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Author
Oh Jung Hee오정희
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Publisher
Moonji Publishing Company문학과지성사
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Year Published
2009
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Category
Literary Fiction 순수소설
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Target User
Adult 성인
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Period
Contemporary 현대
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Description 작품 소개
Introduction
Sae (새 The Bird) is a Korean novel by Oh Junghee. The story of two siblings abandoned and wounded by adults was embodied in the symbol of the bird. The child’s cold perception of the world engages the reader in a reassessment of the unjust world that surrounds them. It is the first Korean novel to win a literary award abroad.3)
Plot
The first novel by Oh Junghee, The Bird demonstrated the pinnacle of Korean short stories.2) In 2003, it received the LiBeraturpreis from Germany, becoming the Korean literature to win a foreign literary award.
Title
The titular metaphor of “the bird” is a motif throughout the text. The author commented that the bird, which symbolizes lightness and freedom, is likened to the siblings, who struggle for a meal and must evade predators.4) Their next room neighbor, Lee, owns a bird in a bird cage which is a symbolic tool that parallels the novel’s situations.5) U-mi’s little brother, U-il, claims that as a child, when their father threw him out the window, he flew like a bird. This childish imagination emphasizes the merciless world they had to endure.6) When U-mi frees the bird from the birdcage, hoping that her brother becomes a bird, her actions illustrate that only imagination can help endure the sorrowful reality of death.
Plot Summary
The protagonist siblings, U-mi and U-il, are tossed from house to house, living with their maternal grandmother, maternal uncle, paternal family, et cetera after their mother leaves home. They come to live with their father again but he soon disappears to find their stepmother who has run away, leaving the two alone again.
The novel depicts a merciless reality from the first person point of view of the girl abandoned by her parents, U-mi. She shows no emotional response and instead acts cold, feigning indifference.7) However, intolerable events continue to happen to the children and the readers are led to contemplate the unjust societal structure that surround them. The author asks the readers to notice the damage done to children in an unstable society where families are broken.8) Ultimately, The Bird’s plot is a “(destructive) coming-of age”9) story. The protagonist grows mentally and physically by being deprived of the rights that all children should be able to enjoy.10)
Main Themes
The Bird is a figuration of the pain of young siblings in poverty and astray. It takes a critical look at domestic child abuse including violence and neglect and the issue of the urban slum which forms as the result of an exodus from the countryside to the metropolis. The novel shows that if children, who deserve love and protection, are abandoned and neglected in violence and indifference, then the future of our society is bound to be dark and painful as well. 11)
Style
Oh Junghee’s fiction is renowned for its flawless description and simple and subtle sentences.12) The protagonist siblings of The Bird do not trust anyone, internalizing distrust and corruption. They take on a defensive attitude to avoid being hurt, which is externalized by their unique way of speech that objectifies themselves.13) Therefore, when U-mi describes the brutal situations she is in, her tone is not particularly tragic or dramatic. The abandoned child’s inner anxiety and the world’s devastation is delivered with Oh Junghee’s signature precise and simple language.14)
Inspiration 15)
In the 1990’s, Oh Junghee regularly met with underprivileged siblings as part of a community service program. She approached the children with affection and a sense of duty but she felt helpless when the children did not open up to her for over a year. In this process, Oh realized how precarious and breakable unprotected children can be. Her feeling of indebtedness towards the children gave birth to The Bird. This personal inspiration may be why she chose The Bird as the favorite among her own work.16)
Bibliography
(1) Editions
First Edition: 《새》, 문학과 지성사, 1996./ The Bird, Munji, 1996.17)
Revised Edition: 《새》, 문학과 지성사, 2009./ The Bird, Munji, 2009.18)
(2) Translation
English, The Bird, Telegram Books, 2014, Jenny Wang Medina.19)
French, L'OISEAU, Seuil, 2005, Jeong Eun-Jin, Jacques Batilliot.20)
German, Vögel, Pendragon, 2002, Kim Sun-Hi, Edeltrud Kim.21)
German, Vögel, Unionsverlag Zürichn, 2005, Kim Sun-Hi, Edeltrud Kim.22)
Spanish, EL PÁJARO, ALBERDANIA, Dominique Lange, Cho-lim Seong, 2007.23)
Dutch, VOGEL, De Geus, Imke Van Gardingen.24)
Russian, Птица, Текст, 2008, Е.Клоковая, Александра Гуделева.25)
Polish, Ptak, Kwiaty Orientu, 2010, Marzena Stefańska-Adams.26)
Norwegian, FUGLEN, SOLUM, 2012, Jarne Byhre.27)
Basque, TXORIA, ALBERDANIA, Juan Kruz Igerabide.28)
Japanese, 鳥, 段々社, 2015, 文茶影.29)
Awards
2003 LiBeraturpreis30)
References
1) Oh Junghee (1947~) is a Korean novelist. She debuted with Wangujeom yeoin (완구점 여인 Toyshop Lady) and received many literary awards for Jeonyeogui geim (저녁의 게임 An Evening Game), Donggyeong (동경 Copper Mirror), and others. She is renowned for her detailed depiction of characters’ inner world and rigorous display of existential anxiety and suffering, especially the psychological conflicts of women.
“Oh Junghee,” Wikipedia.
https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%98%A4%EC%A0%95%ED%9D%AC_(%EC%86%8C%EC%84%A4%EA%B0%80)
2) Considering its length, The Bird is a novella rather than a novel. Even though she is a celebrated novelist, she wrote a novel for the first time in 36 years. Concerning this, she has spoken about her prejudices against novels. She feared that the work would get lost in a tangent and lose density and the beauty of its topic and sentences.
Han Yoon Jung, “Fiction Writer Oh Jung Hee Writes a Novel for the First time in 36 years since her debut.” Kyunghyang Shinmun, 2004.02.19.
“Oh Jung hee,” Rigveda Wikipedia
http://rigvedawiki.net/w/%EC%98%A4%EC%A0%95%ED%9D%AC
Jung Cheon Ki, “Kwangjang (광장 Plaza) by Jung Cheon Ki and The Bird by Oh Junghee Published in German,” Yeonhap News, 2002.09.05
https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=001&aid=0000233573
3) Review of The Bird
http://digital.kyobobook.co.kr/digital/ebook/ebookDetail.ink?selectedLargeCategory=001&barcode=4808932020068&orderClick=LAG&Kc
4) Naver Book Review: “Book & Interview of the Day: The Bird”
https://book.naver.com/bookdb/today_book.nhn?bid=114833
5) “The Bird,” Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge.
https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=336000&cid=41708&categoryId=41737
6) “The Bird,” Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge.
https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=336000&cid=41708&categoryId=41737
7) Review of The Bird. Shin Mina, “A Study of Oh Junghee’s Female Coming-of-age Novel,” Journal of Language and Literature, 2010.
http://digital.kyobobook.co.kr/digital/ebook/ebookDetail.ink?selectedLargeCategory=001&barcode=4808932020068&orderClick=LAG&Kc
8) “Bird (Oh Jungehee), ChunJae Educational Wikipedia.
https://koc.chunjae.co.kr/Dic/dicDetail.do?idx=21123
9) A coming-of-age story chronicles the growth of a character through childhood and puberty and the trials and conflicts they encounter as they enter into adulthood and find meaning in their lives.
“Coming-of-age Stories,” Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge
https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=939918&cid=47319&categoryId=47319
10) Review of The Bird
http://digital.kyobobook.co.kr/digital/ebook/ebookDetail.ink?selectedLargeCategory=001&barcode=4808932020068&orderClick=LAG&Kc
11) Universalization of the everyday resulting from modernization must be related to how The Bird was the first Korean literature to win a literary award abroad.
Naver Book Review: “Book & Interview of the Day: The Bird”
https://book.naver.com/bookdb/today_book.nhn?bid=114833
Yoon Soo Yong, “What Happened to the Siblings Abandoned by Their Parents,” Gangwon Media Group, 2009.12.26.
http://www.kado.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=445752
Book Review of The Bird
http://digital.kyobobook.co.kr/digital/ebook/ebookDetail.ink?selectedLargeCategory=001&barcode=4808932020068&orderClick=LAG&Kc
12) Oh Junghee’s sentences are famous as transcription material for literature students.
Naver Book Review: “Book & Interview of the Day: The Bird”https://book.naver.com/bookdb/today_book.nhn?bid=114833
Kang Young, “Setting up the Morning – Oh Junghee’s Sentences”, Gyungnamdomin News, 2018.07.24.
http://www.gndomin.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=177407#0BNb
Na Kwon Il, “50th Debut Anniversary, The Godmother of Women’s Literature,” Monthly Joongang Magazine, 2018.02.17.
https://jmagazine.joins.com/monthly/view/320119
13) Review of The Bird. Shin Mina, “A Study of Oh Junghee’s Female Coming-of-age Novel,” Journal of Language and Literature, 2010.
14) Naver Book Review: “Book & Interview of the Day: The Bird”
https://book.naver.com/bookdb/today_book.nhn?bid=114833
Review of The Bird http://digital.kyobobook.co.kr/digital/ebook/ebookDetail.ink?selectedLargeCategory=001&barcode=4808932020068&orderClick=LAG&Kc
15) This chapter refers heavily to the links below
Naver Book Review: “Book & Interview of the Day: The Bird”
https://book.naver.com/bookdb/today_book.nhn?bid=114833
Aladdin Book Review: “Book & Interview of the Day: The Bird” – Author’s Note
https://www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?ItemId=5910146
16) Kim Mi Wol, “New Year’s Feature – Novelist Oh Junghee Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Her Debut,” Gangwon Media Group, 2018.01.08.
http://www.kado.net/?mod=news&act=articleView&idxno=891591
17) Review of the First Edition of The Bird
https://www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?ItemId=73091
18) This edition was published with a new typeface and book size, over ten years after the novel’s initial publication. Furthermore, the author herself edited her sentences through multiple revisions.
Review of the Revised Edition ofThe Bird https://www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?ItemId=5910146
Review of The Bird http://digital.kyobobook.co.kr/digital/ebook/ebookDetail.ink?selectedLargeCategory=001&barcode=4808932020068&orderClick=LAG&Kc
19) English Translation of The Bird
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2027657.The_Bird
20) French Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/10204
21) German Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/10569
22) German Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/10570
23) Spanish Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/11901
24) Dutch Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/8787
25) Russian Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/11693
26) Polish Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/11567
27) Norwegian Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/11530
28) Basque Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/8060
29) Japanese Translation of The Bird
https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/node/20188
30) Han Yoon Jung, “Oh Junghee’s Novel The Bird Wins the LiBeraturpreis,” Kyunghyang Shinmun, 2003.07.08.
https://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=103&oid=032&aid=0000023613
Author Bio 작가 소개
There are no expectations.