Seo Jeong-in

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Seo Jeong-in
Hangeul 서정인
Hanja 徐廷仁
Revised
Romanization
Seo Jeong-in
McCune-
Reischauer
Sŏ Chŏngin

Seo Jeong-in (born December 20, 1936 in Sunch'ŏn in South Chŏlla Province ) is a South Korean writer.

Life

Seo Jeong-in was born in 1936. At the age of 13 he witnessed an uprising in his homeland with and at the age of 15 the Korean War . He grew up in a time of ideological confrontation and a constant fear of war. At the beginning of his studies he began to read countless works from the English-speaking world, which later had a strong influence on his literature.

From the age of 23 he completed his military service as a lieutenant. He described his experiences in the military in a memorable way in works such as Der Rücktransport . After his discharge from the army, he studied English at Seoul National University and then worked as an English teacher in a high school. The story Auntchen Naju portrays the writer's experiences in the school environment , where authority and uninterrupted hypocrisy are common. He was later appointed as a university professor and continues to work as a writer to this day. He is not one of the most prolific writers, but every single work of his has been a great success. In his later work he expanded the subjects he processed literarily and showed talent in the field of epic and historical fiction. He won various literary prizes for his artistic achievements.

Childhood almost never appears in Seo Jeong-in's novels. Whether this is related to his childhood memories of the Korean War can only be guessed. He does not seem to want to simply recall his childhood, when he witnessed a war massacre and a brutality that surpassed the human imagination. "These problems have not yet been processed in my memory, and I will therefore have to deal with them seriously at some point," he reveals. His literary world is characterized by three merged elements: the horrific experiences of the days of war, the wounds of a helpless person who experiences the destruction of even the last spark of reason and humanity in the military, as well as the experiences in his later career as a teacher and professor.

Work

Volumes of stories

  • 토요일 과 금요일 사이 ( Between Saturday and Friday ) Seoul: Munhak-kwa chisŏngsa, 1980
  • 철쭉제 ( The Rhododendron Festival ) Seoul: Minŭmsa, 1986
  • 붕어 ( The Crucian carp ) Seoul: Segyesa, 1994
  • 가위 ( The Scissors ) Seoul: Korea, 1987

Novels

  • 달궁 ( Talgung ) 3 volumes , Seoul: Minŭmsa, 1987–1990
  • 봄꽃 가을 열매 ( spring flower and autumn fruit) Seoul: Hyŏndae sosŏlsa, 1991
  • 베네치아 에서 만난 사람 ( Meeting in Venice ) Seoul: Chakka chŏngsin, 1998
  • 용병 대장 ( The Mercenary Leader ) Seoul: Munhak-kwa chisŏngsa, 2000

Translations

German

English

  • Home-Coming and Other Korean Short Stories Seoul: Sisa yongosa 1983

French

  • Défilé Paris: Librairie galerie Racine 1999
  • Tallow Paris: Seuil 2001
  • Tallow 2 (unpublished)
  • L'Homme de Venise (unpublished)
  • Tallow 3 (unpublished)

Awards

  • 2010 - Sunch'ŏn Literature Prize
  • 2002 - Isan Literature Prize
  • 2001 - Taesan Literature Prize in the translation category
  • 1999 - Taesan Literature Prize
  • 1998 - Kim Tong-ni Literature Prize
  • 1995 - Tongsŏ Literature Prize
  • 1986 - Hankook Ilbo Literature Prize
  • 1984 - Wŏlt'an Literature Prize
  • 1962 - Sasangye Literature Prize for New Authors

Individual evidence

  1. 네이버 인물 검색: 서정인 Retrieved January 21, 2014 (Korean)
  2. LTI Korea: 문인 DB: Seo Jeong-in ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 8, 2013 (Korean). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.klti.or.kr
  3. LTI Korea: Author Database: Seo Jeong-in ( Memento of the original dated November 3, 2014 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 July 8, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / eng.klti.or.kr