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Eastern Sentiments
The Confucian gentleman scholars of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910) often published short anecdotes exemplifying their values and aesthetic concerns. In modern Seoul one scholar in particular would excel at adapting this style to a contemporary readership: Yi T'aejun.
Yi T'aejun was a prolific and influential writer of colonial Korea and an acknowledged master of the short story and essay. He also wrote numerous novels and was an influential editor of cultural news. Born in northern Korea in 1904, Yi T'aejun settled in Seoul after a restless youth that included several years of study in Japan. In 1946, he moved to Soviet-occupied northern Korea, but by 1956, a purge of southern communists forced him into exile. His subsequent whereabouts cannot be confirmed, though rumors claim Yi returned to Pyongyang, only to be exiled once more. It is believed Yi T'aejun passed away between 1960 and 1980, but his works were not made available until 1988, when South Korean censorship laws concerning authors who had sided with the north were eased.
The essays in this collection reflect Yi's distinct voice and lyrical expression, revealing thoughts on a variety of subjects, from gardens to immigrant villages in Manchuria, from antiques to colonial assimilation, and from fishing to the recovery of Korea's past. Yi laments the passing of tradition with keen sensibility yet, at the same time, celebrates human perseverance in the face of loss and change. Most important, his essays recount the author's attempt to re-experience the past and keep it alive against absorption into the Japanese nation.
Janet Poole faithfully reproduces Yi's complex craft, retaining his idiosyncratic tone and narrative. A brilliant introduction to a remarkable prose stylist, "Eastern Sentiments" eloquently complicates the historical, political, and aesthetic concerns of Orientalism.
Yi T'aejun was a prolific and influential writer of colonial Korea and an acknowledged master of the short story and essay. He also wrote numerous novels and was an influential editor of cultural news. Born in northern Korea in 1904, Yi T'aejun settled in Seoul after a restless youth that included several years of study in Japan. In 1946, he moved to Soviet-occupied northern Korea, but by 1956, a purge of southern communists forced him into exile. His subsequent whereabouts cannot be confirmed, though rumors claim Yi returned to Pyongyang, only to be exiled once more. It is believed Yi T'aejun passed away between 1960 and 1980, but his works were not made available until 1988, when South Korean censorship laws concerning authors who had sided with the north were eased.
The essays in this collection reflect Yi's distinct voice and lyrical expression, revealing thoughts on a variety of subjects, from gardens to immigrant villages in Manchuria, from antiques to colonial assimilation, and from fishing to the recovery of Korea's past. Yi laments the passing of tradition with keen sensibility yet, at the same time, celebrates human perseverance in the face of loss and change. Most important, his essays recount the author's attempt to re-experience the past and keep it alive against absorption into the Japanese nation.
Janet Poole faithfully reproduces Yi's complex craft, retaining his idiosyncratic tone and narrative. A brilliant introduction to a remarkable prose stylist, "Eastern Sentiments" eloquently complicates the historical, political, and aesthetic concerns of Orientalism.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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58 people want to read
About the author
Tae-Jun Lee
4 books4 followersTae Jun Lee was born in Korea in 1904 and, poignantly, was orphaned as a child. He wrote his most famous stories, including many for children and young adults, during the 1930s.
His works are well-loved in Korea for their poetic prose and emotional sensitivity.
After Korea's liberation in 1945, Lee settled in North Korea and was a war correspondent during the Korean War (1950 - 1953). Little is known of his activities thereafter, except that he disappeared in 1956, presumed purged by the North Korean Communist Party.
(from http://www.wilkinsfarago.com.au/tae_j...)
His works are well-loved in Korea for their poetic prose and emotional sensitivity.
After Korea's liberation in 1945, Lee settled in North Korea and was a war correspondent during the Korean War (1950 - 1953). Little is known of his activities thereafter, except that he disappeared in 1956, presumed purged by the North Korean Communist Party.
(from http://www.wilkinsfarago.com.au/tae_j...)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 6, 2023
Only read a few essays from this collection
June 5, 2012
thoughtfully and beautifully translated! Now I long for reading the Korean original.
July 28, 2010
really need to go back and read this in korean.
January 7, 2022
“Now that materials are at their most expensive we have finally begun to build our house...”
That sounds like North America in 2021 when renovators and house builders were aghast at the soaring price of lumber and building materials. Instead, it is the opening line from “Carpenters”, a short essay written by Yi T’aejun, a Korean writer/intellectual who came to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s.
“Carpenters” is one of the essays in Eastern Sentiments, a collection of short prose works by Yi translated by Janet Poole. The Korean title for this collection is Records Written at Random and that title gives a better sense of the diversity of texts included in the collection. This book includes everything from musings on the nature of walls or feet or mountains to brief shots of literary theory to travel writing and observations about Korean culture.
Yi is lucid, discerning and consistently honest. He holds topics up for consideration and turns them around slowly so that many perspectives can be seen. He also uses juxtaposition in an intelligent way to elicit additional thoughts and emotions from the central topic of an essay. As a result, a surprising resonance with contemporary issues rises up to meet the reader, again and again. Environmentalism (“The Flower Bed”, “Autumn Flowers”), male/female friendship (“Friendship Between Men and Women”), medicine and mental health (“After Illness”), culture and craft (“Antiques”, “Antiques and Daily Life”), the character of historical fiction (“History”), East versus West (“Eastern Sentiments”, “Oriental Painting”, “Greetings”) are all topics with contemporary relevance.
The pieces in Eastern Sentiments range from single pages to the 24 page “Record of a Journey to Manchuria” which closes the book. While some pieces are more substantial than others, every piece provides the reader with something to reflect on. And every piece provides the contemporary English-speaking reader with an insight into the world of Yi: Japanese-occupied Korea in the first half of the twentieth century. It is a world that most of us know nothing about. And yet, thanks to Yi, we get a glimpse of a human experience often surprisingly familiar to our own.
Finally, it is worth noting the Introduction written by the translator, Janet Poole. Professor Poole teaches at the University of Toronto and provides helpful information about Yi’s life and about Korea during the time period when he was writing. She also provides socio-political commentary on Yi’s life and writing, citing people such as Walter Benjamin and Frantz Fanon. This part of Poole’s Introduction has an academic patina which might discourage some readers. If necessary, leave it to the end. It would be a shame to turn away from the book and miss Yi’s readable and engaging essays because of the academic elements in the Introduction.
That sounds like North America in 2021 when renovators and house builders were aghast at the soaring price of lumber and building materials. Instead, it is the opening line from “Carpenters”, a short essay written by Yi T’aejun, a Korean writer/intellectual who came to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s.
“Carpenters” is one of the essays in Eastern Sentiments, a collection of short prose works by Yi translated by Janet Poole. The Korean title for this collection is Records Written at Random and that title gives a better sense of the diversity of texts included in the collection. This book includes everything from musings on the nature of walls or feet or mountains to brief shots of literary theory to travel writing and observations about Korean culture.
Yi is lucid, discerning and consistently honest. He holds topics up for consideration and turns them around slowly so that many perspectives can be seen. He also uses juxtaposition in an intelligent way to elicit additional thoughts and emotions from the central topic of an essay. As a result, a surprising resonance with contemporary issues rises up to meet the reader, again and again. Environmentalism (“The Flower Bed”, “Autumn Flowers”), male/female friendship (“Friendship Between Men and Women”), medicine and mental health (“After Illness”), culture and craft (“Antiques”, “Antiques and Daily Life”), the character of historical fiction (“History”), East versus West (“Eastern Sentiments”, “Oriental Painting”, “Greetings”) are all topics with contemporary relevance.
The pieces in Eastern Sentiments range from single pages to the 24 page “Record of a Journey to Manchuria” which closes the book. While some pieces are more substantial than others, every piece provides the reader with something to reflect on. And every piece provides the contemporary English-speaking reader with an insight into the world of Yi: Japanese-occupied Korea in the first half of the twentieth century. It is a world that most of us know nothing about. And yet, thanks to Yi, we get a glimpse of a human experience often surprisingly familiar to our own.
Finally, it is worth noting the Introduction written by the translator, Janet Poole. Professor Poole teaches at the University of Toronto and provides helpful information about Yi’s life and about Korea during the time period when he was writing. She also provides socio-political commentary on Yi’s life and writing, citing people such as Walter Benjamin and Frantz Fanon. This part of Poole’s Introduction has an academic patina which might discourage some readers. If necessary, leave it to the end. It would be a shame to turn away from the book and miss Yi’s readable and engaging essays because of the academic elements in the Introduction.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews