Lee Seung-U (born 1959) is a South Korean writer.
1. Life
Lee Seung-U was born in Jangheung, South Jeolla Province. After graduating from Seoul Theological University, Lee Seung-U studied at Yonsei University Graduate School of Theology. Widely considered to be one of the most outstanding writers to have emerged in South Korea after the political repression of the 1980s, he is today a professor of creative writing at Chosun University.
Lee Seung-U's literary career started with his novel Erysichton-ui chosang (에리직톤의 초상 A Portrait of Erysichton), inspired by his shock at the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981. This work received the New Writer's Award from Korean Literature Monthly. In 1993 Lee Seung-U's Saeng-ui imyeon (생의 이면 The Reverse Side of Life) was awarded the first Daesan Literary Award. Other literary awards received by Lee Seung-U include the Dongsuh Literary Award, the Lee Hyoseok Literary Award, the Hyundae Munhak Literary Award, and the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award. In 2021 he won the Yi Sang Literary Award, one of the most prestigious Korean literary prizes.
2. Writing
In Erysichton-ui chosang, Gasinamu geuneul (가시나무 그늘 In the Shadow of Thorny Bushes), and Saeng-ui imyeon, Lee Seung-U focuses on the notion of Christian redemption and how it intersects with human life, demonstrating how tension between heaven and earth are revealed in quotidian life. Other works, including Migunge daehan chucheuk (미궁에 대한 추측 A Conjecture Regarding Labyrinth) and Sesang bakkeuro (세상 밖으로 To the Outside of the World) face up to disillusionment pursuant to the corruption and devaluation of language.
In the history of Korean novels, Christianity, along with the train, represents modernity. Christianity, as a conveyor of Western civilization, shook to the core the worldview, class view, and social view of the Korean people. Thus, Korean writers of the past often dealt with the conflict between Christianity and native shamanism.
Unlike his predecessors, however, Lee kept himself at a distance from the grammar of the existing Korean religious novel, in that he delved into Christianity itself, which he had accepted with his body and mind since his childhood. He stated, “There was no conflict between Christianity and shamanism in me. The shamanism of Korea is a secular religion through which people try to ward off evil and receive good fortune in this life. It is different from Western metaphysics. Ever since I was young, I had naturally accepted Christianity. I felt awkward at Buddhist temples, but felt very familiar with Christian sentiments. I grew accustomed to such sentiments, inherent in volumes of Western literature. I discovered Christianity through Western literature. Perhaps I lack a certain Korean quality, though I am a Korean writer.”
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, the 2008 Nobel Laureate for Literature, has a deep affection for Korean literature. During his year-long stay in Korea as a visiting professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, he held book readings with Korean authors on several occasions. At the press conference after the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony, he stated that “Korean literature is quite worthy of the Nobel Literature Prize,” and that “Personally, I would say that Lee Seung-U is one of the likely Korean candidates for the prize.”
