Professor Park Jae-Seop received his degree from Sophia University in Tokyo and has served as a comparative literature professor at Sogang University and Inje University. He is currently a visiting professor at Ryutsu Keizai University in Tokyo.
During the Japanese colonial era, especially from 1938 onwards, Korean was not taught at all in Korea. It seems excessively oppressive to think that my mother, who was a teenager at the age of 15 and interested in literature, could not learn Korean or access works written in Korean during her time at Jinmyung Middle and High School.
I remember being surprised a few times when Han Woonsa, a famous drama writer, attended the memorial event held at the poet's house on the anniversary of my mother's death. Reflecting now, he must have felt a sense of shared lament, thinking, 'Poet Son Hoyun, who was born in the same year as me, also couldn't receive Korean education in Korea'
Later, Han Woonsa mentioned he was moved after reading Son Hoyun's biography, Poet of the Wind and Snow and jokingly said he wanted to date Son Hoyun.
If they had met, they would have had much to share about their shared life histories. It's hard to imagine and just fills me with sorrow as someone who did not live through the Japanese colonial era.
This is a discussion between Professors Yoo Sung Ho and Park Jae Sup.
British Scholar Brother Anthony presents & Sunshine Lee translates Son Hoyun’s Tanka, the Aesthetics of Hybridity In relation to the presentation 'The Brightest Light on Earth'
Presented by Prof. Jaesup Pak, Visiting Professor of Comparative Literature at Ryutsu Keizai Univ.Tokyo
The 80 years of Son Hoyun's life and the 100 years up to today have been a century of unprecedented changes and upheavals in Korean history. This period is marked by the confusion of identity under Japanese colonial rule, ideological conflicts and confrontations that came with liberation, the tragedy of the Korean War and the ensuing poverty and psychological scars. She sublimated these repeated pains into her 31-syllable tankas.
As we mark the 100th anniversary of Son Hoyun's birth, I begin this writing with the hope that her poetry will be commemorated and studies of her poetry will expand further.
Professor Sung Ho Yoo's presentation paper effectively captures the essence of Son Hoyun's tanka. He categorized the themes into "Beyond Borders 'Love' and 'Dreams' and provided a detailed analysis of how these themes intertwine to form the works.
The first point I would like to address is that although Son Hoyun's works adopt the traditional Japanese poetic form, they are fundamentally imbued with the unique Korean emotion of wonhan (grudge/resentment). The Japanese intellectual Nakanishi Susumu's remark that 'it contains the Korean sensibility that the Japanese can never imitate' likely refers to this particular sentiment.
When evening falls I lock the outer door how many times must I repeat this to see you again Within the compressed 31 syllable verse lies the longing and sorrow for the departed. Locking the doors as evening falls signifies the time when one faces solitude again. Although these times repeat, knowing that it is difficult for 'you' to return, the poet's sorrow deepens. However, the question at the end of the song leaves a subtle lingering effect. The phrase 'to see you again?' mixes the anxiety of possibly not being able to meet with the hope and determination that, after enduring time, 'you' might return. It's like waiting for the faint dawn while staying up through the pitch-dark night.
The tension between the emotion of han (a deep sorrow or resentment arising from unjust circumstances) born out of historical burdens and the transcendence or overcoming of this emotion forms the aesthetic structure of Son Hoyun's literature.
The endless history of rise and fall once again we must write the 38th parallel The 38th parallel refers to the geographical division stemming from the Korean War but immediately evokes the emotion of han.
However, this poem does not solely convey a sorrowful or heavy feeling. There is a balance of opposing sentiments. There is a detachment, as if the poetic self adopts a god-like omniscient perspective on history. The calm tone in 'once again we must write' suggests an optimistic consciousness derived from historical experiences of reversing 'fall' with 'rise'
The traditional theme of overcoming sorrow (han) in Korean literature continues from the folk song 'Arirang' to the Goryeo song 'Gashiri' to Kim Sowol's poetry. Son Hoyun's works too, are connected to this spiritual source of Korean literature.
In short, the literary achievement of Son Hoyun's short poetry lies in the 'aesthetics of hybridity,' where the norms of traditional Japanese poetry and Korean sentiment are blended. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Another point to note is that Son Hoyun was born in 1923, midway through the colonial period. In 1938, she would have been 15 years old, just entering adolescence and likely developing an interest in literature. Unfortunately, 1938 marked the implementation of the Third Korean Education Ordinance which relegated Korean language classes to elective status and drastically reduced their hours, effectively abolishing them.
Writers like Lee Kwangsoo & Choi Namseon categorized as colonial era writers with Son Hoyun, were born in the 1890-1900s. Their childhood was spent learning traditional Chinese and their youth involved self study of Korean (then called Joseon language) before studying Japanese in Japan. They used a mix of Chinese Korean and Japanese in their literary creations.
Writers born in the 1910s were educated after the Korean-Japanese annexation. Though their Korean education was not extensive (with Japanese education being three times more), they received systematic Korean education in primary and secondary schools. Many studied in Japan producing works in both Korean and Japanese. They had a relatively conducive literary environment with Korean literary journals and newspapers.
In contrast, the literary generation of Son Hoyun, born in the 1920s, received no Korean education. Han Woonsa born the same year, testified that he had never learned to write in Korean or read Korean novels until he was 20. Son Hoyun also lived in a bilingual colonial environment but as the Pacific War intensified, the use of Japanese as the official language became stricter, limiting linguistic choices for creation more than the previous generations.
Even though Son Hoyun created works in Korea, they received little attention domestically due to being written in Japanese. They were even criticized.
The academic world is no exception. Despite being created by a Korean based on Korean historical experiences, her works have been somewhat neglected as research subjects due to their use of traditional Japanese poetic forms. I believe the academic world should approach this with a more transnational perspective. I would appreciate your thoughts on this and on future research directions and methodologies for Son Hoyun's literary works.
As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Son Hoyun's birth and finally erect a monument for her in Korea, we stand at a new milestone. It is time to reinterpret and reevaluate the works of a poet highly regarded in Japan from a new perspective.
I want to emphasize that we are now at the starting point of exploring how to inherit the spiritual and literary legacy of a poet who so ardently longed for 'East Asian Peace'
Congratulatory Speech by Lee Geunbae, President of the Korean Academy of Arts, Moderation by Professor Kim Younggeun of Korea University
Professors Yoo Sung Ho, Kim Younggeun & a congratulatory speech by Prof. Lee Inho
Presentations and Discussions by Professors Pak Jaesup (left) Yoo Sung Ho Book Dedication Ceremony for 2 New Publications Commemorating Son Hoyun’s 100th Birth
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