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한국문학 해외진출 활성화 플랫폼
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미국의 유명한 시인 잭 로거우(Zack Rogow)가 개인 블로그에 남긴 "한국문학"에 관한 글을 소개한다. 글은 가수 싸이의 '강남스타일'을 넘어 '문학'을 통해 한국의 진정한 문화를 만날 수 있기 바라는 내용이다. 잭 로거우의 개인 블로그인 "Advice for Writers"에 담겨 있다.
Beyond Gangnam Style: Korea's Real Culture (2013. 1. 2) Now that Psy’s hit single and video “Gangnam Style” have put South Korea front and center in pop music, I hope fans of that song will also explore the enormous outpouring of culture from Korea in many other areas. I’ve had the good fortune to visit South Korea twice, most recently in 2011 for the 3rd Seoul International Forum for Literature. The forum was organized by the Daesan Foundation and programmed by Kim Seong-kon, professor at Seoul National University and director of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. The events mostly took place in the Kyobo Building, an office tower in downtown Seoul, where the entire basement floor features the enormous Kyobo Book Centre, larger than any in my hometown of San Francisco. The bookstore was packed with customers each day, as are many of the bookshops in Korea.
That
enthusiasm for reading is due in large part to the vibrant literary culture in
Korea. The well-known writers include the poet Ko Un, often
mentioned as a possible Nobel laureate. Ko Un served as the head of one of South
Korea’s largest Zen monasteries and later became an activist in the democracy
movement, spending years in jail. His wisdom and humor as a poet have made him
internationally known, and many of his books have been translated into English,
including recently The
Three Way Tavern, Selected Poems, translated by Clare You and Richard
Silberg.
Korea also is
home to many fine fiction writers. They include Yi Mun-yol,
whose fiction has recently appeared in English in the New Yorker, among
other magazines; Ch’oe Yun, who writes eloquently about Korean women; and the
up-and-coming young novelist Kim Yeon-su.
Korea’s
literature, both contemporary and modern, has become much more accessible to
readers of English thanks in part to the efforts of Brother Anthony of
Taizé, a Christian monk who lives in Seoul and has taken Korean citizenship.
Brother Anthony’s recent translations include the work of the younger poet Kim
Seung-Hee, published as Walking
on a Washing Line.
I had the
pleasure of traveling around Korea with Brother Anthony in 2005 when I was
invited to the conference of the English Language and Literature Association of Korea by
Professor Lee Young-Oak of Sungkyunkwan
University. Brother Anthony
took me to see a traditional-style house in Seoul; the studio/home of a potter
(Korea also excels in ceramics) in the countryside near the city of Gwangju,
stronghold of the democracy movement; and a Buddhist temple at the outskirts of
that city, where we got to hear beautiful chanting.
During my
visit to Seoul in 2011 I was fortunate to visit several historical sites and
museums, guided by my skillful interpreter Lee Bome. We visited the Leeum, a museum that houses the collection of Samsung founder
Lee Byeong-Choi. The Leeum, in a stunning modern building, includes both
treasures of Korean pottery, and a terrific selection of contemporary Korean
art.
“Gangnum
Style” is a fun video, now viewed by more than one billion people around the
world. I hope that will be a wide doorway for many into the culture of
Korea.
Zack Rogow 블로그: http://zackrogow.blogspot.kr/ |