I am Saffron Willett, a master’s student, currently completing my MPhil in Korean studies. Having also graduated from the University of Sheffield with a bachelor’s in Korean and Japanese studies (including a year of studies at Yonsei University in Seoul), Korea has played an important role in my life both academically and personally. My current research explores the origins of Konglish (Korean-English) focusing on Korea as a Japanese colony (1910-1945) and the subsequent impact on Korea’s linguistic landscape.ie. how English was introduced, changed, and eventually adapted to become Konglish. 

For my curation, I hope to introduce 15 books related to Korea, spanning both Korean literature and Korean language learning resources. They cover the works of recent nobel prize winner Han Kang, contemporary and classical translated fiction, as well language textbooks.

Find me at: sw2141@cam.ac.uk

Having been the First Asian woman and first Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Han Kang’s presence and influence in the literature sphere, both inside and outside of Korea, is undeniable. The Vegetarian and Greek Lessons are two of her most notable works and two that I feel represent her brilliance as an author.

Han Kang’s page on the Nobel Prize website is a great new resource for reading her work, as well as accessing various speeches and interviews conducted with her. You can read an excerpt from Nobel Prize winning author Han Kang’s Novel Human Acts.

Han Kang’s page on the Nobel Prize website is a great new resource for reading her work, as well as accessing various speeches and interviews conducted with her.

Let’s Learn Hangul is a fun and interactive site that walks you through Hangul, Korea’s alphabet. Just as King Sejong promised, the website promises that within an hour you can have a mastery of the script!

Literary Translation Institute of Korea This has a plethora of Korean literary resources, including author interviews, translated materials, and even events and competitions. The institution also facilitates the learning of Korean and training in Korean translation skills, as well as student workshops, grants, and international exchanges.

Literary Translation Institute of Korea Library Similarly, the Digital Library of Korean Literature (run by the Literary Translation Institute) is home to many Korean and translated Korean books, as well as magazines, audiobooks, poetry, and essays.

National Library of Korea is an amazing an extensive online resource, covering both contemporary and historical works. My own research involves examining colonial Korean educational materials from the 1930s and I have found even these have been meticulously preserved, scanned and uploaded to the National Library’s database. This digital library is a great tool not only for reading books, but also for exploring what printed media looked like in Korea over the past few centuries.

There are now a plethora of Korean Language books available, including the Talk To Me In Korean series books 1-3. Whether you want to follow a curriculum or just learn a few words, these books are a perfect introduction to the Korean language.

Talk to me in Korean’ Books 1-3

The ‘Talk to me in Korean’ series is one of the most renowned for Korean language learning. Having used it myself when I first started learning Korean, I can attest to the appropriateness of the series as a self-study guide in the Korean language. The series requires no prerequisite knowledge and is a great way to first engage with the Korean language. Because of this, I think that the first books of the series are a valuable resource for those wanting to learn Korean.

Korean Folktales for Language Learners

This book is particularly meaningful as it was published by professors at the University of Sheffield, where I completed my undergraduate degree in Korean studies.The book is a great introduction to both the Korean language and traditional Korean folktales: understanding tradition and culture is an important aspect of learning any foreign language and, through a gradual progression in difficulty, the book showcases traditional Korean stories in both English, as well as beginner and intermediate Korean. When starting to learn Korean myself, I found it particularly motivating to have access to Korean works presented in a beginner-friendly way such as are presented in this book.

Essential Korean Grammar and Essential Korean Vocabulary

Similarly to the ‘Talk to me in Korean’ series, the Korean Essential grammar/vocabulary books are comprehensive Korean language dictionary-esque books. Both feature a broad range of Korean language content categorised by theme. I chose them as they are digestible and do not require commitment to a curriculum, but rather allow you to dive in and out of the Korean language by browsing themes and reading bite-sized chunks of information. Both when I first started learning Korean and now, I have found these books to be invaluable, and believe that they would be of value to anyone, both those committed to learning Korean, and those interested in just learning a few words.

The Korean Alphabet

Korea’s alphabet is called Hangul 한글, and is relatively new.

King Sejong created Hangul in 1443 to improve literacy in Korea as, prior to the invention of Hangul, only Chinese characters were used. Hangul was created to be the easiest script to learn, with the letters mimicking the shape of the tongue and representing yin, yang, and the 4 elements. Because of this, it's said that the entire alphabet can be learnt in only an hour!

Link to 90 Day Korean’s guide to learning and reading Hangul

Yun Dong-Ju was a famous Korean poet during the Korean independence movement under Japanese imperialism. When considering which Korean poets may be of interest to introduce, Yun Dong-Ju came to mind for two distinct reasons. Firstly, he is a prominent figure in Korea’s taught history: when I was studying in Korea, not only was he commemorated in various places across my university campus (Yonsei University, where he also was a student), but he was introduced to us as a key historical figure for us to learn as international students. Secondly, and perhaps more profoundly, upon learning about his poetry I had decided to visit the literary museum dedicated to him, nestled in Seoul’s mountain landscape after being immediately captivated by his writing. Passing away at just 27 years old and facing years of imprisonment and likely torture for anti-Japanese imperialism movements, Yun dedicated his life to his poetry, writing on topics such as life and death, self-realisation, loss of a sense of home, and anxieties surrounding gloomy social realities.

The poem that I chose to include in my curation is the last of Yun, and one that he left to his friend before being imprisoned. In the poem ‘a poem easily written’ , he describes living in a foreign land, attending classes, and yearning for meaning to his daily existence. As students, this poem felt particularly meaningful, and one that demonstrates how the yearning for a light is one that defies time and national borders.

Google Arts & Culture features a comprehensive guide to Yun Dong-Ju’s life and work.

Foxy1219, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia

The above books are all great examples that represent the diversity of Korean literature and reflect common ideas that appear in many Korean books. I thought it appropriate to choose books that have notoriety in Korea as a reflection of the popular literature trends. A particular favourite of mine is Please Look After Mother, which explores family structures in Korea, as well as ideas of motherhood and womanhood in Korean society. As one of the first books that I explored in both Korean and English I can attest to the vivid portrayal of emotions that carry through into the English translation!
 

The next three books are slightly different. Although the first two are fiction, the final is a autobiographical-style recollection of the author’s experience teaching in North Korea as a Korean American. When considering what ‘Korean Literature’ meant, a question that naturally arose in my mind is that of North Korea. 

The book above - The Story of Hong Gildong - is a piece of classical Korean literature written during the Joseon Period (~1392-1897) and therefore is representative of work created before the separation of the Korean peninsula. I thought it important to include some of this work as North Korean literature, as I am sure you can imagine, is not largely circulated or formally published and translated into English for consumption in the anglophone sphere. The Story of Hong Gildong therefore represents work that is a product of the Korean peninsula, including modern day North Korea, as opposed to just South Korea. 

Additionally, Without You There is No Us offers commentary on life in North Korea and, although this is only one person’s experience, I think that it is a valuable piece of work that leads us to consider the Korean peninsula as a whole, rather than just South Korea. Although we cannot easily access North Korean literature, it’s important to remember that there are still great creatives doing great writing there too!

Finally, Pachinko is an incredibly famous piece of historical fiction that is not only an enjoyable read, but introduces readers into the world of early 20th century Korea and Japan.