| Yi Kwang-Su and Modern Literature: Mujong Contributor(s): Lee, Ann Sung-Hi (Author) |
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ISBN: 188544527X ISBN-13: 9781885445278 Publisher: Cornell University - Cornell East Asia Series OUR PRICE: $41.53 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2011 * Not available - Not in print at this time * |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Comparative Literature - History | Asia - Korea - Literary Criticism | Asian - General |
| Dewey: 895.7 |
| LCCN: 2005922988 |
| Series: Cornell East Asia |
| Physical Information: 0.87" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (1.09 lbs) 444 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Asian - Cultural Region - East Asian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Yi Kwang-su (1892-1950) was one of the pioneers of modern Korean literature. When the serialization of Mujông (The Heartless) began in 1917, it was an immediate sensation, and it occupies a prominent place in the Korean literary canon. The Heartless is the story of a love triangle among three youths during the Japanese occupation. Yi Hyông-sik is a young man in his mid-twenties who is teaching English at a middle school in Seoul. Brilliant but also shy and indecisive, he is torn between two women. Kim Sôn-hyông is from a wealthy Christian family; she has just graduated from a modern, Western-style school and is planning on continuing her studies in the United States. Pak Yông-ch'ae is a musically gifted young woman who was raised in a traditional Confucian manner; due to family misfortune, she has become a kisaeng but remains devoted to Hyông-sik whom she knew as a child. The Heartless goes beyond the level of romantic melodrama and uses these characters to depict Korea's struggles with modern culture and national identity.A long critical introduction discusses Yi Kwang-su's life and work from his birth in 1892 to the publication of his first novel The Heartless in 1917. It contains in-depth analyses of the novel, Yi Kwang-su's literary theory, and early short stories. |