Yi Sang
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| Yi Sang | |
|---|---|
| Hangul: | 이해경 |
| Hanja: | 李海卿 |
| Revised Romanization: | I Hae-gyeong |
| McCune-Reischauer: | I Haegyŏng |
| Pen name | |
| Hangul: | 이상 |
| Hanja: | 李箱 |
| Revised Romanization: | I Sang |
| McCune-Reischauer: | I Sang |
Yi Sang (September 14, 1910 - April 17, 1937) was one of Korea's most innovative writers of modern literature. He was born in Seoul, Korea in 1910 as Kim Hae-gyeong. He was trained as an architect, but his main contributions are the poems and short stories he wrote during his short life. He is most widely known by his pen name: Yi Sang. He chose his penname after his boss, a Japanese, mistakenly called him, “Yi San.” Because he did not respond his boss called out louder, “Yi San,” which sounded to Kim Hae Gyeong more nasalized like, Yi Sang.
Yi Sang wrote both poetry and short stories that were very unlike anything that had ever been written. He was very unconventional in the structures that he used. His 'outside-the-box' modernism was very much ahead of its time. Most of his works were done during the 1930's, when Korea was under the cultural administration of the Japanese. Some of his works were written with a very political agenda against the Japanese, but written allegorically so as to get by Japanese censorship.
While visiting Tokyo in 1936 he was arrested on charges of thought crimes. While in prison he contracted tuberculosis and died. He was 27 years old.
Yi Sang never received much recognition for his work during his lifetime, but his works began to be reprinted in the 1950s. In the 1970s his reputation soared, and in 1977 the Yi Sang Literary Award was established. It has become one of Korea's most prestigious awards for literary works. His most famous short story is probably "Wings" (Nalgae in Korean), and his poem "From Crow's-eye View" is also well-known.
[edit] References
- Im Hon-yong (1996). “Yi Sang”, Korean Culture & Arts Foundation Who's who in Korean literature. Seoul: Hollym, 518-520. ISBN 1-56591-066-0.
