the Dongin Literary Award. Hwang Sun-Won, who was the judge for the award, has said the following of the story: “It is a great harvest to have gotten this work, which allowed us to profoundly reaffirm the pain of our division to the world.”
Until now, Chung So-Sung has published 5 short story collections including “Tteugeo-un gang” (뜨거운 강 The Hot River), and has published 14 novels including “Yeojaui seong” (여자의 성 The Sex of Women), “Daedongyeojido” (대동여지도 Daedongyeojido, 5 Volumes), “Taeyangin” (태양인 The Sun People, 2 Volumes), “Du anae” (두 아내 Two Wives), and “Seolhyang” (설향). He strived to depict life’s experiences, and he has shown a style of trying to approach the meaning of life in history through characters in his works. In the same year he was awarded the Dongin Literary Award, he also won the Yun Dongju Literature Award. In recognition of his passionate career, he was awarded the Bonghwa Artist Award in 2015 from his hometown Bonghwa.
2. Writing
The work that best shows Chung So-Sung’s literary style is certainly Atene ganeun bae” (아테네 가는 배 The Ship Bound for Athens). The novella Atene ganeun bae” (아테네 가는 배 The Ship Bound for Athens), which won the 17th Dongin Literary Award, is a unique and distinguished work of fiction that is written about the historical reality of the division of Korea in the theme of the mystification and the sense of fate around pain. It cleverly compares the division of Korea to Greek mythology.
