Haïlji (born 1955) is a modern South Korean writer.
1. Life
Haïlji was born in 1955 and graduated from Chung-Ang University with a degree in creative writing. He then taught high school until 1983, when he left South Korea for France. In France he earned an M.A. from Poitiers University and a Ph.D. from University of Limoges. He returned to South Korea in 1989. His career as an author began with the publication of his controversial novel, Gyeongmajang ganeun gil (경마장 가는 길 The Road to the Racetrack) in 1990. Many of his works have been made into movies or plays, including director Jang Sun-woo's adaptation of The Road to the Racetrack. As such, Ha is also credited as an important contributor to the development of modern Korean cinema.
2. Writing
Haïlji's first book, Gyeongmajang ganeun gil, brought him immediate fame as well as a share of notoriety. The novel centers on an intellectual who has just returned from France and portrays the gradual crumbling of his world—both internal and external—as he struggles with the hypocritical standards and conservative values of Korean society.
In the next three years, Haïlji published four novels—Gyeongmajangeun negeorieseo (경마장은 네거리에서 Racetrack at the Crossroads), Gyeongmajangeul wihayeo (경마장을 위하여 For Racetracks), Gyeongmajangui orinamu (경마장의 오리나무 An Alder Tree at the Racetracks), and Gyeongmajangeseo saenggin il (경마장에서 생긴 일 What Happened at the Racetracks)—all of which shocked the Korean literary world with their unique and innovative approach towards contradictions in life. Critical assessment of his works swung from one extreme to another, and Haïlji became embroiled in a series of debates with conservative literary critics—now widely known as the "Racetrack Controversy." His subsequent works, such as Jinsul (진술 The Testimony) or Ujupiseu gonghwaguk (우주피스 공화국 The Republic of Užupis) are characterized by a fantastic or dreamy atmosphere and have helped to secure him a readership of avid admirers. In 1993, he published a ciné-roman entitled Mano kabinaui chueok (마노 카비나의 추억 Mano Cabina Remembered).
Haïlji is also active as a poet, writing not only in his native Korean but also in English and French. A volume of his English poems, Blue Meditation of the Clocks, was published in the U.S. in 1994, and his French poems were published in Paris under the title Les Hirondelles dans mon tiroir in 2003. He may be the only writer in Korea who has written and published his works in many different languages.
