Korean literature
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What is Korean literature?
Korean literature is the body of works produced by Koreans, initially in Classical Chinese, then in transcription systems using Chinese characters, and lastly in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
Before Hangul's invention in the 15th century, Koreans wrote using Chinese characters. By the 7th century, the idu system allowed Koreans to roughly translate Chinese texts. Later systems, hyangch’al and kugyǒl, enabled writing Korean sentences in Chinese.
Modern Korean literature began in the early 20th century with cultural reform movements and the rise of literary journals.
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What are some common themes in Korean literature?
Korean literature explores diverse themes shaped by historical and cultural contexts. Common themes include:
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Nation-building and identity The establishment of the Chosŏn dynasty saw literature used to create a Korean nation, with contrasting reflections on the preceding Koryŏ dynasty.
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Tradition vs. modernity Early modern literature saw writers exploring Western science and civilization while grappling with traditional forms of expression.
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Resistance and sorrow During periods of occupation and conflict, Korean literature voiced sorrow, defiance, and a longing for liberation.
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Division and alienation The Korean War and the division of the country became central themes, symbolizing broader human alienation.
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Individualism and introspection Modern writers delved into psychological analysis, exploring awakened individuality, disillusionment, and the search for understanding.
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Violence, grief, and patriarchy South Korean novelist Han Kang's writing often addresses themes such as violence, grief, and patriarchy.
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What are the main types or forms of Korean literature?
Korean literature includes diverse forms that have evolved through different periods. The main types are:
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Poetry Korean poetry is known for its melodic origins and lines of alternating three or four syllables. Major traditional poetic forms include hyangga, pyolgok, sijo, and kasa.
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Prose Korean prose can be divided into narratives, fiction, and literary miscellany. Narratives include myths, legends, and folktales found in historical records. Fiction is classified by language (Chinese or Korean), length, and author's social class. Literary miscellanies are random jottings by the yangban (upper class) on history, biography, and poetic criticism.
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Oral literature This category includes ballads, legends, mask plays, puppet-show texts, and p’ansori (story-singing) texts. These were orally transmitted through generations before Hangul (Korean alphabet) was invented.
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What is unique about traditional Korean poetry like sijo?
Traditional Korean poetry includes several unique forms, including sijo. Sijo is a popular and enduring form of Korean poetry from the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). Sijo are three-line poems with 14 to 16 syllables per line, for a total of about 45 syllables. Sijo can be about Confucian values, nature, or love.
Other traditional Korean poetic forms include hyangga, pyŏlgok, and kasa.
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How has Korean literature changed over time?
Korean literature, initially written in Classical Chinese, transitioned to using transcription systems with Chinese characters and finally Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
Early Stages
Early literature served political, religious, and economic functions, unifying society and inspiring productivity. Foundation myths and epics emerged during the Bronze Age, glorifying nation-founding heroes.
Dynastic Era
The establishment of the Chosŏn dynasty in 1392 saw literature used to create a Korean nation. King Sejong's invention of Hangul in the 15th century enabled a vernacular literature.
Modernization
The modern literary movement was launched in the early 20th century by figures like Ch'oe Namsŏn and Yi Kwangsu, who aimed to modernize traditional forms of speech and allusion. Western literature influenced Korean poets, and the movement for literary naturalism emerged in the 1920s. The 1930s saw modern Korean literature mature through talented writers who drew upon European examples.
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Who are some famous Korean writers and what are their famous works?
Here are some famous Korean writers and their notable works:
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Yi Kwangsu Yi Kwangsu (1892-1950) is known for writing Mujŏng (1917; “The Heartless”), the first modern Korean novel. In his stories, he adopted a prose style that mirrored the everyday speech of common people.
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Han Kang Han Kang (born 1970) is known for experimental fiction that addresses humanity’s capacity for violence. Her notable books include The Vegetarian (2007), Greek Lessons (2011), and The White Book (2016). In 2024, Han Kang became the first South Korean author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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Yi Munyŏl Yi Munyŏl (born 1948) is regarded as a master of the short story and novella genres. Some of his works include Our Twisted Hero (1987), The Poet (1991), and the 12-volume novel Frontier Between Two Empires (1989–1998).
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Korean literature, the body of works written by Koreans, at first in Classical Chinese, later in various transcription systems using Chinese characters, and finally in Hangul (Korean: han’gŭl; Hankul in the Yale romanization), the national alphabet.
Although Korea has had its own language for several thousand years, it has had a writing system only since the mid-15th century, when Hangul was invented. As a result, early literary activity was in Chinese characters. Korean scholars were writing poetry in the traditional manner of Classical Chinese at least by the 4th century ce. A national academy was established shortly after the founding of the Unified Silla dynasty (668–935), and, from the time of the institution of civil service examinations in the mid-10th century until their abolition in 1894, every educated Korean read the Confucian Classics and Chinese histories and literature. The Korean upper classes were therefore bilingual in a special sense: they spoke Korean but wrote in Chinese.
By the 7th century a system, called idu, had been devised that allowed Koreans to make rough transliterations of Chinese texts. Eventually, certain Chinese characters were used for their phonetic value to represent Korean particles of speech and inflectional endings. A more extended system of transcription, called hyangch’al, followed shortly thereafter, in which entire sentences in Korean could be written in Chinese. In another system, kugyŏl, abridged versions of Chinese characters were used to denote grammatical elements and were inserted into texts during transcription. Extant literary works indicate, however, that before the 20th century much of Korean literature was written in Chinese rather than in Korean, even after the invention of Hangul.
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In general, then, literature written in Korea falls into three categories: works written in the early transcription systems, those written in Hangul, and those written in Chinese.
Traditional forms and genres
Poetry
There are four major traditional poetic forms: hyangga (“native songs”); pyŏlgok (“special songs”), or changga (“long poems”); sijo (“current melodies”); and kasa (“verses”). Other poetic forms that flourished briefly include the kyŏnggi style in the 14th and 15th centuries and the akchang (“words for songs”) in the 15th century. The most representative akchang is Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka (1445–47; “Songs of Flying Dragons”), a cycle compiled in praise of the founding of the Chosŏn (Yi) dynasty. Korean poetry originally was meant to be sung, and its forms and styles reflect its melodic origins. The basis of its prosody is a line of alternating groups of three or four syllables, probably the most natural rhythm to the language.
The oldest poetic form is the hyangga, poems transcribed in the hyangch’al system, dating from the middle period of the Unified Silla dynasty to the early period of the Koryŏ dynasty (935–1392). The poems were written in four, eight, or 10 lines; the 10-line form—comprising two four-line stanzas and a concluding two-line stanza—was the most popular. The poets were either Buddhist monks or members of the Hwarangdo, a school in which chivalrous youth were trained in civil and military virtues in preparation for state service. Seventeen of the 25 extant hyangga are Buddhist in inspiration and content.
The pyŏlgok, or changga, flourished during the middle and late Koryŏ period. It is characterized by a refrain either in the middle or at the end of each stanza. The refrain establishes a mood or tone that carries the melody and spirit of the poem or links a poem composed of discrete parts with differing contents. The theme of most of these anonymous poems is love, the joys and torments of which are expressed in frank and powerful language. The poems were sung to musical accompaniments chiefly by women entertainers known as kisaeng.
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The sijo is the longest-enduring and most popular form of Korean poetry. Although some poems are attributed to writers of the late Koryŏ dynasty, the sijo is primarily a poetic form of the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). Sijo are three-line poems in which each line has 14 to 16 syllables and the total number of syllables seldom exceeds 45. Each line consists of groups of four syllables. Sijo may deal with Confucian ethical values, but there are also many poems about nature and love. The principal writers of sijo in the first half of the Chosŏn dynasty were members of the Confucian upper class (yangban) and the kisaeng. In the latter part of the Chosŏn dynasty, a longer form called sasŏl sijo (“narrative sijo”) evolved. The writers of this form were mainly common people; hence, the subject matter included more down-to-earth topics such as trade and corruption as well as the traditional topic of love. In addition, sasŏl sijo frequently employed slang, vulgar language, and onomatopoeia.
The kasa developed at about the same time as the sijo. In its formative stage, kasa borrowed the form of the Chinese tz’u (lyric poetry) or fu (rhymed prose). The kasa tends to be much longer than other forms of Korean poetry and is usually written in balanced couplets. Either line of a couplet is divided into two groups, the first having three or four syllables and the second having four syllables. The history of the kasa is divided into two periods, the division being marked by the Japanese invasion of 1592–97. During the earlier period the poem was generally about 100 lines long and dealt with such subjects as female beauty, war, and seclusion. The writers were usually yangban. During the later period the poem tended to be longer and to concern itself with moral instruction, travel accounts, banishment, and the writer’s personal misfortunes. The later writers were usually commoners.
Immediately after the founding of the Chosŏn dynasty at the end of the 14th century and the establishment of the new capital in Seoul, a small group of poetic songs called akchang was written to celebrate the beginning of the new dynasty. In its earliest examples the form of akchang was comparatively free, borrowing its style from early Chinese classical poetry. Whereas the early akchang are generally short, the later Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka consists of 125 cantos.