“As a university student, I tried hard to write poems in Korean. It was at that time that I foresaw my death and the world's death. I think my poems started at that time.” ThinkingWorldWritingHardStudentsUniversityKoreanUniversity Students Author:Kim Hyesoon
“Living in South Korea as a girl meant living under a lot of discrimination and limitation. It was the same in my university and in the Korean literary world I am involved in.” WorldGirlInvolvedSouthUniversityDiscriminationLimitationKoreaKoreanSouth Korea Author:Kim Hyesoon
“Women in Korean myths disappear after giving birth. The reason they were born is to produce sons.” GivingReasonBornProduceSonBirthMythDisappearKoreanGiving Birth Author:Kim Hyesoon
“When I became a poet, the Korean literary world expected women poets to sing passively of love. Naturally, this was not written anywhere, but this rule existed nonetheless. Consequently, I received plenty of serious criticism.” WorldWrittenSeriousPoetCriticismExpectedPlentyKorean Author:Kim Hyesoon
“Speaking as an outsider is the most authentic voice for a poet. Poets who have one hundred thousand or one million readers [as many South Korean poets do] might not be a real, authentic poet.” RealMightVoiceMillionsPoetReaderThousandHundredSouthOutsidersKorean Author:Kim Hyesoon
“It is difficult to disturb the common usage of Korean that is bent to the perspective of a male-oriented society. Korean society is based on both a politics and history that have been disguised as a solid society of solid male poems, a solid written language, fixed rules of how to write literature, and a narrative language.” WritingHas BeensLiteratureLanguageDifficultCommonWrittenPerspectiveMalesNarrativeFixedBentKoreanUsageWritten Language Author:Kim Hyesoon
“Korean feminism is on the brink of death. Korea has a less clear boundary between popular literature and serious literature than in other countries. I feel that feminism is abandoned like a product that was a craze in the past.” FeelsCountryPastLiteratureClearFeminismSeriousProductsBoundariesAbandonedOther CountriesKoreaKoreanCrazePopular Literature Author:Kim Hyesoon
“Korean feminism has been swept away by popular culture. It became a sort of old-fashioned trend or a joke.” Has BeensCultureFeminismJokesTrendsOld FashionedKoreanPopular CultureSwept Away Author:Kim Hyesoon
“It seems Korean women are enjoying a passive and fragile status, intoxicated by appearance. Not only feminism, but any serious discourse ends up being swept away by popular culture in Korea.” EndsSeemsCultureEnjoyFeminismSeriousAppearanceFragilePassiveDiscourseKoreaKoreanPopular CultureIntoxicatedSwept Away Author:Kim Hyesoon
“As a sick kid, I always looked out the window. The objects of my observation were the sun, the seasons, the wind, crazy people, and my grandfather's death. During my long period of observation, I felt that something like poems were filling up my body. They were in some kind of state and condition that made them difficult to render into words. As a university student, I tried hard to write them in Korean. It was at that time that I foresaw my death and the world's death. I think my poems started at that time.” PeopleThinkingWorldWritingKindLongMadeHardStatesBodyKidsFeltDifficultSunCrazyConditionsObjectsStudentsWindPeriodsWindowSeasonsSickUniversityObservationGrandfatherFillingMy GrandfatherKoreanCrazy PeopleFilling UpUniversity StudentsSick Kids Author:Kim Hyesoon
“Living in Korea as a girl meant living under a lot of discrimination and limitation. It was the same in my university and in the Korean literary world I am involved in now.” WorldGirlInvolvedUniversityDiscriminationLimitationKoreaKorean Author:Kim Hyesoon
