Questioning Minds: Short Stories By Modern Korean Women Writers (Hawaiʻi studies on Korea)

250 Pages·15.972 MB·English

by  Kim, Yung-Hee(Introduction)

Korean literature
HAWAI‘I STUDIES ON KOREA
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME in English, the ten short stories by mod-
ern Korean women collected here touch in one way or another on issues relat-
K
ed to gender and kinship politics. All of the protagonists are women who face
I
personal crises or defining moments in their lives as gender-marked beings in M
Questioning Minds
a Confucian, patriarchal Korean society.
Their personal dreams and values have been compromised by gender
expectations or their own illusions about female existence. They are com-
pelled to ask themselves “Who am I?” “Where am I going?” “What are my
choices?” Each story bears colorful and compelling testimony to the life of
the heroine. Some of the stories celebrate the central character’s breakaway
from the patriarchal order; others expose sexual inequality and highlight the
Q
struggle for personal autonomy and dignity. Still others reveal the abrupt
awakening to mid-life crises and the seasoned wisdom that comes with
u
accepting the limits of old age.
e
The stories are arranged in chronological order, from the earliest work
s
by Korea’s first modern woman writer in 1917 to stories that appeared in t
i
1995—approximately one from each decade. Most of the writers presented o
are recognized literary figures, but some are lesser-known voices. The intro- n
SHORT STORIES BY
duction presents a historical overview of traditions of modern Korean wom- i
n
en’s fiction, situating the selected writers and their stories in the larger context
g
of Korean literature. Each story is accompanied by a biographical note on the MODERN KOREAN

author and a brief, critical analysis. A selected bibliography is provided for M
further reading and research.
WOMEN WRITERS
Questioning Minds marks a departure from existing translations of Korean i
n
literature in terms of its objectives, content, and format. As such it will con-
d
tribute to the growth of Korean studies, increasing the availability of material
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for teaching Korean literature in English, and stimulate readership of its writ-
ers beyond the confines of the peninsula.
translated and with an introduction by
Yung-Hee Kim is professor of Korean literature in the Department of East
Yung-Hee Kim
Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
COVER ART: Kim Whanki, Moonlight (Wŏlgwang), 1959. Oil painting on canvas, 92 cm x
60 cm. Courtesy of the Whanki Foundation, housed in the collection of the Museum, Korea
University, Seoul, Korea.
COVER DESIGN: Julie Matsuo-Chun
ISBN 978-0-8248-3409-8
90000
UNIVERSITY of
HAWAI‘I PRESS
9 780824 834098
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
Questioning Minds
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h a w a i ‘ i s t u d i e s o n k o r e a
Wayne Patterson
The Ilse: First-Generation Korean Immigrants, 1903–1973
Linda S. Lewis
Laying Claim to the Memory of May: A Look Back at the 1980
Kwangju Uprising
Michael Finch
Min Yŏng-gwan: A Political Biography
Michael J. Seth
Education Fever: Society, Politics, and the Pursuit of Schooling in South Korea
Chan E. Park
Voices from the Straw Mat: Toward an Ethnography of Korean Story Singing
Andrei N. Lankov
Crisis in North Korea: The Failure of De-Stalinization, 1956
Hahn Moon-Suk
And So Flows History
Timothy R. Tangherlini and Sallie Yea, eds.
Sitings: Critical Approaches to Korean Geography
Alexander Vovin
Koreo-Japonica: A Re-evaluation of a Common Genetic Origin
Yung-Hee Kim, translator
Questioning Minds: Short Stories by Modern Korean Women Writers
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h a wa i ‘ i s t u d i e s o n k o r e a
Questioning Minds
Short Stories by Modern Korean Women Writers
translated and with an introduction
by Yung-Hee Kim
University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu
and
Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawai‘i
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© 2010 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Questioning minds : short stories by modern Korean women writers / translated and
with an introduction by Yung-Hee Kim.
p. cm. — (Hawai‘i studies on Korea)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3395-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8248-3409-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Short stories, Korean—Translations into English. 2. Korean fiction—Women
authors—Translations into English. 3. Korea (South)—Fiction. I. Kim, Yung-Hee.
PL984.E8Q47 2010
895.7'3010809287—dc22
2009030298
The Center for Korean Studies was established in 1972 to
coordinate and develop resources for the study of Korea at the
University of Hawai‘i. Reflecting the diversity of the academic
disciplines represented by affiliated members of the university
faculty, the Center seeks especially to promote interdisciplinary and intercultural
studies. Hawai‘i Studies on Korea, published jointly by the Center and the University
of Hawai‘i Press, offers a forum for research in the social sciences and humanities
pertaining to Korea and its people.
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free
paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by University of Hawai‘i Press production staff
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
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To the memory of my mother
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Traditions in Modern Korean
Women’s Fiction Writing, by Yung-Hee Kim 1
StorieS
1 Kim Myŏng-sun: A Girl of Mystery (1917) 15
2 Na Hye-sŏk: Kyŏnghŭi (1918) 24
3 Kim Wŏn-ju: Awakening (1926) 55
4 Han Mu-suk: Hydrangeas (1949) 68
5 Kang Sin-jae: The Mist (1950) 83
6 Song Wŏn-hŭi: When Autumn Leaves Fall (1961) 100
7 Yi Sun: A Dish of Sliced Raw Fish (1979) 119
8 Yi Sŏk-pong: The Light at Dawn (1985) 150
9 Ch’oe Yun: Stone in Your Heart (1992) 164
10 Pak Wan-sŏ: Dried Flowers (1995) 186
Notes 215
Bibliography 223
Index 229
vii
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Preface
Questioning Minds is designed to reflect the living tra-
dition of Korean women’s fiction writing through a representation of short
stories dating from 1917 to 1995, written by ten different women, with the
aim of making them available in English translation to a wider readership
outside Korea. This translation is especially intended for college-level audi-
ences and readers. My experience in teaching the course “Modern Korean
Women Writers and Culture,” which I implemented and have offered for years
at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, has convinced me of the need for more
systematically organized introductory and textual material such as this book
for use by both students and teachers in Korean literature. The majority of the
stories in this anthology are translated here for the first time, whether into
English or any other language.1 In this sense, the present book represents an
attempt to explore thus-far-untraveled terrain and contribute to the expan-
sion of Korean literature beyond the confines of Korea.
A distinctive feature of this anthology is the thematic relationship between
the works included. These stories are chosen not simply because they are
by women writers. Rather, these works touch upon issues related to gender
and kinship politics, such as women’s search for self-identity, gender rela-
tions, marriage and family institutions, problems of old age, and women’s
creative engagement and professions, to name a few. All the protagonists in
these stories are women situated at one stage or another in their life cycle—
as daughter, daughter-in-law, wife, mother, or widow. These characters face
personal crises or defining moments in their lives as gender-marked beings
in a Confucian, patriarchal Korean society. They often find their personal
ix
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