KOREAN LITERATURE

ABOUT KOREA

Located in EAST ASIA Called the “Land of the morning calm” Modern spelling of “COREA” a name attested in

English as early as 1614, “KOREA” 19th century 84, 616 sq. mi the area of Korea 2.8 % is the rate of water in Korea

GEOGRAPHY

Amnok River – The river that separates Korea from China and to the north east

Duman River – The river that separates Korea from China and Russia

Peninsula - surrounded by the Yellow Sea to the west, the East China Sea and Korea Strait to the south, and the Sea of Japan

Mount Paektu (2,744 m) - The highest mountain in Korea through which runs the border with China

Dadohae-jin - Southern and south western coastlines of Korea form a well-developed Ria coastline

RELIGION Confucian tradition has dominated Korean though, along with

contributions by Buddhism, Taoism, and Korean Shamanism Has competed with Buddhism in South Korea, while religious

practice has been suppressed in North Korea The influence of traditional beliefs of Korean Shamanism, Mahayana

Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have remained an underlying religion of the Korean people as well as a vital aspect of their culture; all these traditions have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years up to today despite strong Westernisation from Christian missionary conversions in the South Korea

DIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT SOVEREIGN STATES:

SOUTH KOREA or REPUBLIC OF KOREA

NORTH KOREA or DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul – Capital and the Largest City 51 million – Population Korean pop (Kpop) and Korean series and movies Jeju Island, Mount Seorak and Gyeongbokgung palace Famous with their products like Samsung etc. and

cosmetic products popularized by the Korean stars/ actress

EDUCATION SYSTEM

Consists of six years in elementary school, three years in middle school, and three years in high school

Students are required to go to elementary and middle school, and do not have to pay for their education, except for a small fee called a "School Operation Support Fee"

The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, ranks South Korea's science education as the third best in the world

South Korea ranks second on math and literature and first in problem solving

NORTH KOREA

Pyongyang – Capital City 25 million – Total population Korean descent and small communities of ethnic

Chinese and Japanese are also found in North Korea The world's 4th tallest flagpole flying a 270kg. flag.

It's 160m in height, over Kijŏng-dong "Peace village", near Panmunjom in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

EDUCATION SYSTEM

Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of primary education, six years of secondary education, and then on to universities

Consists primarily of universal and state funded schooling by the government.

The national literacy rate for citizens 15 years of age and above is over 99 percent

The most prestigious university is Kim Il-sung University

LANGUAGE

Korean is the official language of both North and South Korea

Worldwide, there are up to 80 million speakers of the Korean language

Korean has borrowed much vocabulary from the Chinese or created vocabulary on Chinese models.

Korean is written almost exclusively in the script of the Korean alphabet (known as Hangul in South Korea and Chosungul in China and North Korea)

While Hangul may appear logographic, it is actually a phonemic alphabet organised into syllabic blocks

(jamo) – 24 Hangul letters, at least one each of the 14 consonants and 10 vowels at least one each of the 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

HANGUL

CUISINE

Believe that the taste and quality of food depend on its spices and sauces the essential ingredients to making a delicious meal

Soybean paste, soy sauce, gochujang or red pepper paste and kimchi are some of the most important staples in a Korean household

Influenced by the geography and climate therefore there are many fermented dishes and hot soups and stews

KIMCHI

COMMON DINNER TABLE IN KOREA

SPORTS

Football remains one of the most popular sports in South Korea

Baseball is popular in Seoul and they have three teams Taekwondo is one of Korea's most famous sports Hapkido is a modern Korean martial art with a grappling focus

that employs joint locks, throws, kicks, punches and other striking attacks like attacks against pressure points

Ssireum is a traditional form of wrestling that has been practiced in Korea for thousands of years, with evidence discovered from Goguryeo of Korea's Three Kingdoms Period

MUSIC

Traditional Korean music includes combinations of the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people.

Korean music falls into two broad categories. The first, Hyangak, literally means The local music or Music native to Korea of which example is Sujecheon, a piece of instrumental music as old as 1,300 years. The second, yangak, represent a more Western style.

TRADITIONAL KOREAN DANCEJINJU GEOMMU

- A traditional dress for a woman is called a hanbok - A hanbok has a short jacket called a jeogori and a long skirt called a chima

- Men also wore a jeogori, but much longer- Men wore baggy pants, which were comfortable to wear when farming and sitting on the floor

TRADITIONAL HOUSE

KOREAN DYNASTY

GORYEO or KORYO DYNASTY

Founded in 918 founded by Emperor Taejo It replaced Silla as the ruling Dynasty of Korea Goryeo land was at first what is now South Korea

and about 1/3 of North Korea Goryeo is a short form of “Goguryeo” and first used

during the time of “King Jangsu”

CHOSON DYNASTY

Yi-seong-gye founded the “Choson Dynasty” and moved the capital from “kaesong to Hanseong” formerly HANYANG, Modern day SEOUL and built “Gyeongbokgung Palace”

It was founded aftermath of the overthrew of the Goryeo Dynasty

Most notable among them was “Sejong the Great” who promote (Hangul) – Korean Alphabet

KOREAN WAR In 1945, with the surrender of Japan, the United

Nations developed plans for a trusteeship administration, the Soviet Union administering the peninsula north of the 38th parallel and the United States administering the south

Politics of the Cold War resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate governments North Korea and South Korea

During the Korean War (1950–53) more than one million people died and the three years of fighting throughout the nation effectively destroyed most cities. The war ended in an Armistice Agreement at approximately the Military Demarcation Line

The Korean War led to the development of literature centred on the wounds and chaos of war. Much of the post-war literature in South Korea deals with the daily lives of ordinary people, and their struggles with national pain. The collapse of the traditional Korean value system is another common theme of the time.

LITERATURE

Korean literature written before the end of the Joseon Dynasty is called "Classical" or "Traditional"

Literature written in Chinese characters (hanja), was established at the same time as the Chinese script arrived on the peninsula

Korean scholars were writing poetry in the classical Korean style as early as the 2nd century BC , reflecting Korean thoughts and experiences of that time

Early Korean Literature

Classical Korean literature has its roots in traditional folk beliefs and folk tales of the peninsula, strongly influenced by Confucianism

Buddhism and Shamanism

Begin as an oral tradition Good was rewarded and evil was punished. Values like loyalty

to the king, respect for elders, true friendship and chastity were emphasized

Korean poems were called Hyangga A new form of poem developed after the Goryeo dynasty and

was called shijo a three- line poem written in Hangul and gained wide acceptance

Modern Korean Literature

The first period of the modern Korean literature is often called “Enlightenment”

Introduced the Western-style schools and newspaper emerged

Many biographical works were published, the main character was often depicted as a hero

Jayusi is the formation of modern free verse poetry The first printed work of fiction in Korea was John

Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress or Cheonno-yeokjeong 1893

The first complete edition of Bible in Korean was published in 1910

Often linked in the development of Hangul which helped increase working class literacy rate

Sinsoseol was a novel that was written in hangul

CONTEMPORARY KOREAN LITERATURE

During the Colonial Korea 1910 – 1945 free speech and press were restricted, thus influencing the literature

Literature focused on self discovery and increasingly on concrete reality

Many novelist experimented with new literacy style and techniques

In 1919, Kim Tong-in and Kim Hyok founded a literary magazine “Changjo”

The literary magazine appeared during 1920’s and 1930’s were the basis for the future development of Modern Korean Literature

Almost all the magazine were ordered to discontinue publication in the 1940s as the Japanese tightened the grip with the spread of their aggressive war to the Pacific

Many novels of the 1920s centred around themes of the suffering of intellectuals

The Korean literature was directly affected by the Japanese government strengthening ideological coercion during 1930s

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