Diversity and Dynamic Potentialin Korean Literature

Recently, we at the Literature Translation Instituteof Korea (LTI Korea) have decided to expandour mandate to include literature from NorthKorea and the Korean diaspora. We will also be includingKorean literary achievements from earlier periods as well asthe twenty-first century. The organization believes that bybroadening its vision, it will help foreign readers to betterunderstand today’s Korean literature.Also, LTI Korea will strengthen efforts to introduceliterature in other languages to Koreans. We will thusendeavor to honor cultural diversity and promote reciprocalties among various cultures worldwide.South Korea’s economy developed rapidly afterthe 1960s. Although the period of intense growth haspassed, the force that drove this change is now drivingdemocratization and cultural production. Such brightnessis inevitably accompanied by shadows, but these feats seemall the more wonderful in a country that has endured thedivision of the peninsula for over half a century.The Korean literature scene is also about to explodewith great force. In this issue of our magazine, we willprovide a cross-section of its diversity and show itsdynamic potential.After the sinking of the Sewol ferry, Korean literaturehas been dealing with a variety of feminist issues. It ismoving beyond just sympathy for sexual and genderminorities towards a recognition that the violence inherentin male-centric normality is something to be overcome.This issue’s special section on queer literature is dedicatedto introducing this perspective in Korean literature. YangKyung-eon’s critical overview, together with selectedpoetry and fictional excerpts, shows that Korean literatureis deeply attentive to the viewpoints of gender and sexualminorities. These are perhaps the most sensitive issuesfacing not only Korean literature, but also literaturearound the world.Our featured writer, Park Min-g yu, has alreadygarnered an enthusiastic readership within South Korea andabroad for his attractive prose style and his piercing insightinto life and literature. By including his essay and drawing,his characteristically pithy responses to our interviewquestions, and excerpts from his fiction, we hope to give youa sampling of his unique charm.And this is not all. The sincerity and diversity of Koreanliterature is on display in poems from Geppetto, who startedout writing comments on internet news articles and haspioneered new poetic forms and content; in “Mothers” fromKim Yi-seol, who has probed the depths of life’s misery; andin “Armbands” from Yun Heunggil, who uses playful witand dialect to satirize power as something impoverished atits essence.Korean literature, alive and vibrant, is rooted in a longliterary tradition, and we are reminded of this again inan introduction to The Nine Cloud Dream by TomoyukiSomeya and a short essay on sijo by Professor DavidMcCann, who has enthusiastically led a campaign topopularize sijo in the English language.Finally, reviews of seven works of fiction and poetryrecently translated and published abroad provide us with agood chance to gauge the position of Korean literature as itstands in the world.We hope that the great energy burning inside Koreanliterature, impelling it towards truth and beauty, will attractthe love and curiosity of many readers.