Han Sŏr-ya

Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl	한설야
Hancha	韓雪 野
Revised Romanization	Han Seor-ya
McCune- Reischauer	Han Sŏrya
See also : Korean name

Han Sŏr-ya (born August 3, 1900 in Hamhŭng ; † April 6, 1976 ) was a North Korean writer.

Han Sŏr-ya, who was born in Manchuria , was active as a writer even during the Japanese colonial rule that affected both Korea and Manchuria. He was a member of the KAPF (Korea artista proleta federatio), a left-wing writers' association. After the liberation of Korea, he went to North Korea, where he was soon appointed chairman of the North Korean Writers and Artists Association because of his loyalty to Kim Il-sung . In the 1950s, North Korean writers were tasked with implementing the guidelines of Socialist Realism in literature. Han's works, however, by no means fulfilled this, rather his style corresponded to that of the KAPF era, which was characterized by anti-industrialism and anti-urbanism. One of his most important works is the short story Wolves or Jackals ( Kor. 승냥이, Sŭngnyangi), a story dominated by anti-American resentment , which deals with the fact that an American missionary family kills a Korean child out of opportunism and inhumanity.

In 1962, Han was intrigued and disgraced. He had to give up his public office and leave the capital, Pyongyang . His works were also withdrawn from circulation, although great efforts were made to avoid a stir due to his share in the personality cult around Kim Il-sung. In 1969, however, he was rehabilitated both politically and literarily and even appeared again on the list of members of the Central Committee. Han is buried in the National Heroes' Cemetery in Pyongyang.

literature

• BR Myers: Han Sŏrya and North Korean Literature. The failure of Socialist realism in the DPRK . East Asia Program, Cornell University , Ithaca (New York) 1994, Simultaneously: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 1992, ISBN 0-939657-84-8 , ISBN 0-939657-69-4 .

Web links

• Tombstone of Han Sŏr-yas

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Han is the family name here, Sŏr-ya is the first name.