Kim Joo-young (born 1939) is a South Korean writer of historical fiction.
1. Life
Kim was born in Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang Province. He studied creative writing at Seorabeol Arts College. After getting married in 1963, he began to work for a tobacco producer. The same year, his father died, and so did his brother in military service. He continued his job until 1970, when he quit to pursue his writing. Kim`s first story, `Yeoreum sanyang` (여름사냥 Summer Hunting) won honorable mention in Monthly Literature in 1970, and `Hyumyeongi` (휴면기 A Period of Dormancy) won its New Writer`s Award in 1971. His first short story collection, Yeojareul chatseumnida (여자를 찾습니다 Looking for a Woman), was published in 1975. To collect the materials needed for his epic Gaekju (객주 The Innkeeper), Kim traveled around the country in 1979. After the novel`s runway success, he went on to publish more historical fiction such as Hwalbindang (활빈당 Righteous Band of Brigands), Hwajeok (화적 The Wanderers), and Yajeong (야정 Man of the Field). Kim continued writing in the 2000s, publishing autobiographical novels such as Myeolchi (멸치 Anchovies, Binjip (빈집 Vacant House), and Jalgayo eomma (잘 가요 엄마, Goodbye, Mom). He has received numerous literary awards, including the Korean Fiction Award, the Isan Literature Prize, the Dong-ni Literary Award, and the Manhae Literary Award.
2. Writing
Kim Joo-Young, for the quantity and quality of his work, its broad scope, and the many themes he has dealt with, is one of the most noteworthy figures in the history of Korean literature of the late 20th century. While he has published many works of diverse styles and subject matters within the space of half a century, it is his historical fictions that are the most important in his work. Kim`s work has brought the wandering lives of the common people into the realm of history, which reflects his essence as the so-called `writer on the road.` Throughout the 1970s, Kim wrote works driven by strong satirical impulse directed against results of modernization in Korea. In many of these vignettes, the snobbery of urban people are contrasted with wholesome humanity of country-folk; when transplanted into the brutal atmosphere of the cities, these simple people are forced to become devious in order simply to survive. Works from this period include `Angnyeong` (악령 Evil Spirit), `Doduk gyeonseup` (도둑견습 Apprenticeship in Thievery), and `Mobeom sayuk` (모범사육 Model Breeding). It is, however, as the author of Gaekju, a monumental saga in ten volumes that details the lives of itinerant merchants at the close of the nineteenth century, that Kim Joo-young is best known. Serialized from June 1979 to February 1983 in the Seoul Shinmun, Gaekju marked a departure from preceding Korean historical novels in its view of history from the vantage point of the masses. Written after a period of intensive research, the text teems with life and offers a storehouse of folk customs, languages, and ways of thought. In a vibrant, engaging manner, Gaekju provides a panoramic overview of late 19th century Joseon society, especially the rise of industrial capital. With the success of Gaekju, Kim Joo-young continued writing historical fiction. He also turned retrospectively to the space of his childhood—a small country village of Gyeongsangbuk-do where he grew up poor and fatherless—in such works as D246Cheondung sori (천둥소리 The Roar of Thunder) and Gogijabineun galdaereul kkeokji anneunda (고기잡이는 갈대를 꺾지 않는다 Fishermen Don’t Break Reeds).
