Review of Mun Dok-su’s Long Poem Postman

I recently read Mun Dok-su's long poem "Postman." I was surprised that the elderly poet could still be productive. I admire his work.

Poet Mun Dok-su

By Choi Yearn-hong

I recently read Mun Dok-su's long poem "Postman." I was surprised that the elderly poet could still be productive. I admire his work.

Mun, famed poet, scholar, former president of the Korean PEN Center and a member of the Korean Academy of Arts, was born in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1928, and graduated from Hongik University (B.A.) and Korea University (M.A. and Ph.D.). He taught at Hongik University from 1961 until his retirement. His major field was Korean Literature. He also taught at Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University.

Since his debut as a poet in 1955, Mun has authored more than 19 books of poetry, 10 books of literary criticism and three books of essays. He edited "The Anthology of Poets of Pacific Countries and Islands," the first of its kind, to present the diversity of Asian-Pacific poets (1984). He organized and directed the World Congress of Poets in Seoul, which attracted the participation of Andrei A. Boznesenski (Russia), Allen Ginsberg (USA), Jon Silkin (England) and 200 major poets from 48 nations. He also produced "Metaphor Beyond Time," a historical anthology of Korea. He has actively promoted Korean literature abroad as the president of the Korean PEN Center; he has also participated in many international conferences, including ones in the U.S., Japan, Russia, England, Italy, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan.

He was elected as the president of the Korea PEN Center in 1992. While its president , he exhorted the Korean government to free Hwang Suk-young ― an imprisoned dissident writer. He also lobbied to reinstate Professor Ma Kwang-su, who was fired from Yonsei University for publishing a sensual graphic novel. He fought for the freedom of writers and freedom of expression his entire life. He dedicated his 1999 poem "May You Sleep Peacefully" at an ocean monument to the Korean soldiers and workers who fell during World War II in the Pacific.

Mun was drafted early in the Korean War (1950-53) and was commissioned as an army lieutenant. He was wounded in the front line, at the location referred to as the Iron Triangle. Because of his injury, he retired from active duty. His war experiences influenced his work as a humanitarian, poet and writer.

Mun is a leader of modern Korean poets who represent freedom, consciousness and unconsciousness, environmentalism, and visions of urban and technological life. His most recent landmark poem ― "Postman" ― has become one of the most controversial poems in Korea, revealing an experimental spirit. He strives for innovation, but reveals his populist appeal in the age of information technology. His work is for the ultimate purpose of liberating humanity and eliminating the causes of human tragedies, thus, bringing peace and prosperity to mankind.

There are few modern Korean poets who have pursued change as ardently as Mun. In his early days, he wrote modernist poems engaged in the pursuit of ontological issues, under the influence of Yu Chi-hwan. But before and around the turn of the 21st century, as the spirit of the times was changing, he developed an interest in the environmental issues associated with the so-called DMZ and produced works that were deeply marked by postmodernism. Nowadays, however, refusing to be satisfied, he has chosen a method of composition derived from modernism and has brought into the world a poem in cantos close to an epic: "The Postman: Reborn, I Want to Become a Postman."

Below is his introduction to the landmark poem. I've translated his words.
"This 500-line poem is my latest harvest. I may produce more works in the future, but this will remain as my landmark poem, because it reflects my artistic and intellectual maturity. In this poem, I attempt to balance approach (method) and substance (concept) as an artist. I have also tried to integrate the cognitive and the emotional elements of the work. I have used a montage of imagery and a variety of poetic devices: multiple narrators, diverse viewpoints, consciousness and unconsciousness, the power of imagination and inference, paradox and irony, pun and other experimental forms.

In this long poem, I search for the roots of war, terror, massacre and other crimes against humanity. I also search for the punishment for such crimes. I search for causes because knowing the causes will suggest the solutions. I review the historical and geographical settings of conflicts and war-related crimes. For example, the Dover Straits between England and the European continent, the Dardanelles Strait between Greece and Troy, and the South Sea between Japan and Korea are three possible origins of conflict. In this context, one can observe that the conflicts regarding water routes between islands and continents have often developed into wars.

The waves themselves can be seen as the force for peaceful co-existence and co-prosperity, covering and equalizing everything with their constant energy. However, we are seemingly propelled only by the self, skimming the surface and ignoring the deep lessons we could absorb from the waves.

Korea's South Sea, including Gyunnairyang and Wooldolmok, were the battle grounds between Korean forces and invading Japanese armies in the 16th century (1592-96). Admiral Yi Sun-shin protected the sea and the coast, thereby maintaining the pride of the Joseon Kingdom. Under his leadership, the people of the Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces were unified, even though the rest of Korea was under Japanese military rule. Today, these two provinces are divided by political and regional animosity. The theme and imagery of the South Sea are central to this poem.

We live within history and want to go beyond history. To live both within and beyond history is a true Homeric odyssey, a heroic quest for justice. My poem is a quest by means of an odyssey, searching out answers for the human tragedies we witness in our world today."

I congratulate his long poem. I hope my mailman can deliver my letters to my relatives in Pyongyang soon, and that Mun's "Postman" will be disseminated throughout the world.

Dr. Choi is a poet and writer whose recent book of poetry is "Moon of New York" (2008).