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Curation
[KLN Spring 2023: Bookmark 1] When I Start Weeping
[KLN 2023 봄호: 북마크 1] 내가 울기 시작할 때
Korean Literature Now Spring 2023(Vol.59)
The short story “When I Start Weeping” by Kim Ji Yeon, featured in the 2023 Spring issue of KLN, appears in the author’s book You Don’t Mean It.
You Don’t Mean It is a collection of nine carefully selected short stories among the works the author had previously published through various media. This short story collection includes the author’s debut work “Records of Garden Making,” as well as “At the Park,” for which she won the Munhak Dongne New Writer’s Award, and “What It Means to Love.”Among the stories featured in Kim Ji Yeon’s You Don’t Mean It, “When I Start Weeping” was the first one she wrote. The author also told KLN it was the story she was most eager to share with foreign readers.
Here is an excerpt from “When I Start Weeping.”when I was finished it was as if all the worries that had been preying on my mind had dissolved away. Crying like that took an untold amount of effort and pressure. It felt as if my darkest, most persistent thoughts had been wiped out by sheer force. If tears sometimes have a cleansing effect, it might be because it is also a kind of obliteration."
To view the entire text, please click on the following link: https://kln.or.kr/lines/fictionView.do?bbsIdx=1934
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Magazine
[KLN Spring 2023: Essay 3] Humans, Born from the Face of the Persecuted
[KLN 2023 봄호: 에세이 3] 인간은 박해받는 자의 얼굴에서 태어난다
Korean Literature Now Spring 2023(Vol.59)
Here is another essay focusing on the theme of mourning by literary critic Jeon Seung-min, entitled “Humans, Born from the Face of the Persecuted.”
The text discusses the importance of preserving the memory of certain events as well as the lasting effects of tragic incidents on victims and their families. The essay also draws on author Kim Nam-sook’s short story “Paju” to illustrate the kind of life-altering repercussions a traumatic experience can have on a victim’s life.
The following passage is an excerpt from the essay.
"... And yet, there are certain things that must be remembered and protected against this uncontrollable material power of time, even if the period of time in question far exceeds one’s lifetime. I’m referring to remembering moments of violence that occurred in the past but have not been properly settled. ..."
"Through Hyeon-cheol, the story describes the process of self-mourning wherein the victim is forced to rescue himself through nonviolent means. He is attempting to regain the right to forget. Paradoxically, for him to properly forget, he must first remember what happened. The aggressor, on the other hand, will always find these situations unfair, as he has long ago forgotten what happened in the first place. This is why violence should always be remembered and kept alive in the public domain, why a grieving period is necessary for the victims not to remain trapped in a swamp of self-loathing and remorse, and why alternate mechanisms must exist for individuals to separate themselves for the sake of oblivion."
Jeon Seung-min is a literary critic. She began her career after receiving the Daesan Literary Award for College Students in 2020 and winning the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest in 2021, in the literary criticism category. Having majored in English literature at Sogang University, Jeon is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the graduate school of her alma mater. Her areas of interest are twentieth-century British modernist fiction and queer feminist discourse.
To view the entire text, please click on the following link: https://kln.or.kr/lines/essaysView.do?bbsIdx=1935
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Magazine
[KLN Spring 2023: Essay 2] A Mourning against Mourning
[KLN 2023 봄호: 에세이 2] 애도에 저항하는 애도
Korean Literature Now Spring 2023(Vol.59)
In her essay “A Mourning against Mourning,” literary critic Sung Hyunah delves into the topic of “forgotten deaths and erased names” by exploring the ways in which mourning tends to be portrayed in works of Korean literature.
The following passage is an excerpt from the essay.
“In the past, Korean literature served as a counter-memory while the state forbade the memory of mass murder. Covered-up deaths were written down to tell people the appalling truth; the facts were embodied in stories so that they would be remembered longer, made more specific so that they could be experienced more closely. In addition, Korean literature had to defy mourning in certain forms.”
"Korean literature must practice mourning by resisting three different types of mourning in general. First, a distorted form thereof. ... To do so requires an effort to examine historical facts from multiple angles and to shed light on hidden aspects in order to secure an exhaustive record. ... Second, a mourning that refuses selective mourning. Literature must make note of the names considered less important than others and relegated to the back burner, and hence deprived of a chance to be remembered; it must also question the assessment, “worth remembering.” ... Third, a nationalistic mourning."
"... Concealment and distortion, selection and symbolization must be discussed more often and examined properly so that forgotten names may take on their colors again. It is certain that new works of literature are coming into existence even today, to cast off a narrow sense of mourning and come up with a deeper, more comprehensive way to mourn."
Sung Hyunah is a literary critic. She began her literary career in 2021 by winning the New Writer’s Contest held by the Kyunghyang Shinmun and the Chosun Ilbo. She received the Daesan Creative Writing Fund in 2022.
To view the entire text, please click on the following link: https://kln.or.kr/lines/essaysView.do?bbsIdx=1936
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Magazine
[nŏmŏ Spring 2023] The Current State of Korean Diaspora Literature
[nŏmŏ 2023 봄호] 디아스포라 한글 문학의 현재
Diaspora Webzine nŏmŏ
The 2023 Spring issue of Diaspora Webzine nŏmŏ explores the current state of Korean diaspora literature.
What trends are defining the course of Korean diaspora literature today?
The Special Feature section offers readers a look into the current state of Korean diaspora literature through four texts which emerged from the 2022 Korean Diaspora Literature and Anthropogeography academic conference, jointly hosted by LTI Korea and the International Association for Literature of Korean Residents Abroad back in July 2022. Moving on to the Photostory section, readers will be transported to the city of Kyzylorda in Kazakhstan, and in the Writers Crossing Boundaries section, they will be given the chance to learn about Kim Hakcheol (who also went by the name Omura Matsuo), a fiction writer and activist who lived in China during the Japanese colonial era and fought for Korea’s independence.
Next is the nŏmŏ’s New Works section, which includes four short stories, namely “Viewing” by Ji Hyuck Moon, “Why We Can’t Stay There” by Geum Hee, “Stork’s Nest” by Mikhail Park, and “Tigro” by Lee Jun-ho, as well as twelve poems by six different poets—Mah Chonggi, Choi Ji-in, Cheong Jang, Lee Myeung-ae, Ko Hyeon-hye, and Seok-hwa. To top it off, the section also contains four essays, namely “The History of Separation” by Ban Suyeon, “Sunflower” by An Gyeong-ja, “Names Which No Longer Sound Unfamiliar” by Kim Rihyang, and “Dear Sault Ste. Marie Canal” by Moon Ingwi.In nŏmŏ’s Perspectives, which aims to shed light on the life and spirit of diaspora literature, the Deep Reading the Diaspora section offers a critical and in-depth look at works by Anatoli Kim, Richard E. Kim, and Mahmoud Darwish, while the Diaspora Scenes section introduces readers to the Sydney Korean Writers Association. Finally, the K-Culture Reviews section features a reflection by poet, literary critic, and content planner Huh Hyejung entitled “The K-drama Wave in the Cultural Cold War Era.”
To conclude, here is a line taken from the latest issue of nŏmŏ:
" The rustling melody of the reeds soothes my wandering soul."
- From “Coastal Diaspora,” written by Mah Chonggi.
* As of present, Diaspora Webzine nŏmŏ is only available in Korean.
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Magazine
[KLN Spring 2023: Essay 1] Community of Memory
[2023 KLN 봄호: 에세이 1] 기억의 공동체
Korean Literature Now Spring 2023 (Vol.59)
Here is an essay on the theme of “Deaths Forgotten, Names Erased.”
Poet Jang Mi-do’s essay “Community of Disaster” sheds light on societal grieving in Korea and how this phenomenon is portrayed in Korean literature.
The following passage is an excerpt from the essay.
"...Speaking about sorrow is like endlessly performing a requiem for the dead. The dead have no words, and thus the burden of language falls to the living. Language fills the place of helpless silence and can also pierce through that quiet like a scream. When pondering over the sort of language needed to speak on behalf of those who cannot, the first language that comes to mind is silence."
"...In the face of social disasters, literature can continue to create stories and continue to not forget. In these stories we have created, in this space called literature, we gladly work together. Literature will always be with us. Through stories, we can endure. So long as we believe in the power of community, we will not forget. We will remember always."
Jang Mi-do began her career as a poet by winning the New Writer’s Award from Literature and Society in 2020. In 2022, her first book was awarded a publication grant from the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.
To view the entire text, please click on the following link: https://kln.or.kr/lines/essaysView.do?bbsIdx=1937
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Magazine
[KLN Spring 2023] Deaths Forgotten, Names Erased
[KLN 2023 봄호] 잊혀진 죽음과 지워진 이름들
Korean Literature Now Spring 2023 (Vol.59)
The 2023 Spring issue of Korean Literature Now focuses on the theme “Deaths Forgotten, Names Erased.”
How do we deal with grief and sorrow, and how do we write about loss?
How do we commemorate lives lost and forgotten, and how do we remember names erased from collective memory?
How does literature provide us with the critical means to examine disasters and calamities?
Writers have the ability to convey reality as it is, to fill the loud silence left behind by trauma, and to reconstruct reality by manipulating language.
The cover, which represents traces of mourning, is meant to capture the theme at the heart of this edition.
" Letters are a common means to mourn the loss of someone since they allow emotions to be spelled out into words. The cover for this issue of KLN features a remembrance wall covered in worn, tattered Post-Its. The ray of light being reflected against the shady wall is meant to add texture to the worn-out sticky notes. Even though we can’t stop time from taking its toll on things, one thing that should never grows old is our resolve never to forget.
ㅡEd.“
The KLN 2023 issue contains essays by poet Jang Mi-do and literary critics Sung Hyunah and Jeon Seung-min, as well as an interview with author Kim Yeon-su and one of his works that deals with the theme of loss and grief. Readers will also find short stories by Kim Ji Yeon and Chung So-hyun, as well as poems by Eins Hwang and An Taewoon.Also featured in this edition of KLN is the final part of Minsoo Kang’s translation of “The Story of Jeon Unchi,” which can be found in the Inkstone section, as well as book reviews on the English translation of Shin Yong-mok’s poetry collection Concealed Words, the Chinese translation of Bora Chung’s short story collection Cursed Bunny (诅咒兔), the Polish translation of Yun Ko Eun’s novel The Disaster Tourist (Turystka), the Vietnamese translation of Do Jong-hwan’s poetry collection Between Three and Five O’Clock (Ba đến năm giờ chiều), and the Turkish translation of Jeong You Jeong’s novel Seven Years of Darkness (Yedi Yıllık Karanlık) in the Review section.
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Magazine
nŏmŏ Winter 2022: The Future of Korean Diaspora Literature
너머 2022 겨울호: 디아스포라 한글 문학의 미래
Diaspora Webzine nŏmŏ
November 14th, 2022, marks the first publication of Diaspora Webzine nŏmŏ.
The theme of the first issue, “The Future of Korean Diaspora Literature,” embodies nŏmŏ’s ambition to propose the future direction of and open new horizons for Korean diaspora literature.
The “nŏmŏ’s New Works” section introduces new releases from domestic and overseas Koreans, foreigners, and North Korean refugees writing from all over the world, including Korea, the US, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Türkiye.The short stories featured are Seo Su-Jin’s “Korean Night,” Lee Sook-jong’s “The Studio Above the Button Factory,” Kwak Miran’s “Ttamahawi (鱼),” and Kim German’s “In the Maze of My Childhood Memories,” presented alongside twelve poems, two each from Gim Si-jong, Kwak Sang-hee, An Hee-yeon, Jeon Eun-joo, Jeon Hee-jin, and Ha Jongo.Also available is a collection of four essays, consisting of Lee Sung-sook’s “A Bit of Miscommunication,” Yoo Jae-won’s “Renting in High Heaven,” Goksel Turkozu’s “Hassan the Fruit-Selling Syrian,” and Kim Jung-ae’s “Americano."
The “nŏmŏ’s Perspectives” section highlights the life and spirit of diaspora literature through a variety of featured attractions.The “Deep Reading the Diaspora” section examines Maps by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, Jini’s Puzzle by the Japanese writer Shiru Che, and five poems by Park Namsoo, an emigrant to the US, in depth through the lens of literary criticism. “Diaspora Scenes” offers vivid travel journals by the Korean Literature Society of America, while “K-Culture Reviews” provides famous pop music critic Im Jin-mo’s analysis of the key factors of K-Pop’s success.
This issue’s “Photostory” captures the scenery of Dandong, “Writers Crossing Boundaries” the life of German writer Yi Mi-Ruk, who carved out a place in the literary canon.The “Special Feature” section offers expert analyses of the present state and future prospects of diaspora writing by region through four papers presented at the 2022 Korean Diaspora Literature and Anthropogeography academic conference co-hosted with the International Association for Literature of Korean Residents Abroad last July.
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Magazine
KLN Autumn 2022: In Search of Lost Hope
KLN 2022 가을호: 잃어버린 희망을 찾아서
Korean Literature Now Autumn 2022 (Vol.57)
The topic of Autumn 2022 issue of KLN is “In Search of Lost Hope.”
Discussing the disconnect between Korean society and hope as perceived in the narratives of modern literature, we speculate on the current state of Korean literature.The Featured Writer section presents an interview with poet Lee Sumyeong, an analytic essay on her work, and ten of her poems, including selections from her collection City Gas.In Cover Feature section, three essays explore how Korean literature looks at and portrays hope. At a time when the dark clouds of pandemic, war, climate change, and inflation loom over us, hope is what will get us through.Bookmark section introduces two short stories in their entirety, Cheon Un-yeong’s “Half of Half of Half” and Wi Soo Jung’s “Landscapes and Love” and four poems by Yoo Heekyoung and Baek Eunsun,The English translation of the classic The Story of Jeon Unchi also introduced in Inkstone section.And finally, Reviews section, where we take a look at several exciting new titles, including a rare Amharic translation of a Korean classic.
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Magazine
KLN Summer 2022: Polarizing Properties_The Story of Real Estate in Korean Lit
KLN 2022 여름호: 부동산 시장을 통해 바라본 양극화 문제
Korean Literature Now Summer 2022 (Vol.56)
The topic of the Summer 2022 issue of KLN is ‘Polarizing Properties: The Story of Real Estate in Korean Lit’.We examine how Korean literature unravels the issues surrounding real estate, which have always been closely intertwined with their sociopolitical context, for a century.Experience the poetic world of our Featured Writer Kim Seung-hee through an interview with her, an analysis of her work, and ten of her poems, including selections from her collection The Truthful Human of Pickled Radish and Bacon.In Cover Feature, where we carry long-form essays that explore the theme in detail, you can read stories about the polarization in society as seen through real estate narratives in Korean literature.From Issue 56 onward the Bookmark section, our dedicated literary showcase, will be newly expanded and restructured to feature works by various young writers active in the current Korean literary scene, such as entire short stories by Kim, Mella and Jung Jidon, and poems by Heo Yeon and Eugene Mok.The intersection was also overhauled, moving away from keyword introductions into the direction of printing full works: this issue will feature the English translation of A Thorn Hairpin Romance: The Wang Sibung giu gi.And finally, the Reviews section, where we take a look at several exciting new titles, including a rare Amharic translation of a Korean classic. -
Magazine
KLN Spring 2022: The Female Family Tree
KLN 2022 봄호: 여성가계도
Korean Literature Now Spring 2022 (Vol.55)
The topic of the Spring 2022 issue of KLN is ‘The Female Family Tree’ In Featured Writer section, adding an essay by the writer and an analysis of their work to our usual offerings of interviews and excerpts, we have a multifaceted spotlight on Kim Soom in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of her literary debut. Get to know Kim Soom’s “The Man Who Touches Waves” here! Meanwhile Introducing works related to the concept of the female family tree, the Special Section recalls the memories of specific histories connecting one woman to another through the novels of Hwang Jungeun, Choi Eunyoung, and Chung Serang. And Inkstone, which presents aspects of our traditional culture, introduces foreign readers to the royal culture of Joseon through explanations of the royal palace and its court ladies. You can find the full text of Lee Misang’s “When a Woman Subways” under Bookmark. And finally, the Reviews section, where we take a look at several exciting new titles, including a rare Amharic translation of a Korean classic.