Understanding Korean Literature, and: An Introduction to Classical Korean Literature: From Hyangga to P'ansori (review)

124KOREAN STUDIES, VOL. 22 The Descendants of Cain is the fourth of Hwang's seven novels available in English, along with Trees on a Cliff (Namurül pit'al e soda, 1960), Sunlight, Moonlight (Ilwöl, 1964), and The Moving Castle (Umjiginün song, 1973). This translation by Suh Ji-moon and Julie Pickering supplants a rare and long-out-of-print version of the story that appeared under the title The Cry of the Cuckoo (tr. Youngsook Chang and Robert Miller). It is always a pleasure to welcome further translations of Hwang Sun-wön, especially when, as in this case, the collaborative rendering by two experienced translators is not only eminently readable but also manages to convey the flavor ofHwang's stark prose. The novel can be highly recommended. It provides social background in unobtrusive fashion and dramatically captures a crucial period of Korean history, and its brisk pace and moderate cost make it a promising text for university courses in Korean studies. Stephen J. Epstein Victoria University of Wellington Understanding Korean Literature, by Kim Hunggyu. An East Gate Book. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1996. 230 pp., $62.95 cloth, $21.95 paper. An Introduction to Classical Korean Literature: From Hyangga to P'ansori, by Kichung Kim. An East Gate Book. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. 244 pp., $62.95 cloth, $21.95 paper. The study of Korea's literary heritage is a systematic probing of the dynamism behind an intellectual reflection of the ethnocultural, psychoreligious, and sociopolitical life of one of the oldest civilizations on earth. From its first appearance in the myths, legends, and chants that accompanied the pleasures and toils of early Koreans, Korea's literary tradition has struggled to define its identity amidst alternating tides of cultural continuity and discontinuity in multifarious stages of its intellectual and linguistic development. These stages include the mass imposition of the Chinese Classical canon in the Unified Silla and Koryö periods, the promulgation of hangül and literary dualism of the Chosön dynasty, and the heavy influence of Western literary styles and criticisms in the modern era. Korean literature has in the process developed an aura of rich historicism that often reveals glimpses of Korean history itself. Despite the mythical, aesthetic, and sociohistorical richness contained within, neither Korea's literary readership nor scholarship has expanded much beyond the scope of Korean native speakers. This deficiency is largely attributable to the dominant academic politics, which equate cultural significance BOOK REVIEWS125 with political and economic hegemony. In recent decades, however, many capable translators in Korea and abroad have contributed to an increase of readership in Korean poetry, essays, short stories, and novels. Studies on Korean literature, on the other hand, have continued to suffer from a paucity of nonKorean language resources. Thus M. E. Sharpe's recent publication of Kichung Kim's An Introduction to Classical Korean Literature (1996) and Robert Fouser's translation of Kim Hunggyu's Understanding Korean Literature (1997) are most welcome additions to the field, setting new standards in the establishment of structure and relevance in Korean literary scholarship. Although the two volumes deal largely with the same literary divisions and issues, they differ in organization, focus, and application. Kim Hunggyu's Understanding Korean Literature, published in Korean under the title Hanguk munhak üi ihae in 1986 and since widely used as a college textbook in Korea, pursues a cohesive understanding of Korean literature utilizing an innovative theme-oriented structure. The book's thematic modularity enables the reader to focus on a specific topic without sacrificing a temporal continuity that stretches from the ancient to the modern. In the span of seven chapters, the author discusses a range of important topics including Korean literary contexts , canons, and scope; the relationship between oral tradition and literature; the Sino-Korean dualism in Korean literary language; genres; and the often overlooked histories of printing and distribution culture. Most significantly, the author initiates the construction of a comprehensive canon of Korean literary criticism which, in the whirlwind of modern Western literary influences, has seemed almost nonexistent. This is a refreshing reminder that sources critical to understanding Korean literature exist in the meaningful readings of numerous native theoreticians as far...