[KS] Book Announcement: AZALEA: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture, Volume 15, 2022

Fri Jul 15 04:09:49 EDT 2022

To Koreanstudies listserv. If you could make this announcement we would
greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

Book Announcement – Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture,
Volume 15

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and
Culture, Volume 15, is now available in print (currently in Seoul only) and
in eBook (PDF) format.

(*The eBook is now live on Project MUSE*:* https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/429
<https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/429>* )

ISSN: 1939-6120

ISBN: 978-0-9993138-3-1

Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture Volume 15 (2022)

*Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture: Volume Fifteen*
Edited by Young-Jun Lee, Professor, Kyung Hee University, South Korea

*Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture* promotes Korean literature
among English-language readers. Each issue may include works of
contemporary Korean writers and poets, as well as essays and book reviews
by Korean studies professors in the United States. *Azalea* introduces to
the world new writers as well as promising translators, providing the
academic community of Korean studies with well-translated texts for college
courses. Writers from around the world also share their experience of
Korean literature or culture with wider audiences.

*Editor's Note*

A century’s worth of change looks quite remarkable in Korean literature.
Today’s young Koreans cannot read the same newspapers read by their
grandparents’ generation. In less than a hundred years, the national
written language has shifted from Chinese characters to Korean *hangul*,
then briefly to Japanese as enforced under colonial rule, and then to the
modern Korean language that we know today. During this process, remarkable
sociocultural transformations dominated daily life. Over the first half of
the 20th century, Koreans endured enormous political shifts most notably
marked by colonization, the Korean War, and the ensuing divide of the
country into separate political nations. Along the way, Korean literature
registered these upheavals and fluctuations.

Notably, the literature of totalizing *grand narrative*, which concerned
itself with the trajectory of nation-building, persisted in Korea until the
1980s. Ever since the end of the military dictatorship and the
establishment of a civil government in the 1990s, however, that literature
began to shift its focus to the lives of women. Now, those long ignored and
marginalized—including queer women, as well as other queer people such as
those who are non-binary—have also begun to emerge more strongly as
published authors, even as they have been increasingly centered as subjects
of literary narratives. The ongoing impact of this inclusive, expansionary
shift can be seen directly in *AZALEA’s *decision to focus on LGBTQ+
literature for its fifteenth issue.

The vanguard of this new wave of queer representation in Korea includes
writers such as Park Sang Young, Kim Mella, Kim Hyun, Han Junghyun, Hwang
Jiun, and Im Guk Yeong, all of whom contributed to this issue’s special
feature. Their writing reveals suppressed voices of queerness in
representation and subject matter, even as it questions traditional Korean
heteronormativity and gender roles. Through the works featured here,
readers will encounter key voices in contemporary Korean LGBTQ+ literature.
I am especially pleased to include the graphic novel, *In-Between Seasons*,
by Lee Dong-eun and Jeong Yi-yong, a delicately nuanced story of queer
people still hidden in the shadows of contemporary Korean society. Special
thanks go to artist Kang Seung Lee for his generosity in letting us use his
pioneering art works on queer topics for *AZALEA*’s special artist feature,
as well as the cover of this issue.

I must add that the LGBTQ+ community has yet to acquire equal rights and
standing in Korean culture, and this had a direct effect on *AZALEA*’s
efforts to procure works for this special issue. Some writers had to
decline for personal reasons. It is my hope that this feature can be a
small step towards contributing to much needed social progress. Sincere
thanks go to the two guest editors, Samuel Perry and Kim Keonhyung, for
their dedication.

I am also happy to publish the works of two writers, Kwon Yeo-sun and Kim
Choyeop, whose work showcase new trends in contemporary Korean literature.
With humor and sensitivity, Kwon Yeo-sun depicts the conflict and emotional
intimacy of private lives; Kim Choyeop is a rising star in Korea’s science
fiction genre. In addition to contemporary fiction, I am pleased to include
poems by Lee Seong-bok, who pioneered a new voice in Korean poetry in the
late 1970s and who has continued to pursue new themes such as Buddhism in
his work. These poems are featured in this issue.

The roots of modern Korean literature lie in its colonial past. Digging up
these roots and excavating hidden or forgotten authors has continued to be
a key labor of scholars. To this end, the current issue of *AZALEA *includes
poems by Kim Myŏng-sun and a story by Kim Saryang, whose work is reexamined
by ambitious young scholars such as our contributors, Eunice Lee and Oh
Yoon Jeong.

As the pandemic that began in 2019 evolves into an endemic, we at
*AZALEA *continue
our best efforts to introduce and situate Korean literature in the world,
shining a light on the shadows and raising the voices of the neglected and
suppressed.

May 2022

Young-Jun Lee

Published by the Korea Institute, Harvard University

-- 

이영준
경희대학교 서울캠퍼스 후마니타스 칼리지 교수
서울 동대문구 경희대로 26
경희대학교 청운관 208호
우편번호 02447
전화 02-961-9311 (연구소)
셀폰 010-6211-7012
youngjun.lee at gmail.com
youngjunlee at khu.ac.kr

Editor-in-Chief,
Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture
Korea Institute, Harvard University
1730 Cambridge St #228
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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