Korean Literature in Russia/USSR/Russian Federation

This article explores the causes of growing interest in Korea and Korean literature in Russia and analyzes the perception of Korean literature in USSR-Russia at different stages of the relationships with South Korea.

This article studies the history of cultural relationships between Republic of Korea and Russia since the late 1980s – even before the USSR and South Korea established diplomatic relationships in 1990 – Russian readers learned about contemporary South Korean literature, and Korean culture started attracting attention in Russia. Translations of the best pieces of famous Korean writers have been published in Russia – thanks to the efforts of the government of South Korea aimed at disseminating Korean culture across the globe. The focal point of this article is South Korean contemporary literature, which has gained international acclaim over the past decade. The main achievement of South Korean literature is the novel “The Vegetarian” by Han Kang (born in 1970) that won the International Booker Award in 2016. After Han Kang’s international success, South Korean literature started piquing interest in Russia as well. The Russian reader who is not familiar with the moral and ethical teachings of Confucius, the Buddhist and Taoist perception of the world, still has difficulty understanding the deep meaning sometimes hidden underneath the outer layer of the works of Korean authors. However, South Korean literature is attracting more and more readers.

Additionally, recent political environment on the Korean peninsula has also stimulated growing interest in the literature of North Korea. Over the past 135 years of Russian-Korean relations, interest in Korea (as a whole country at first and later as the one divided along the thirty-eighth parallel), and its culture intensified or weakened – depending on the political situation in the world – and in recent decades has reached a level that promotes mutual cultural enrichment.

Keywords

Korea, North Korean literature, South Korean literature, interest in Korean culture

Received

23.04.2019

Publication date

29.04.2019

Number of characters

23117

Cite

GOST	San Y. Korean Literature in Russia/USSR/Russian Federation // Asia and Africa Today – 2019. – Issue 4 C. 74-79 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://asaf-today.ru/S032150750004388-8-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032150750004388-8
MLA	San, Yun Li "Korean Literature in Russia/USSR/Russian Federation." Asia and Africa Today 4 (2019):74-79. DOI: 10.31857/S032150750004388-8
APA	San Y. (2019). Korean Literature in Russia/USSR/Russian Federation. Asia and Africa Today (4), pp.74-79 DOI: 10.31857/S032150750004388-8

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