By Choe Chong-dae
My wife and I recently took a memorable trip to the Netherlands at the invitation of Dr. Steven Engelsman, director of the Dutch National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden. Although we also visited major cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven, our visit to Leiden constituted the most inspiring cultural experience.
Leiden is a center for knowledge with a rich cultural history, having been described as the Netherlands' best kept legacy. What inspired us the most was the wealth of
well-known museums, historic monuments, stylish buildings and picturesque canals as well as the ``October 3 Festival”.
We were honored to stay at the guesthouse of the National Museum of Ethnology, which is located near Leiden's old west city gate (Morspoort) during the first week of October. It was fortunate for us to be able to join in the city's biggest and most popular annual festival on October 3, which celebrates the end of the Spanish siege of 1574.
The festival took place over the course of a couple of days and included parades, historical reenactments, a carnival and music performances. Huge crowds of Leiden citizens irrespective of age, gender and social standing were packed on the streets of the old city gate nearby the museum's guesthouse to celebrate the festival. From their hearts, the citizen of Leiden created an enthusiastic and festive atmosphere.
While in Leiden, I had the pleasure of having dinner with Dr. Remco Breuker, professor of Korean Studies at University of Leiden. Significantly, he is an enthusiastic admirer of Korean literature, and, together with his wife Imke van Gardingen, translated many valuable Korean novels into Dutch.
His major translation into Dutch of the Korean novels are: ``Shim Cheong, Path of Lotus Flower" by Hwang Sok-young (Atlas, 2013); ``The Empire of Lights" by Kim Young-ha (Ambo-Anthos, 2010); ``The Shadow of Arms" by Hwang Sok-young (De Arbeiderspers, Oorlogsdomein, 2009); ``Bird" by Oh Cheung-hi (DeGeus, 2008); ``Mother’s Stake” (``A House in Seoul”) by Pak Wan-seo (De Geus, 2006), ``The Chronicle of Mister Han" by Hwang Sok-young (De Arbeiderspers, 2005).
During the dinner, I shared many interesting views on Korean studies and literature with Professor Breuker. Coincidently, the laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2011 was announced the same day. According to some media reports, the names of a number of Korean writers circulated as possible candidates for the Nobel Prize. However, Korea has yet to produce a winner. I have come to realize that the main reason why a Korean author has yet to receive this award is the lack of proper translations into foreign languages.
It is encouraging that Prof. Breuker is planning to hold an exhibition, provisionally titled ``Modern Times: The Emergence of Mass Culture in Korea during the Japanese Occupation, 1910-1945” at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden in November. The exhibition is to demonstrate to the Dutch public that even during the colonial period, there was a distinctly Korean modern culture being formed, which was different from Japanese culture and not a mere imitation of Japanese culture.
It is true that the Dutch know little about Korean culture, although they have heard about Korea. The exhibition will show posters, books, magazines and newspapers from that period and play movie clips and music fragments (Korean pop songs like those from Lee Aeri-soo, but also Pansori, or Korean one man opera, recorded with the most modern technology then available).
I hope that the exhibition will provide the Dutch people with a valuable opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Korean culture and literature in Leiden.
Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times and the president of Dea-kwang International Co., as well as a director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.