AK: First of all, could you please tell us a little bit about your latest work?

HS: Teenagers in Korea today are suffering from entrance exams and the education system in general. Growing up in today’s society is very tough and it does not become much easier later when entering adult life. The competition for status and money is severe, and many have difficulties finding a job despite all the efforts to get a good education. By relating my own youth experience from the 1960s, my roaming life from adolescence to the early twenties, I want to tell young people not to be too disheartened by all this pressure. They should not be afraid to break the mold, to break out of this system and find their own way of life.

Taking the Pulse
of Korean Society

An Interview
with Hwang Sok-yong

One of Korea’s foremost writers Hwang Sok-yong reflects on his books and on Korean society with Korean scholar and translator Anders Karlsson.

The works of Hwang Sok-yong have consistently reflected the trials and tribulations of Korea’s modern history, from the forced economic development described in short stories such as Gaekchi (The Land of Strangers) and Sampo ganeun gil (The Road to Sampo), to the pains of the struggle for democracy related in Oraedoen jeongwon (An Old Garden). While being a kind of autobiographical bildungsroman, his latest work, Hesperus (The Star that Appears When Dogs Start to Beg for Food), is also a comment on current issues in Korean society.

AK: It very much sounds like a universal theme.

HS: The pains and difficulties of growing up are, of course, shared by youth all across the world. The generation that grew up during the turbulent modernization of Korea, however, suffered other ordeals as well. That is something that the younger generation of today has not experienced, and they tend to be more individualistic and less willing to make sacrifices for others. Another motive behind writing this story was maybe to make people reflect on such trends in today’s society.

AK: Would you say that it is a statement about the state of today’s education system?

HS: In the book the protagonist tells his teacher that he wants to quit school. The teacher then requires of him to write a letter explaining why he wants to withdraw. Many of the things that he criticizes in the 1960s can, of course, also be seen in today’s education, so in that sense you could say that the book is making such a statement. Recently Hwang Sok-yong has moved away somewhat from the strict realism of his earlier works. He mixes imagination and fantasy with reality and truth, as in works like Sonnim (The Guest) or Princess Bari. In the latter, Hwang not only borrows a shamanistic theme, but also experiments with the format of shamanistic rituals. He is also not averse to the idea of trying new media to reach his readers, especially the younger generation that started to read him in larger numbers with Princess Bari.

AK: Your latest work was originally serialized on the Internet, I understand.

HS: Yes, it was. For some time now there has been a lively literary scene on the Internet. But this scene has often been characterized by commercialism and consumerism. Serious writers have tended to neglect the Internet as a literary medium and maybe it is time for us to get more involved. I thought I would give it a try as an experiment in finding new ways to interact with the readers and the netizen community.

AK: Are you considering publishing your future work on the Internet as well?

HS: First of all I must say that it was a very positive experience. From young schoolchildren to the elderly, we all share the experience of schooling and the trials of growing up. Altogether there were approximately 1,800,000 hits on the novel. On weekends there could be as many as two to 300 netizen comments attached after the text, and I would also write replies. Many things have changed since the 1960s, but under the surface many things are the same. Published on the Internet like this, the story really stimulated a lively discussion across generations. I, however, don’t think I will publish any more literary works in this manner. I am considering starting a literary blog magazine, though, together with a group of young writers. I guess I belong to what they call the “digilog” generation: a generation that uses the Internet as a medium, but who still thinks that the input must be based on the reading of books.

Since Hwang Sok-yong started his literary career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, South Korea has undergone drastic political change. He not only describes this in his books, but he himself has been a driving force behind these changes. For this he has paid the price of exile and imprisonment.

AK: You said earlier that with your latest work, you wanted to encourage young people of today by telling them about your own youth in the 1960s. The social and political situation back then that formed your own views on politics and social change, was very different from the situation today. How do you think these changes on politics and social movements have influenced the views among the younger generation?

HS: The situation has changed very much indeed. Young people of today are very protective of their individuality and they do not put much trust in the collective or in groups. I think the recent candlelight demonstrations are a good example of the sentiments of young people today. In the media, the emphasis has mainly been on the import of US beef, but in fact these demonstrations are prompted by discontent over a large number of issues. The interesting thing is that they were not initiated by any one leading figure or organization, but rather by the mass of young people who got together over the Internet and agreed to start these protests. It is a very diverse and fluid movement, and famous and prominent figures from the older generation of political activists only play a minor role in it. This is the Internet generation making its voice heard.

AK: Would you say that this is a Korean phenomenon, given the country’s famously high Internet usage?

HS: I have seen similar events in London, Paris and Berlin as well. People from all walks of life, all with their own views and ideas, gathering under the banner of the anti-war campaign and conducting the protests more in the manner of a festival.

AK: Finally, could you please tell us a little bit about your future projects?

HS: I originally had plans to write a work on a grand scale, describing the development of Korean capitalism by telling the story of the formation of Gangnam, the affluent Seoul areas south of the Han River. However, some months ago I visited Bali and got fascinated by Balinese Hinduism with its potential presence of deities in all kinds of small items. So I changed my mind and I am now thinking of writing a compressed satirical story, borrowing the format of Ggogdu Gagsi, the traditional Korean puppet play, with condensed and simplified figures acting out the story.