Dafna Zur
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503601680
- eISBN:
- 9781503603110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503601680.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter introduces one of the important contributions of children’s writers to Korean literary history, namely, their intervention in the debates on the “gap” between the spoken and written ...
More
This chapter introduces one of the important contributions of children’s writers to Korean literary history, namely, their intervention in the debates on the “gap” between the spoken and written languages and the perceived inability of literature to capture and respond to the spirit of the people. While Kim Tong-in and Yi Kwang-su are largely credited with the development of a modern literary vernacular, this chapter shows that because of the conception of the affective nature of the child-heart as one that deserved both respect and appropriate content, Pang Chŏng-hwan developed techniques that were appropriate for the child-heart through his theories of and application of the craft of writing and folktale adaptations. This piece of linguistic and literary history gives a more comprehensive picture of how child-specific language began to play a role in the development of young readers’ print culture.Less
This chapter introduces one of the important contributions of children’s writers to Korean literary history, namely, their intervention in the debates on the “gap” between the spoken and written languages and the perceived inability of literature to capture and respond to the spirit of the people. While Kim Tong-in and Yi Kwang-su are largely credited with the development of a modern literary vernacular, this chapter shows that because of the conception of the affective nature of the child-heart as one that deserved both respect and appropriate content, Pang Chŏng-hwan developed techniques that were appropriate for the child-heart through his theories of and application of the craft of writing and folktale adaptations. This piece of linguistic and literary history gives a more comprehensive picture of how child-specific language began to play a role in the development of young readers’ print culture.
Dafna Zur
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503601680
- eISBN:
- 9781503603110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503601680.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
The child-heart became a salient concept in Japan and Korea in the 1920s, and in Korea it drove fresh and diverse content in conjunction with the emerging visual turn in print media. This chapter ...
More
The child-heart became a salient concept in Japan and Korea in the 1920s, and in Korea it drove fresh and diverse content in conjunction with the emerging visual turn in print media. This chapter explores the mechanisms of the child-heart concept that served as the foundation of children’s literature in Korea, and it argues that texts and images in children’s magazines worked together to create a natural and affectively privileged child. The concept of the child-heart made the child visible for the first time, and facilitated the building of a cultural literacy of text and image. At the same time, the manner in which it hinged on the relationship between child and nature reflected a certain degree of nostalgic yearning that coded future aspirations at a time when the colonization of Korea made such dreams uncertain at best.Less
The child-heart became a salient concept in Japan and Korea in the 1920s, and in Korea it drove fresh and diverse content in conjunction with the emerging visual turn in print media. This chapter explores the mechanisms of the child-heart concept that served as the foundation of children’s literature in Korea, and it argues that texts and images in children’s magazines worked together to create a natural and affectively privileged child. The concept of the child-heart made the child visible for the first time, and facilitated the building of a cultural literacy of text and image. At the same time, the manner in which it hinged on the relationship between child and nature reflected a certain degree of nostalgic yearning that coded future aspirations at a time when the colonization of Korea made such dreams uncertain at best.
