Late Novelists Timeless Literary Values Endure
His Checkered Life From Rich Boy to Sick, Poor Novelist
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
CHUNCHEON ― When you travel on a train connecting Seoul to Chuncheon in Gangwon Province, you can find a very unique station ― Gimyujeong (Kim You-jeong) Station ― named after the renowned novelist Kim You-jeong (1908-1937).
The station, which opened in 1939 on the railway linking the capital and Chuncheon, was renamed Gimyujeong Station in 2004 after Kim who lived in the region and popularized 1930's Korean literature.
Getting off at the station, the Silre Village welcomes visitors. The village is the birthplace of Kim and is also known as the setting for his works ``Bom, Bom'' (Spring Spring), and ``Dongbaekggot'' (Spicebush Flowers).
The village is home to the now-lost `30s rural community where visitors can experience the village dialect with its rough but correct sentences, and unique humor.
Five minutes from the station is the ``Kim You-jeong House of Literature.'' The house, where he was born, includes an exhibit hall, a cow shed, a rice mill and a pavilion.
The village has something special this year to celebrate this year, the 100th anniversary of Kim's birth in 1908.
The village has changed a lot since the 1930s but still has its rural scenery where you can find spots depicted in his novels.
Jeon Sang-guk, head of the house and professor of Korean language and literature at Kangwon University, said that among 31 novels, 12 works used the village as the setting.
``Not only the village's titles, but also most of the characters of his works were found to be people who actually lived in the village,'' Jeon said in an interview with The Korea Times.
The 66-year-old, who has served as the head of the literary house since its inception in 2002 to commemorate Kim's artistry, said the village is different from other similar towns paying tribute to late novelists and poets.
``This region is the birthplace of Kim and also his literary motivation. The village itself is a vivid museum preserving his memory and literary values. Villagers are voluntarily engaged in activities related to Kim,'' Jeon said.
Who is Kim You-jeong?
The novelist was born to a well-to-do family in 1908 in Silre village, Sindongmyeon, Chuncheon.
He graduated from Jaedong Public Elementary School in Seoul, attended Whimoon High School and, in 1930, entered Yonhee College (now Yonsei University). However, he dropped out shortly afterward.
He lost his parents at an early age, and failed to win the love of Park Rok-ju, a female traditional singer and entertainer, a loss that left him trapped in bitter sorrow.
In 1932, he returned to his hometown and set up a night school, ``Geumbyeonguisuk,'' through which he launched a rural enlightenment campaign.
He formally made his debut in the world of literature in 1935 when ``Rain Shower'' was published in the Chosun Ilbo and ``Windfall'' in the Joongang Ilbo. However, some of Kim's works were published in literary magazines even before his formal debut. Works such as ``A Wayfarer in the Mountainous Area'' and ``Bachelor and Frog'' are such examples. His literary career spanned four to five years, Jeon explained.
Despite his short-lived literary activities, he wrote over 30 novels as well as 10 essays, showing his energy.
On March 29, 1937, Kim passed away in poverty and sickness at the youthful age of 29.
He left a great mark in the history of Korean novels with works depicting the joy and sorrow of the common people both in urban and rural areas. His representative works include ``Spring Spring,'' ``Donggbaekggot,'' ``Rain Shower,'' ``Manmubang,'' ``Ttaengbyeot'' (Scorching Heat), and ``The Wretched.''
Kim's Literature: Comic Humor
Kim's writing is rich and earthy and he had an excellent command of the native Korean vocabulary.
His literary language is crude and rhythmical and describes the aesthetics of a vivid life mixed with humor. But the playfulness of some of these works masks his profound sorrow.
His birthplace, which gave him comfort, greatly influenced his literary style. After returning to his hometown, his contact with the stark realities of rural life and the rustic language of farmers enabled him to cultivate a style for his uniquely creative world.
He utilized this style successfully to build up the foundation of Korean realism by presenting people's life from diverse angles based on the folk emotions of Koreans in the colonial period of the 1930s.
Jeon explained that Kim's literary works have a universal ascetic, which touches not only Koreans but also foreigners.
He said that Kim's novel, ``Rain Shower'' was translated into French and garnered huge popularity with some reviewers calling him ``Korea's Guy de Maupassant.''
``Among the literary works created in the 1930s, Kim's works are still being read through school textbooks. Almost all Korean students might have read Kim's works. It means they have a universal sense of humor and beauty regardless of time and space,'' he said.
Jeon said that although Kim was born into a wealthy family and was an intellectual, the narrators in his books were always lower class people such as farmers or the wretched.
``So his literary language is very crude but vivid in showing the dialect and the words people used in the 1930s. He didn't use the Chinese words many literary men used, although he studied Chinese literature. He always used Korean native words because he thought novels about the life of the mediocre were supposed to be easy,'' he added.
Jeon said that ``Manmubang'' and ``Ttaraji'' are good examples epitomizing the characters in his novels ― ridiculous and yet realistic.
His checkered life from a rich boy to a sick and poor novelist made his literary works more realistic and desperate, plagued by life-and-death problems such as poverty.
In stories such as ``Dongbaekggot,'' Kim wrote with affection of the farming villages and the foibles of his villagers. The budding sexuality implicit in ``Dongbaekggot'' becomes more overt in ``Rain Shower.'' Still other works, such as ``Ttaengbyeot'' (Scorching Heat) are downright gloomy.
Camellias: Wrong Name of Spicebush Flowers
There is a common misconception about one of his masterpieces, ``Dongbaekggot.'' Dongbaekggot is a dialect form for the Japanese spicebush referred to in his village. Dongbaekggot is often regarded as meaning the camellia with the same name in Korean, which grows mainly in southern regions of the peninsula with big red flowers.
Jeon said that the novel depicts the flowers as ``yellow flowers releasing a spicy and fresh aroma,'' which bloom very early in the spring before the leaves appear.
``It is the Japanese spicebush, not the camellia, which is the wrong translation due to misunderstanding of folk culture,'' he said.
Centenary Anniversary Events
The literary house and a centenary organizing committee are hosting various celebratory events throughout this year.
``Kim's novels will be re-created as various artistic genres such as plays and traditional performances,'' Jeon said.
``Anhae'' (Wife) is being staged as a play, until April 20, by Art-3 Theater based in Chuncheon.
On April 25-26, there is an academic seminar titled ``Korean Laughing Culture'' in Chuncheon. On May 10, Korean percussionist Kim Duk-soo will perform ``samulnori'' and crossover music along with classical musicians.
In October, about 40 prominent Asian authors including Kenzabur Oe will gather at Kangwon University. ``They will come to the village from Seoul via train. It will be a rare opportunity for them,'' he said.
Around the house, there is a ``literary walkway,'' which leads to a path to Mt. Geumbyeong, where spicebush and cornus flowers bloom in springtime.