"It felt like light was pouring out." Writer Jung Yeo-ul recommended, the order of reading Han River works.

YTN Radio (FM 94.5) [YTN News FM Wise Radio Life]

□ Broadcast date and time: October 14, 2024 (Mon)
□ Host: Park Gui-bin Announcer
□ Castor: Jung Yeo-ul Writer

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Announcer Park Gui-bin (hereinafter referred to as Park Gui-bin): Last Thursday night, Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature was announced, and the heat of joy and emotion continued on the weekend. Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which will remain a new history in the Korean literary world. This time. Let's get into the world view of Han Kang's novels with Jeong Yeo-ul, a literary critic. Hello, critic.

◇ Jung Yeo-ul Writer (hereinafter Jung Yeo-ul): Hello, nice to meet you.

◆Park Gui-bin: Nice to meet you. You're usually busy these days, but you're getting busier, right?

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: Yes, it seems that many writers and critics have become busier with Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature.

◆Park Gui-bin: Our critic and critic Jung Yeo-ul are originally very star writers, right?

◇JUNG YEOUL: Thank you.

◆Park Gui-bin: I'll call you a writer. At first, you must have known Han Kang very well and read a lot of works, and you might have been looking forward to it because there were a lot of great news from overseas, but I thought this might be too sudden. How was it? Initially

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: People usually predict the Nobel Prize for literature. However, there are predictions in a few years, and there are predictions this year, and there was a story that this year's prediction was that Asian women would ride. But now, I think they thought a lot about Chinese writer Chan Xue or Japanese writer Yoko Dowada. The expert group also talked about that a lot. I thought Han Kang would ride it someday, but I thought it would be a few years later. Other people were doing it, too. I'm so happy that it's this year. When I first heard it, it felt like the earth was falling down. It was so cool to feel the whole planet shaking. And the second feeling was that light was pouring down not only to Han Kang, who had been working hard, but also to literature lovers, bookstores, publishing industry, and all the people related to books. So, most people who work in the publishing industry and literature sector are having a hard time because people are not reading books these days, and writers are worried about whether they can continue to live writing. That much, more and more people were not buying paper books, but after hearing the news of Han Kang, he even announced the opening run of Kyobo Bookstore.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Not all of the Internet bookstore sites are going in right now.

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: Yes, so even if you go in, it takes a long time to pre-order. So I waited for a long time. After receiving it, I heard that there are a lot of out of stock in foreign countries. So it's a great pleasure. With this Nobel Prize in Literature, I hope it will be a time for more people to return to books and literature.

◆Park Gui-bin: The Swedish Academy has revealed why it chose Han Kang as the winner. He said that he left an intense poetic prose that confronted historical trauma and invisible rules and exposed the fragility of human life. Writer, what part of this part do you sympathize with the most? Can you explain this easily?

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: Yes, that's a little difficult because I quoted a few short lines among the original long ones. Originally, he announced many works by Han Kang as winners and explained the reason for that in a very long way. So I mentioned a lot of works. "The Boy Is Coming," "The Vegetarian" and other early works were all mentioned. Especially in this part, we actually dealt with 5.18 Gwangju in 'The Boy Is Coming'. And 'I'm Not Saying Goodbye' deals with the Jeju 4.3 incident. I think that's why I'm referring to those two works more especially. So, rather than historical trauma and invisible rules, I think it would be good to translate it into oppression, but an individual's struggle against invisible oppression, that is, it is usually too difficult for an individual to use his or her strength. What can one person do? I'm a normal person, so what can I do? We think that often. However, if you look at Han Kang's work, the weak individual seems very weak, and they are very young. In the case of "The Boy Is Coming," the main characters are all young, but it's a story about them doing something. But it's not about making money and success like people like these days, it's about protecting democracy, it's about protecting Gwangju, it's about protecting Gwangju, and I'm risking my life and being with you for my dying or dead friend. I think it's the power of some stories that show the sublime of human beings. So, today's society is becoming too snobbed, and many people are so obsessed with success. Even if you read books, there are many people who don't read books and only read about success. Literature is actually touching us in that we have always talked about our pain, our sadness, and our trauma. It's not just a story about overcoming and healing the trauma quickly, but about those who bravely confront the trauma until the end. At the Swedish Academy, it might have felt a little difficult because it expresses it in a very compressed way. But in fact, it may be a touch that we've all felt, and if you like literary works, you'll think that not only Han Kang but also numerous writers have drawn so many beautiful scenes. In particular, I'm very happy and proud that it was an opportunity to promote Han Kang's work globally through representatives such as "The Boy Is Coming," "I'm Not Saying Goodbye," and "The Vegetarian" and "White."

◆Park Gui-bin: The Swedish Academy explained the reason for that at this long time, and for that reason, Han Kang was chosen as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. What should I say about this?

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: Until now, the Nobel Prize for Literature has been given to a lot of senior writers. So, from the 60s to 70s to even the 80s, the literary world gave a lot to writers who had completed it to some extent. And it was completely white now. There were absolutely a lot of white people. Also, there were absolutely a lot of men, but this time, all those expectations were reversed. So I think Asia, women, and youth are very important, and the voice of a minority of young women in Asia, not the voices of many successful people, but the voices of those who are hurt, those who are struggling, brought to this world. That's what's very special about Han Kang, and that he embodied it beautifully and literaryly, and Han Kang's works were already popular in many European and Anglo-American cultures. So I think all of those things worked. Asia, youth, and women are all three things that I didn't really care about in the last Nobel Prize for Literature, so I think it shows the innovation of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was a very good decision, and I'm really grateful to the Nobel Committee, and it wasn't just that Korean writers received it, but it was very difficult for Nobel to innovate. So, there have been many white, male-centered eyes, so now I hope that young African writers will receive them, and there are many young writers in their teens and 20s who are writing now. I think it's an even more wonderful decision because I think young people can also receive young dreamers. It's a revolutionary decision. Facts

◆Park Gui-bin: You wrote a piece set in a historical event. As you mentioned earlier, "The Boy Is Coming", 5.18 "I'm Not Saying Goodbye" 4.3. The author of the Jeju 4.3 incident received the Nobel Prize for Literature, and after the selection, he included that meaning and recognized this work globally. If so, the world needs to know about the historical events that appeared in this work. acknowledged its importance I can see it like this.

◇ Jung Yeo-ul: So these 5.18 or 4.3 events are very important events in world history. It is not just Korea's historical characteristics, but I think it will inspire all countries that have experienced certain democratization difficulties. So, even if democratization has already been established, it suffers internally, regressed, and then progressed again. It's not that an individual falls down helplessly in the process, but it's also a matter of how we can live our lives, love and freedom, and friendship and all this solidarity when our lives are crumbling. It's not just a big problem in politics or history, it's just a problem of the day. How to protect the dignity of my life is a society where we are constantly getting tired of emotional labor. However, in such a society, I think the novel that spans from the question of how I can make my own value without trying to be recognized by others and how to protect my dignity is the world of Han Kang's literary works. So, not only is it important in Korean history, but it is also important in world history, and there are people who distort history itself about 5.18 or 4.3. I think it will be a time for those people to read this novel properly, not to read it and criticize it freely, but to read it properly and look back on whether the knowledge of history that they have been thinking about is really right.

◆Park Gui-bin: I think the news of this award is a bit of comfort to the victims of the actual historical event.

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: Of course. The victims were so happy as it was their own business that our son and our daughter died so unfairly are very important characters in this work. In "The Boy Is Coming" and "I'm Not Saying Goodbye". In those works, if these protagonists were not actually literary works, they would only remain in the hearts of the bereaved families or in some other documentary or record, but they would go deeper in our hearts by being depicted in literary works. So they're going to live forever. So even though they have passed away biologically, the love of "The Boy Is Coming" in our hearts has opened the way for a 15-year-old boy to live forever, and that is only possible if the readers read it. The work should not be hidden in the bookstore alone, nor should it be embedded in the library. I think that by reading, crying, sympathizing, transcribing, and reading our readers, many such painful victims like Dongho can live in our hearts forever. I think that what literature can do is give the voice of today to the voices of those who are disappearing, but Han Kang showed such a power of literature so well that readers all over the world are now enthusiastic and out of stock.

◆Park VIP: Okay. We're out of stock, but our readers are probably now on the list. I think you're going to make a list of the works of Han River that you need to see first. What kind of work should I read in Han Kang's novel first?

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: I want you to read 'The Boy Is Coming' first. And there was a time when I had a class. I was giving a lecture on my book to high school students about the fact that it's time for literature, and I also gave a lecture on "The Vegetarian" and "The Boy Is Coming." So I told him, and in the case of 'vegetarian', it was hard for men to understand. So after I explained it for a long time, some people said they understood now, while others said they were reflecting on themselves until now, when they did not listen to their wife's voice because they were reflecting on themselves. Also, in the case of "The Boy Is Coming," Korean history studies are not covered in depth in middle and high schools. However, reading "The Boy Is Coming" itself really hurts our unfortunate Korean history the most, but it's touching. It's much more touching than pain. So it's also a feeling that you feel only when you have that pain. So I remember being touched and happy that high school students liked "The Boy Is Coming" so much and read it a lot.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Then read 'The Boy Is Coming' first.

◇ Jeong Yeo-ul: If you read all three of these books after reading The Vegetarian, and then The Farewell, which deals with the events of 4.3, there's an autobiographical novel by White. I like White, and among the early works, I personally like Yeosu's Love, Black Deer, and I also like Greek Time. When I said this, my sister told me to read everything.

◆Park Gui-bin: So you can read it all. It's so nice to read everything and decide the order instead. as a reader

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: I think it would be good to have some order.

◆Park Gui-bin: That's right. In fact, I saw what Jung said in an interview, and he said he is a lover of Han Kang and a favorite writer, and he looked closely at all his works, so I saw a lot of it about Han Kang's works that he gives a lot of lectures. So I really wanted to ask the writer. The order of reading the work is also receiving a lot of attention from Han Kang's next work, but he doesn't say goodbye. After the work was released in 2021, a lot of people are now interested in new works. The artist said he wants to go into spring now. Is there anything you're looking forward to as a favorite reader?

◇Jeong Yeo-ul: I like all the seasons of Han Kang. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter would be good, but since you've been staying in winter for a long time, it's a story of desperately looking for friends, especially in the snow that you don't say goodbye. Considering how cold it must have been in the snow, it's good to talk about exciting love that blooms like a warmer spring, but I like all seasons. I would like to tell you that any story would be welcome.

◆Park Gwibin: I see. Writer, please wrap up the congratulatory voice letter to writer Han Kang.

◇JUNG YEOUL: Thank you so much for coming to this world. And thank you so much for giving me that feeling that makes the earth fluctuate. I would like to say that Han Kang is a miracle and a symbol of love to writers, readers, and everyone who loves books. Thank you.

◆Park Gui-bin: I think I should record it and give it to you. I've been Jung Yeo-ul from the writer until now. Thank you.

◇JUNG YEOUL: Yes, thank you.