Baek Seok

BAEK Seok
Hangeul	백석
Hanja	白石
Revised Romanization	Baek Seok
McCune- Reischauer	Paek Sŏk
See also : Korean name

Baek Seok (born July 1, 1912 in Chŏngju , P'yŏngan-pukto , † January 1996 ) was a Korean poet .

Life

Baek Seok was born on July 1, 1912 under the name Paek Ki-haeng (백 기행) in Chŏngju , North P'yŏngan Province . He attended the historic Osan Middle School , which before him famous writers such as Kim So-wŏl and Kim Ŏk had attended. He later attended the Aoyama Academy in Japan , where he was able to study English literature thanks to a grant from Chosun Ilbo . After returning to Korea in 1934, he worked as an editor for a magazine. In 1935 he made his debut with the publication of the poem The Chŏngju Fortress (정주성) in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. Two years later he published his first collection of poems Das Reh (사슴). The reactions to his work were mixed: the critic Im Hwa described its dynamic nuances as the “literature of a peasant booby”, while Kim Ki-rim with his characteristic acumen sets the work apart from the simple pastoralism of earlier generations due to its stylistic innovations. In the same year Baek took a position as a teacher at the Yŏngsaeng Middle School in Hamhŭng , where he worked until his release in 1938. After briefly resuming his former post as a lecturer, he finally began a life as a wanderer. He traveled all over the country and worked for some time in 1942 in the Andong Customs Office ( Manchuria ). Only after the liberation in 1945 did he return to his homeland Chŏngju, where he continued to write poetry, but now also translated works.

Baek's poems are known for their combination of narrative poetry with a modern feel for material poetry and a penchant for narrative meter. He was one of the great innovators of Korean literature in the twentieth century. The roots of his inspiration lie in his life in a village in North P'yŏngan province , which he writes about with diligence and warmth in the local dialect. His first book, The Deer , contains a wealth of folkloric information about rural customs, legends and shamanistic practices, including everyday eating habits. Although most lyric poets use visual and auditory imagery, Baek's poems most often use "taste imagery" to convey the immediacy and urgency of hunger and the struggle for survival in a time of pitiful poverty.

His commitment to preserving and restoring Korean culture in the face of Japanese occupation is evident even in his lyrical style. He uses a rhythmic pattern that is directly related to traditional Korean music and prose poetry. The poems that were written after the liberation in 1945 are similar in tone to the lyrics he wrote during the occupation.

Work (excerpt)

Korean

• 백석 시 전집 Baek Seok - Collected Works (1987)
• 흰 바람벽 이 있어 There's a White Wall (1941)
• 멧새 소리 The Song of the Bunting (1938)
• 사슴 The deer (1937)

Translation Japanese

• 白石 (ペ ク ソ ク) 詩集 , 岩 波 書店 (Iwanami Shoten) 2012, ISBN 978-4-00-024714-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The spelling of the name preferred by the author according to the Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database: 백석 ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on June 14, 2014. 
2. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 백석 Retrieved June 14, 2014 (Korean)
3. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: BAEK Seok ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on June 14, 2014. 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Baek is the family name here, Seok is the first name.