Kang Seuk Kyong (born 1951) is a South Korean author.
1. Life
Kang was born in Daegu and studied sculpture at Ewha Womans University. She made her literay debut in 1974, winning the Literature and Thought's New Writer's Contest with the short stories "Geun" (근 Roots) and "Opeun gaeim" (오픈게임 Open Game). A prolific writer, she has published such works as the short story collection Supsokui bang (숲속의 방 A Room in the Forest), the novels Gakkaun goljjagi (가까운 골짜기 The Valley Nearby), Sesangui byeoreun da rasae tteunda (세상의 별은 다 라사에 뜬다 All the Stars in the World Rise in Lhasa), and the essays collections Indo gihaeng (인도 기행 Journey to India), Neungeuro ganeun gil (능으로 가는 길 The Way to the Burial Mound). She is the recipient of the Today's Writer Award, the Nogwon Literary Award, the Isu Literary Award, among others.
2. Writing
Kang has focused on the "search for the self" in her fiction. Having faced a difficult choice between fine art and writing, Kang recognizes that life is filled with diverging roads and attendant dilemmas, which allow us a glimpse into our true selves. Her fiction can be divided into two categories. In the first, she examines the search for the true self from the perspective of an artist, whose quests are unadulterated by any social or political agenda. In the second category, Kang focuses on ordinary individuals and shows the ways in which social structure and conventions can damage human dignity. Many of her works concern the inhumanity she finds within Korean society.
It can be said that Kang seeks nothing less than spiritual redemption through her works. Literature, for Kang, is a way to heal wounded souls, by means of which one can take a step closer to the true essence of human life. Her trip to India in 1992 allowed her a powerful experience of the "infinite universe", as a result of which she realized that all obsessions are primitive in nature. "Violence is the source of all oppressions," she has stated, “and the function of literature is to strip away the falsities and superfluous concerns beclouding the true essence of human life, thereby contributing to the expansion of human freedom."
Artists, in Kang's works, are portrayed as Prometheus-like beings who sacrifice themselves for their art and free themselves from human suffering by embracing it fully. In a society governed by materialism and the twisted logic of military dictatorship, artists function to remind us of the true value of life and the essence of human nature. Gakkaun goljjagi depicts the inner world of artists and their ceaseless struggle to achieve artistic perfection. The protagonist is a ceramic artist named Hui-jo who explores the essence of human life through his art. His wife, Yun-hui finds meaning in her life by assisting Hui-jo in his artistic endeavors. Their dedication to art is underscored by the turbulent political and societal conditions that characterize the 1970s, the period in which the novel is set. For Kang, an artist's life attains greater meaning in times of social oppression and materialistic indulgence.
