[KS] {Spam?} Book Announcement

[Young Jun Lee]

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that *Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and
Culture*, Volume 17, is now available in print and eBook (PDF) format.

(The eBook is now live on Project MUSE:
https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/52957/print)

ISSN: 1939-6120

ISBN: 978-0-9993138-5-5

Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture Volume 17 (2024)



Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture: Volume Seventeen

Edited by Young-Jun Lee



*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



This issue presents special features on women writers, particularly those
who emerged from the "Feminism Reboot" of the 2010s. Korean literature in
the 20th century was dominated by men, but that changed in the 1990s after
democratization and the rise of the economy. If you read literary magazines
from the 1990s, you will find that names of women writers on the contents
pages are strikingly more numerous than those of men. This trend has
continued for almost three decades now and it is likely to continue for the
foreseeable future, as long as Korean women writers are responding to
Korean society, which keeps women in an inferior position. "Feminism
Reboot" was one of the critiques of the resilient patriarchal system in
Korea.



Personal income in South Korea has recently overtaken that of Japan. South
Korea's rise is not only economic, but also cultural. Pop culture fans,
including many young people around the world, are fascinated by Korean
culture and new works coming out of South Korea. The popularity of Korean
language programs at universities around the world has gone beyond the
limits of what those universities can accommodate. And yet, by any
standard, it is still undeniable that women in South Korea are victims of
serious social inequality.



One of the social institutions that has been the driving force behind the
transformation of Korean society is the university. Korean universities
have educated and supplied the workforce that [End Page 7] has fueled the
country's economic growth. In addition, they have been regarded as an
engine of progressive ideas that led educated people to transform a
pre-modern society into a modern one, as evinced by the democratization
movement. However, until the early 2000s, it was very difficult for women
to be appointed professors in South Korean universities. In a department of
Korean Language and Literature at a major university in Seoul, for example,
out of a dozen professors, it would be typical not to find a single woman.
Although things have changed somewhat, there are still only one or two
female professors in such departments, even as female students studying
Korean literature at the undergraduate and graduate levels overwhelmingly
outnumber male students. However, it is strange but true that—even among
professors or students, who were leading figures in protesting social
injustice during the regime of military dictatorship—there were no
significant protests against this obviously disparate number of men in the
academy.



This issue's special feature on women's literature is divided into three
parts. The first is a collection of seven stories by women writers
published since 2010, guest edited by the literary critic Kim Mijung.
Readers will find new styles and sensibilities in Korean women's writing
emerging from the "Feminism Reboot," as discussed in her introductory
essay. In the poetry section, Professor Eun-Gwi Chung has selected poems by
women poets whose vibrant and engaging work explores key challenges of the
21st century. In addition, the section on the "Writer in Focus" introduces
two stories and an excerpt from a novel by Kwon Yeo-sun, known for her
idiosyncratic humor and attentive descriptions. Through this three-part
feature, readers will be able to recognize some of the distinctive aspects
of women's literature in Korea today. Finally, Imamura Eiji's short story,
set in colonial Manchuria and depicting the struggles of a Korean trying to
become Japanese, is featured with an introduction by Professor [End Page 8]
Kimberly Kono. It is a valuable addition to understanding Koreans of the
colonial period. We are also fortunate to be able to include photographer
Ok Hyun Ahn's works in this issue. Her works will give readers lasting
insights into women's precarious position in Korea and the world.



May 2024



Young-Jun Lee



Published by the Korea Institute, Harvard University





-- 

이영준
(재)한국연구원
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전화 02-737-1731, 010-6211-7012
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셀폰 010-6211-7012
youngjun.lee at gmail.com

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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