Hyun Jin-geon

Hyun Jin-geon
Hangeul	현진건
Hanja	玄 鎭 健
Revised Romanization	Hyun Jin-geon
McCune- Reischauer	Hyon Chin'gon
See also : Korean name

Hyun Jin-geon (born August 9, 1900 in Taegu , Kyŏngsangbuk-do , † April 25, 1943 ) was a Korean writer .

Life

Hyun Jin-geon was born in Taegu on August 9, 1900 . When he was twelve, he went to Seijo Middle School in Japan and later he attended Shanghai University , where he studied German literature. After returning home, he published a literary magazine called Kŏhwa (거화, 炬火) with the Korean authors Lee Sanghwa and Paek Kiman . Hyun Ji-geon worked as a journalist for the Chosun Ilbo newspaper and later for the Sidae Ilbo , Maeil Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo newspapers . He was also a co-founder of the literary magazine Paekcho in the 1920s.

Hyun Ji-geon, also known by the stage name Pinghŏ (빙허, 憑 虛), is an important author of early modern Korean literature, especially in the field of short stories. With a look below the surface, he shows the reality of the time. His first short story Sacrifice (희생 화) was published in 1920, but little attention was paid to it. Only the following works helped him to gain a reputation as an important author of realism. The stories Impoverished Wife (빈처) and Society That Encourages Drinking (술 권하는 사회) are based on his own experiences at a time of colonial oppression , when (not only) the Korean intellectuals were stripped of their material base and social identity. The protagonist of Impoverished Wife (빈처) has to watch as his aristocratic wife loses her status and becomes impoverished. In such dark times, paradoxically, drinking alcohol becomes a way of escaping this society that encourages drinking .

Starting with Ein Glückbringender Tag (운수 좋은 날), the writer switched from the first-person narrator to a personal narrative situation in order to present life more objectively and vividly. The stories that were written in this style include fire (불), home manager B and the love letter (B 사감 과 러브 레타) and home (고향). After writing only short stories, he began writing historical novels in 1931, including the equator (적도), tower without a shadow (무영탑) and Hǔkch'i sangji (흑치상지). The reason for this change was Hyun Ji-geon's intention to preserve Korean national identity in times of increasing Japanese militarization. This task kept him busy until his death in 1943.

Work

Korean

• 빈처 Impoverished Wife (1921)
• 술 권하는 사회 Society that Encourages Drinking (1921)
• 타락 자 The Corrupted (1922)
• 할머니 의 죽음 Grandmother's Death (1923)
• 운수 좋은 날 A lucky day (1924)
• 불 Fire (1925)
• B 사감 과 러브 레타 Home manager B and the love letter (1925)
• 사립 정신 병원장 Director of Private Psychiatry (1926)
• 고향 Home (1926)
• 적도 Equator (1934)
• 무영탑 Tower without a shadow (1939)
• 흑치상지 Hǔkch'i sangji (1940)
• 선화 공주 Princess Sǒnhwa (1941)
• 타락 자 The Corrupted (1922)
• 지새는 안개 Nocturnal Fog (1925)
• 조선 의 얼굴 Faces of Korea (1926)

Translations

English

• Poor Man's Wife 빈처 , KLTI (2013) (ebook.klti.or.kr/ebooks/m/pdf/20century/7.pdf)

Some of Hyun Ji-geon's short stories have been translated into various collections of Korean literature:

• A washed-out dream . Larchwood Publications (1980)
• Flowers of Fire: Twentieth-Century Korean Stories . University of Hawaii Press (1986)
• Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology . Columbia University Press, (2005)

German

• Fire . In: Korean Literature , Volume II Modern . Bouvier, Bonn 1986, ISBN 3-416-01964-4

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 현진건 ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database.Retrieved February 27, 2014 
2. ↑ Hyun Jin-geon ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. LTI Korea Author Database (English) accessed on February 27, 2014 
3. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 현진건 (Korean) Retrieved February 27, 2014
4. ↑ 네이버 지식 박 과: 현진건 , accessed February 27, 2014 (Korean)
5. ↑ Hyun Jin-geon ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. LTI Korea Author Database (English) accessed on February 27, 2014 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Hyun is the family name here, Jin-geon is the first name.