Who Be They? Authors And Their Stories (Week 1)
Nadia w -
This week I found what poems I’m going to be using for my main analyses, as well as the authors to focus on. Today, we’ll learn a bit about these authors!
Author 1: 황 진이 (Hwang Jini)
Hwang Jini was known for her writings and playing the harp, as well as being a kisaeng. She was born into the role in the sixteenth century as an illegitimate child. As an entertainer, her name was Myeongwol (먕왈, bright moon) and she hung around distinguished writers of the time, impressing them with her natural affinity for the arts (“Hwang Chini,” n.d.).
She supposedly seduced two prominent figures of the time as a kisaeng, Jijok Seonsa (a buddhist monk) and Lee Jongsuk (a member of the royal family), by reciting sijo. A third prominent figure, a confucian scholar by the name Seo Kyeongdeok, was supposedly the only one to resist her charms. Hwang was so impressed by his apparent intelligence and virtue that she decided to become his disciple.
She is most known for her sijo poetry, but she also created hansi (the chinese equivalent at the time). She wrote six sijo poems, all including “restrained emotions with outstanding techniques of expression” and used an “original image, appropriate form, and refined language”.
“Hwang Chini.” n.d. Library.ltikorea.or.kr. https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/writer/200398.
Author 2: 김 명순 (Kim Myeongsun)
Kim Myeongsun was famous for her poetry as well as for her novels. She broke free from the rules of sijo, and instead wrote in free verse. She wasn’t the first to write in this form, but she was one of the first women to.
The reason I chose to use Myeongsun as opposed to another author was that she was very involved in the protest against the Japanese colonial rule at the time, as well as advocated for the rights of women. She herself was involved in a sexual abuse situation with a Japanese soldier, and, because it was the early 1900’s, was blamed for it. She was told that her reaction was “wrong” (북랩, 2022), essentially saying she was being a child for being upset by it. That experience, though, was what sparked her works that had to do with women’s rights.
She wrote stories, novels, poems, and plays, attempting to reveal what it was like for her and other Korean women at the time, talking of her own pain and experience along the way.
Myeongsun’s mother was actually a kisaeng, but she was able to get her education in Japan. She was often outed as a “daughter of a kisaeng” (Hajimirsadeghi 2024).
북랩. 2022. “북랩, 여성운동·여성문학 선구자 김명순의 한영 대역 선집 ‘Collected Works of the First Korean Female Writer Kim Myeong-Sun’ 최초 출간 – 뉴스와이어.” Newswire.co.kr. April 13, 2022. https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=942670.
Hajimirsadeghi, Ashley. 2024. “Kim Myong-Sun.” Ashley Hajimirsadeghi. February 14, 2024. https://www.ashleyhajimirsadeghi.com/blog/the-life-works-of-korean-poet-kim-myong-sun.
Author 3: 김 혜순 (Kim Hyesoon)
Kim Hyesoon is a famous poet. She was born in 1955 and is still teaching at the Seoul College of Arts. She is a contemporary poet, meaning she writes in her own style, which includes a lot of free verse.
She was brought up in the aftermath of the Korean war, meaning she wasn’t in it, but she still suffered from the consequences. Because of this, she grew up very nihilistic and hopeless, and her poetry reflects that ideology. She writes with vulgar language, often painting gruesome and uncomfortable pictures for the reader. It’s a part of her own form of resistance, though. Women were expected to write about things while making references to nature, using light and flowy (or cute) diction to portray what they’re trying to say. Hyesoon, well, does, but in her own way – except for the cute diction, she likes to use explicit words. She talks about gore and trauma as if they’re as heavy as feathers, and love as if it’s an entire ocean drowning someone. It’s quite the experience, honestly.
Despite this, she is still famous for her works and is often published in prominent magazines. She has published 14 collections of poetry as of 2023, and is still writing to this day.
Choi, Don Mee. Anxiety of Words: Contemporary Poetry by Korean Women. Zephyr Press, 2006.
Thanks for reading, I hope you learned something new!
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