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ABSTRACT
This article explores the ideas and themes that emerged in new Korean poetry during the 20th century. Drawing from
a comparative analysis of significant works and poets, it sheds light on the evolving landscape of Korean poetry and
its response to social, political, and cultural changes. The study traces the trajectory of Korean poetry from early 20th-
century modernism to later avant-garde movements, highlighting key poetic concepts and techniques employed by
influential poets. By examining the works of major figures such as Yi Sang, Kim Sowol, and Ko Un, the article seeks to
identify the central ideas that shaped the development of Korean poetry in the 20th century. Additionally, it delves
into the influence of Korean history, national identity, and the Korean War on poetic expression, as well as the impact
of Western literary movements on Korean poets. By providing a comprehensive overview of the ideas and themes
explored in new Korean poetry, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the rich cultural and literary
heritage of Korea and its significance in the global context.
KEYWORDS
Leading themes, ideas, Korean poetry, twentieth century, Korean youth, study, faculties of literature, Western
European literature, English literature, Russian literature.
Research Article
IDEAS OF NEW KOREAN POETRY IN THE 20TH CENTURY: A
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Submission Date:
September 10, 2022,
Accepted Date:
September 16, 2022,
Published Date:
September 30, 2022
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ajps/Volume02Issue09-03
Dr. Prof. Umida T. Saydazimova
Professor, Dsc Tashkent State University Of Oriental Studies, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ajps
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
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INTRODUCTION
Historically, the Korean people have skilled many acts
of invasion and colonialism. In the 19th century, Korea
became a colony of Japan. In the second half of the XIX
century, the so-
called “backward state” in the West
began to be conquered by force. The first erroneous
treaty was made with Japan in 1876, followed by the
United States (1882), England (1883), Russia (1884),
France (1886), and other similar states [11.118]. These
agreements turned into a battle to colonize Korea, and
as a result, Japan won.
THE MAIN FINDINGS AND RESULTS
The history of the Korean people under Japanese rule
was in a sad state. Japan’s victory in the Russo
-
Japanese War of 1904-1905 helped to conclude a
“sponsorship agreement” to protect Korea from
danger, when in fact the goal was to assert its
dominance in Korea. In August 1910, Japan colonized
Korea. Korea became part of the Japanese Empire,
becoming a governor-general.
The 40-year-old Japanese colony has brought
unparalleled grief and sorrow to the Korean people. In
some sources, Japan’s dominance of the literary world
in the first decade is referred to as “military rule”
[12.132]. The Korean people were deprived of even the
most basic economic rights.
The first half of the XX century was a turning point for
Korea: the state shifted from a feudal system to a
capitalist system, the centuries-old Confucian norms
were broken, and the most horrific event was the loss
of the state’s independence.
It is known from history that in 1910, Korea was
annexed by Japan. This has had an impact not only on
the growth of the Korean economy, but also on the
rapid development of Korean literature. Many Korean
youth went to Japan to study. Here they studied in the
faculties of literature, and were able to get acquainted
with Western European, English, and Russian
literature. Western literature had a significant
influence on the formation of modern Korean
literature.
It should be borne in mind that the adoption of new
methods by Korean literature has led to very difficult
socio-political situations. In order to deprive the
Korean people of their national identity, the Japanese
government severely repressed not only statesmen
but also writers and poets, restricting their free
creativity.
Uzbek scientist O. Sharafiddinov’s views on the
environment of Uzbekistan in the 1930s: “The constant
spiritual and physical terror in literature was primarily
aimed at breaking the will of writers, intellectuals,
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bending it, uprooting human
pride in it” [13.4] this
period is similar to the environment in Korea.
The publication of uncensored works of art was not
allowed. But against this colonial slavery, Korean poets
found the courage to sing the ideas of national
liberation and a free homeland. Literature has become
a weapon of struggle on the path of national
awakening and national revival.
In particular, Kim Sovol, whose poems deserve a place
among the masterpieces of world literature, writes in
his poem “Swallow”:
Even the Swallow
Flying in the sky,
Has a house.
If it leaves once, it will return one.
Because it has a shelter.
Why don’t I burn, my pain is so severe,
Because I don’t have a home, my head hurts!
Although the efforts for independence on March 1,
1919 were unsuccessful, to a certain extent this period
determined the direction of the development of
national literature. Fearing the rise of their own people
rather than colonial oppression, the Korean
bourgeoisie began to cooperate with the Japanese
government. “The era of cultural management” [14.25]
was announced. Those who “sat” at the top of power,
the Japanese and Korean peoples are inextricably
linked, their history is the same, so everyone began to
talk more often about equal rights. During this period,
the Japanese Prime Minist
er said, “the gap between
Korea and Japan in the fields of education,
manufacturing and civil services will be sharply closed.
On top of that, the government will in time establish a
Japanese administrative system in Korea if the
situation requires it” [15
.56], announced.
In response, the poet Yu Ji Hwan writes about the
tragedy of his country in his poem “In the Latitudes”:
Yes, a regret, a sorrow,
There is no place to sob.
I quietly go upstairs and open the door.
But even from a restless sky,
I can’t find
a place to go.
The train station is two hundred miles from here.
These are the widths of despair...
The most famous poet of this period, Han Yong Un,
wrote in his poem “Obedience” that the people freed
from the feudal system suffered a second blow - the
Japanese invasion:
Let people say that I love freedom,
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I don’t love freedom, I love obedience.
The reason is that I don’t know what freedom is,
There is a reason to serve you faithfully.
Thank you for serving me,
Such a service is quite sweet,
Both from freedom and liberty.
The young writers who entered the world of literature
in the 1920s were mostly journalists. They were all
working in connection with publishing houses:
someone was the owner of the publishing department,
someone was the editor or the author. During this
period, a series of literary magazines began to be
established in Korea. Creative groups were formed
around these magazines. These groups were
supporters of a certain lineage that had formed in the
West in the last five years.
All members of the creative team were actively
involved in the translation, especially many works from
English and French. A large part of European literature
entered the countries of the East on its own, that is, in
the original, and this process was carried out by
individual writers [16.320]. In the process of formation
for modern Korean and Japanese literature of the XIX-
XX centuries, it was necessary for every writer and poet
to have a good knowledge of Western literature, at
least one folk literature.
Poet Li Chin Won in his poem “Song of Loneliness”
talks about the fact that the country remained in a
feudal system for many years, and that the country
“separated” from the world is “open” to all today:
Wake up now, oh wake up!
We have been in ignorance for four centuries.
The countries have already united,
The world has always been a common home.
In the early XX century, there was a mixed state of
influx from the West, which Korean researchers called
the period of “riots”.
In the 1920s, Korean writers set themselves new tasks,
i.e., they reinterpreted any western work read by them
in the original. The translations made became, first and
foremost, the writers’ first creative tool. As a result,
literary trends became more interdependent, adapting
not only to national traditions but also to socio-political
situations.
It is known that in 1910, a military-administrative
regime was established in Korea. Korean workers were
oppressed by the colonialists on the one hand, by local
officials on the other, and by the emerging national
bourgeoisie. Against this three-pronged oppression,
the poet Lee San Hwa wrote in his “Will Spring Come
to the Colonial Lands?” he says screaming in his poem:
Will spring come to the occupied fields?
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Now th
ese lands are foreign to us…
Maybe we lost a beautiful spring along with the field?
The fate of the people who lived under severe pressure
during the Japanese annexation was tragic, the fate
was bitter, even for the creators. But among the poets
there were, of course, poets inspired by the beautiful
nature of their homeland, the immaculate mornings,
the beautiful corners. In particular, the poet Kim Sovol,
whose poems have a worthy place among the
masterpieces of world literature, points out in the
poem “Flowers” that the change of seasons of nature
indicates the continuation of life:
On the mountain - the flowers open,
Many flowers open.
Flowers open.
Is it autumn or summer, the first spring,
The flowers will open anyway.
In mountain,
In mountain
The flowers bloomed,
So, alone, opens alone.
In general, the poet Kim Sovol is inspired by everything
in nature. His poems mention grasses that no one pays
attention to, and small flowers that open in the field.
It is well known that the October Revolution and its
aftermath, the first socialist experiment in Russia in the
world, inspired the workers of the West and the East,
as well as the advanced intelligentsia. The socialist
ideology influenced the consciousness of the great
imperial states, even the colonial state Korea, the
intelligentsia, even the common people. March 1, 1919,
in Korea, in the wake of the October coup in Russia. The
movement was defeated. This is what the poet Pak
Yong Xi writes about:
In the bosom of a dream full of hopes,
Apparently a light, bright surroundings.
Then suddenly the wish comes true,
Only an old, dilapidated hut stands…
According to some Korean researchers, the history of
modern Korean literature dates back to the October
Revolution in Russia and the March 1, 1919, actions of
the Korean people against the Japanese occupation of
Korea.
Mahkam Mahmud’s article “The Idea of National
Revival in Poetry” compares the Palestinian national
liberation movement to the environment in
Uzbekistan. The same comparison applies to the
period of Japanese colonization in Korea in the first
half of the twentieth century. The fate of the peoples
of Palestine, Uzbekistan and Korea is similar. During
the Soviet era, Armenians, Georgians, Jews, and
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Russians lived in Uzbekistan in high positions and were
wealthy, while locals worked as laborers in the fields
and workshops as cheap labor, or as guards, street
sweepers, and market bearers [17.231]. In Korea, too,
all ranks were held by Japanese officials, local men
between the ages of 16 and 45 were drafted into the
army, 9-year-old boys worked in chemical plants, and
their daughters served in the Japanese army. Poet Lee
San Hwa expresses his hatred in his poem “Disgusting
Season”:
Long, helpless thoughts
Can only be overcome in sleep
The example of a widowed man is the wind that blows,
If the tim-vertical head of the crop.
Longing in the heart, has autumn come.
Heart ready to shoot,
It has no power to leave pain.
Look at the sky: where the rare clouds are going?
Look at the earth: young Choson has lost his
way[Chosun is an ancient Korean state].
The frustration and mistrust that engulfed the Korean
intelligentsia as a result of the suppression of the First
March movement in the country led to the emergence
of various decadent currents in the literature. Since
the early 1920s, a number of literary magazines have
been published in Korea, such as “Dawn Light”, “The
Beginning of the Age”, “Student World”, “Oriental
Light”, “Ruins, Rose Village”, “Golden Star”, a
nd
“Creation”. A writers’ association was also formed
around each literary magazine. These associations
declared themselves supporters of this or that literary
line. In the 1920s, the number of such routes was not
small. Symbolists, romantics, imaginists, aesthetes,
modernists, impressionists, surrealists, naturalists - all
of them were representatives of the new literary
world.
In the first half of the 1920s, the popularity of the
magazines “Creation”, “Ruins” and “White Wave” in
literary circles was high.
In January 1922, Pak Chon Hwa, Li San Hwa, Cho
Myeong-hee, Na Dohian, Hyun Jingonkabishoir, and a
group of writers founded a literary magazine called
Phaskulo (the initials of the poets and writers who
founded the group were written in Latin script). With
the establishment of this magazine, romanticism
spread widely in Korean literature [18.136].
Romantic poets portrayed imaginary heroes in their
works, which were full of passions typical of European
culture. The attitude and love for woman, the world of
nature, the harmony with the heart of the poet were
the main themes of romanticism.
The romantic writers and poets “Phaskulo” tried to
awaken in the heart of the reader the hope for a better
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life, the desire for beauty, in harmony with the other
world, beauty, which they create. They resisted reality
and adversity.
Let the east flow from the sea of floods,
And let the wind blow these lands,
Dust from his face to the sky,
From the dust of my heart,
Let the pain take its toll.
(Li San Hwa “Waiting for the Storm”)
It should be noted that the creators of “Phaskulo” also
worked as translators. Thanks to the active efforts of
the group’s representatives, Korean readers have
enjoyed the world’s romantic poetry. They managed to
acquaint Korean readers with the works of famous
romantic poets Byron, Shelley, Goethe, Tagore.
In this way, new modern Korean literature was formed
and renewed day by day.
Despite the deteriorating socio-political environment
in the country, they remained committed to the motto
that “poetry should not pursue educational, political
goals”. For this reason, the group of poets and writers
did not favor the enlightenment movement that
emerged in the country in 1920, nor the proletarian
literature that was active in the 1930s.
After the defeat of the First March movement in Korea,
the prevailing mood of despair, anxiety and insecurity
in society led to a tiredness of life, a depression that led
to a world of fantasy or death, a romanticism of the
soul [19.43].
It was alien to the Korean romantic poet to sing of the
unique hero, character, activity, and passions that are
so common in European culture. The poems they
created were filled with the heartache of man, the
feeling of loneliness, the despair associated with the
contradiction of the heroic spiritual aspirations to the
existing reality, the feeling of leaving a life full of
sorrow. It was necessary to find new forms of thinking
and literary ways to express in words the inner
experiences, heartaches, secrets of the romantic hero.
In this case, the images of death, the moon, the sea and
others played a special role. For the poets, death was
the most acceptable way to escape and escape from a
life full of disappointments, sorrows [20.134].
In particular, the protagonist of Kim Yun Sik’s poem
“Clear Water Well” thinks that the well is the only way
out, a refuge:
Here, in underground,
The sharpened heart lives.
I realized that my heart was there.
It is the sky that stands only in the distance,
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The stars are moors
Fire into a well of clear water
Star moors.
But they were influenced by national traditions and
manifested with some peculiarities. Moreover, Korean
romanticism was wonderfully harmonized with other
literary trends because of the some eclecticism that
existed in the literature, i.e., the arbitrary confusion of
different views, theories.
The depiction of wandering the world in search of a
strange world, harmony and beauty was characteristic
of the writers of “White Wave”. Liu Chunson wrote in
one of his essays:
“Oh, the life of a wanderer
I am infinitely more beautiful than it,
I realized infinite suffering, infinite love!” [21.28].
The third issue of the magazine featured a prose poem
by Cho Myeong:
“I set off in search of incomparable flowers in beauty.
But not knowing where to look for them, I set off.
That's why I’m still floating like a cloud”.
The romantic poets of the “White Wave” hated
modern society, escaped from the existing reality,
created a fantastically beautiful world, tried to awaken
in the hearts of their students the hope of goodness, a
wonderful life. They also sought to create a sense of
protest, a sense of denial, of reality.
The “White Wave” Association did
not last long,
disbanding in 1923. Some of the Romantics continued
to create in a spirit of despair, and some poets became
members of the democratic wing that emerged in the
literature of this period.
The annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910 had an
impact on the rapid development of Korean literature.
Young people who studied in Japan were able to get
acquainted with Western European, English and
Russian literature. Western literature had a significant
influence on the formation of modern Korean
literature.
It should be borne in mind that the adoption of new
methods by Korean literature has led to very difficult
socio-political situations. In order to deprive the
Korean people of their national identity, the Japanese
government severely repressed not only statesmen
but also writers and poets, restricting their free
creativity. But despite such bans, opportunities have
been created for Korean readers to become more
familiar with Western literature. The spiritual crisis in
the homeland, the struggle for liberation from the
Japanese colony, the preservation of the spirit of the
nation fell to the poets and writers, despite the fact
that they were representatives of different currents.
CONCLUSION
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In conclusion, the union of cultures is a new Korean
poetry created by external forces - a generalization of
ancient traditions, Christianity, new ideological and
aesthetic concepts that are completely different from
classical literature. During this period, it was observed
that national poetry was enriched by its connections
with neighboring literatures and strengthened by an
understanding of Western experience. The “New
Poetry” reflected the diversity of genre styles typical of
the transition period, the interest in mastering new
artistic methods. Korean romanticism, realism,
symbolism sometimes developed in parallel. Poets
joined new trends and served for common aesthetic
views. Poems in a new form: free poetry / chayusi /,
prose poetry / sanmunsi / traditional Korean poetic
genres sijo, bowls have taken a back seat.
Without denying the positive influence of Western
culture, Korean writers realized that it was time to find
a personal way, to enrich national literature with new
ideas and forms without abandoning traditions.
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