Yi Kwang-Su and Modern Literature: Mujong

By Ann Sung-hi Lee and Kwang-su Yi

Book Overview

Yi Kwang-su (1892-1950) was one of the pioneers of modern Korean literature. When the serialization of Muj?ng (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 Hy?ng-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 S?n-hy?ng 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 Y?ng-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 Hy?ng-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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1885445377
• ISBN13: 9781885445377
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Cornell University - Cornell East Asia Series
• Length: 444 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher