Kim Tong-in

Kim Tong-in
Hangeul	김동인
Hanja	金東仁
Revised Romanization	Gim Dong-in
McCune- Reischauer	Kim Tong-in
See also : Korean name

Kim Tong-in (born October 2, 1900 in Pyongyang , then Korea , now North Korea ; † January 5, 1951 in Seoul , South Korea ) was a South Korean writer .

Life

Kim Tong-in (stage names : Ch'unsa ( Kor. 춘사 , 春 士 ) and Kim Siŏdim ( 김 시어 딤 )), a pioneer of realism and naturalism in Korean literature, was born on October 2, 1900 in Pyongyang . The son of a wealthy landowner, he attended the Meiji Academy in Tokyo and began studying at the Kawabata School of Fine Arts , but dropped out to devote himself fully to his writing career. In 1919 he founded together with Chu Yo-han ( 주요한 , 朱耀翰 ), Chŏn Yŏng-t'aek ( 전영택 , 田榮澤 ), Ch'oe Sŭng-man ( 최승만 , 崔 承 萬 ) and Kim Hwan (김환 (金煥) ) the magazine Kreativ ( 창조 , Changjo ), in which he published his first story The Sorrow of the Weak ( 약한 자의 슬픔 , Yakhan jaui seulpeum ).

Kim is best known for his short stories , which combine extraordinary sentience with a succinct prose style and an objective perspective. Initially, he made a name for itself by publishing naturalistic stories such as Meisterhafter Stil ( 명문 , Myeongmun ) from 1924, Old Wang from the Country ( 시골 황서방 , Sigol Hwangseobang ) from 1925 and Potato ( 감자 , Gamja) from 1921. Potato in particular , the story of a woman who gradually loses her decency due to economic difficulties and degenerates into a cheap prostitute , is known for her realism and resolute rejection of traditional morality and didactic use of literature, as described by Yi Kwang- su promoted with his educational movement . At a time when proletarian movements and new ideas were the order of the day, at a time when art was instrumentalized to stimulate ideological debate and social change, Kim upheld the vision of pure aesthetics and the autonomy of literature as art. This view is reflected in his aesthetic novels Sonata Appassionato ( 광염 소나타 , Gwangyeom sonata ) and Kwanghwa Temple ( 광 화사 , Gwanghwasa ), both from 1930, which are about crazy artists who strive for artistic perfection.

Notorious for the extravagant lifestyle he could afford thanks to his heritage, Kim began getting into financial trouble in 1930 that led to depression and substance abuse. Although Kim was considered a purist in his art, in order to support his family, he was forced to publish popular serial novels in newspapers, which he had previously deeply despised. In 1934 he published Studies on Ch'unwŏn ( 춘원 연구 , Chunwon yeongu ), a work that is considered to be the first in-depth study of Yi Kwang-su ( 이광수 , 李光洙 ). In 1935 he founded the monthly magazine Yadam ( 야담 ).

Kim, impoverished and ill, joined Park Yŏng-hŭi ( 박영희 , 朴英熙 ), Im Hak-su ( 임학수 , 林學洙 ) and others, and in 1939 visited Manchuria as a member of the Writer's Corps for the comfort of the North China Army, an overtly one pro Japanese activity. In 1942 he was imprisoned for the second time for libel of the Japanese emperor . In 1946 Kim was critical of the Pan- Korean Writers' Association ( 전 조선 문필가 협회 , eonjoseonmunpilgahyeophoe ), which promoted proletarian art. In the following years he published a number of stories, including sharp criticism of Yi Kwang-su and other pro-Japanese activists during the Japanese colonial era . He died on January 5, 1951 at his home in Seoul .

Work (selection)

Korean

Historical novels

• 젊은 그들 Young people (1930)
• 운현궁 의 봄 The spring of the Unhyŏng Palace (1933)
• 왕부 의 낙조 The Fall of the Dynasty (1935)
• 대 수양 Prince Suyang (1941)

Anthologies

• 목숨 Life (1924)
• 감자 Potato (1935)
• 김동인 단편집 Short stories by Kim Tong-in (1939)
• 배회 Roam (1941)
• 발가락 이 닮았다 The toes are similar (1948)

Others

• 약한 자의 슬픔 The Sorrows of the Weak (1919)
• 배따라기 Paettaragi (1921)
• 태형 Flagellation (1922)
• 결혼식 Wedding reception (1931)
• 반역자 Traitor (1946)
• 망국 인기 (亡國 人 記) Popularity of a Lost Nation (1947)

Translations

English

• Potato ( 감자 ) in Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology , Columbia University Press (2005) ISBN 978-0231135122
• The Rock and The Post Horse in Meetings and Farewells: Modern Korean Stories, St. Martin's Press (1980) ISBN 978-0312528553
• Loess Valley and Other Korean Short Stories in Modern Korean Short Story Series No 1 , Pace Group Int. Inc. (1983) ISBN 0892092025
• The Seaman's Chant in The Rainy Spell and Other Korean Stories , ME Sharpe Inc (1997) ISBN 978-0765601391
• The Photograph and the Letter in A Ready-Made Life: Early Masters of Modern Korean Fiction , University of Hawai'i Press (1998) ISBN 978-0824820718

German

• The toes are similar ( 발가락 이 닮았다 ) in: Kuh, KS (ed.), Korean Literature, Volume II Moderne , Bouvier (1986) ISBN 3-416-01964-4

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database: 김동인 ( 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. , accessed on February 10, 2014 
2. ↑ Daum Encyclopedia: 김동인  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 10, 2014 (Korean).  
3. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: Kim Dongin ( 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. , accessed on February 10, 2014 

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