KOREAN LITERATURE
ABOUT KOREA
Located in EAST ASIA
Called the “Land of the morning calm”
Modern spelling of “COREA” a name attested in
English as early as 1614, “KOREA” 19th century
84, 616 sq. mi the area of Korea
2.8 % is the rate of water in Korea
GEOGRAPHY
Amnok River – The river that separates Korea
from China and to the north east
Duman River – The river that separates Korea
from China and Russia
Peninsula - surrounded by the Yellow Sea to the
west, the East China Sea and Korea Strait to the
south, and the Sea of Japan
Mount Paektu (2,744 m) - The highest
mountain in Korea through which runs the
border with China
Dadohae-jin - Southern and south western
coastlines of Korea form a well-
developed Ria coastline
RELIGION
Confucian tradition has dominated Korean though, along with
contributions by Buddhism, Taoism, and Korean Shamanism
Has competed with Buddhism in South Korea, while religious practice
has been suppressed in North Korea
The influence of traditional beliefs of Korean Shamanism, Mahayana
Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have remained an underlying
religion of the Korean people as well as a vital aspect of their culture;
all these traditions have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years up
to today despite strong Westernisation from Christian missionary
conversions in the South Korea
DIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT
SOVEREIGN STATES:
SOUTH KOREA or REPUBLIC OF NORTH KOREA or DEMOCRATIC
KOREA PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul – Capital and the Largest City
51 million – Population
Korean pop (Kpop) and Korean series and movies
Jeju Island, Mount Seorak and Gyeongbokgung palace
Famous with their products like Samsung etc. and
cosmetic products popularized by the Korean stars/
actress
EDUCATION SYSTEM
Consists of six years in elementary school, three years in middle school,
and three years in high school
Students are required to go to elementary and middle school, and do
not have to pay for their education, except for a small fee called a
"School Operation Support Fee"
The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by
the OECD, ranks South Korea's science education as the third best in
the world
South Korea ranks second on math and literature and first in problem
solving
NORTH KOREA
Pyongyang – Capital City
25 million – Total population
Korean descent and small communities of ethnic
Chinese and Japanese are also found in North Korea
The world's 4th tallest flagpole flying a 270kg. flag.
It's 160m in height, over Kijŏng-dong "Peace village",
near Panmunjom in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
EDUCATION SYSTEM
Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years
of primary education, six years of secondary education,
and then on to universities
Consists primarily of universal and state funded schooling
by the government.
The national literacy rate for citizens 15 years of age and
above is over 99 percent
The most prestigious university is Kim Il-sung University
LANGUAGE
Korean is the official language of both North and South
Korea
Worldwide, there are up to 80 million speakers of the
Korean language
Korean has borrowed much vocabulary from the Chinese or
created vocabulary on Chinese models.
Korean is written almost exclusively in the script of
the Korean alphabet (known as Hangul in South Korea and
Chosungul in China and North Korea)
While Hangul may appear logographic, it is actually
a phonemic alphabet organised into syllabic blocks
(jamo) – 24 Hangul letters, at least one each of the
14 consonants and 10 vowels at least one each of
the 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
HANGUL
CUISINE
Believe that the taste and quality of food depend on its
spices and sauces the essential ingredients to making a
delicious meal
Soybean paste, soy sauce, gochujang or red pepper paste
and kimchi are some of the most important staples in a
Korean household
Influenced by the geography and climate therefore there are
many fermented dishes and hot soups and stews
KIMCHI
COMMON DINNER TABLE IN KOREA
SPORTS
Football remains one of the most popular sports in South Korea
Baseball is popular in Seoul and they have three teams
Taekwondo is one of Korea's most famous sports
Hapkido is a modern Korean martial art with a grappling focus
that employs joint locks, throws, kicks, punches and other
striking attacks like attacks against pressure points
Ssireum is a traditional form of wrestling that has been
practiced in Korea for thousands of years, with evidence
discovered from Goguryeo of Korea's Three Kingdoms Period
MUSIC
Traditional Korean music includes combinations of the
folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of
the Korean people.
Korean music falls into two broad categories. The
first, Hyangak, literally means The local music or Music
native to Korea of which example is Sujecheon, a piece
of instrumental music as old as 1,300 years. The
second, yangak, represent a more Western style.
TRADITIONAL KOREAN DANCE
JINJU GEOMMU
- A traditional dress for
a woman is called a
hanbok
- A hanbok has a short
jacket called a jeogori
and a long skirt called a
chima
- Men also wore a
jeogori, but much
longer
- Men wore baggy
pants, which were
comfortable to wear
when farming and
sitting on the floor
TRADITIONAL HOUSE
KOREAN DYNASTY
GORYEO or KORYO DYNASTY
Founded in 918 founded by Emperor Taejo
It replaced Silla as the ruling Dynasty of Korea
Goryeo land was at first what is now South Korea
and about 1/3 of North Korea
Goryeo is a short form of “Goguryeo” and first
used during the time of “King Jangsu”
CHOSON DYNASTY
Yi-seong-gye founded the “Choson Dynasty” and moved the capital
from “kaesong to Hanseong” formerly HANYANG, Modern day SEOUL
and built “Gyeongbokgung Palace”
It was founded aftermath of the overthrew of the Goryeo Dynasty
Most notable among them was “Sejong the Great” who promote
(Hangul) – Korean Alphabet
KOREAN WAR
In 1945, with the surrender of Japan, the United
Nations developed plans for a trusteeship administration,
the Soviet Union administering the peninsula north of
the 38th parallel and the United States administering the
south
Politics of the Cold War resulted in the 1948 establishment
of two separate governments North Korea and South Korea
During the Korean War (1950–53) more than one
million people died and the three years of fighting
throughout the nation effectively destroyed most
cities. The war ended in an Armistice Agreement at
approximately the Military Demarcation Line
The Korean War led to the development of literature
centred on the wounds and chaos of war. Much of the
post-war literature in South Korea deals with the daily
lives of ordinary people, and their struggles with national
pain. The collapse of the traditional Korean value system is
another common theme of the time.
LITERATURE
Korean literature written before the end of the Joseon
Dynasty is called "Classical" or "Traditional"
Literature written in Chinese characters (hanja), was
established at the same time as the Chinese script arrived
on the peninsula
Korean scholars were writing poetry in the classical Korean
style as early as the 2nd century BC , reflecting Korean
thoughts and experiences of that time
Early Korean Literature
Classical Korean literature has its roots in
traditional folk beliefs and folk tales of the
peninsula, strongly influenced by Confucianism
Buddhism and Shamanism
Begin as an oral tradition
Good was rewarded and evil was punished. Values like
loyalty to the king, respect for elders, true friendship and
chastity were emphasized
Korean poems were called Hyangga
A new form of poem developed after the Goryeo dynasty
and was called shijo a three- line poem written in Hangul
and gained wide acceptance
Modern Korean Literature
The first period of the modern Korean literature is
often called “Enlightenment”
Introduced the Western-style schools and newspaper
emerged
Many biographical works were published, the main
character was often depicted as a hero
Jayusi is the formation of modern free verse poetry
The first printed work of fiction in Korea was John
Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress or Cheonno-yeokjeong 1893
The first complete edition of Bible in Korean was
published in 1910
Often linked in the development of Hangul which helped
increase working class literacy rate
Sinsoseol was a novel that was written in hangul
CONTEMPORARY KOREAN
LITERATURE
During the Colonial Korea 1910 – 1945 free speech and
press were restricted, thus influencing the literature
Literature focused on self discovery and increasingly on
concrete reality
Many novelist experimented with new literacy style and
techniques
In 1919, Kim Tong-in and Kim Hyok founded a literary
magazine “Changjo”
The literary magazine appeared during 1920’s and 1930’s were the
basis for the future development of Modern Korean Literature
Almost all the magazine were ordered to discontinue publication in
the 1940s as the Japanese tightened the grip with the spread of their
aggressive war to the Pacific
Many novels of the 1920s centred around themes of the suffering of
intellectuals
The Korean literature was directly affected by the Japanese
government strengthening ideological coercion during 1930s
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