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Spring 2013 Sunyoung Park
MW 10:00-11:50 am Office: THH378
THH 108 Office hours: W 1:00–3:00
Email:
ARLT 100g
Korean Literature and Thought
This course examines the major ideas, themes, and genres of twentieth-century Korean literature through the close reading of primary texts. During the twentieth century Korea went through a radical process of modernization. From its colonization by Japan, to its suffering of a civil war within the cold war order, to its growth into a cultural and economic powerhouse, Korea’s historical experience is at once unique and typical of that of a third-world nation. By immersing ourselves in the most distinctive literary voices from Korea, we will examine how the Korean experience of modernization was filtered through its cultural production. In class discussion, we will pay special attentionto the writers’ negotiation of aesthetic form and ideological content in the weaving of their narratives. How did political and ideological doctrines such as nationalism, Marxism, feminism find representation in the works of Korean writers? And how did those writers give an aesthetic form to the intricate history and ideology of Korea during a turbulent century? This class will combine discussion with lecture with students strongly encouraged to participate. All literary texts are in English translation and no previous knowledge of Korean is required.
Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me or the TA as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: University policies concerning academic dishonesty will be strictly enforced, and students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with these policies. Plagiarism and/or cheating on exams is subject to the sanctions set forth in the Student Conduct Code and may include expulsion or suspension from the university. For a detailed description of plagiarism and other types of academic dishonesty and the sanctions pertaining thereto, the student is referred to The Trojan Integrity Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism available at
Required Texts: All are available at the USC bookstore unless specified otherwise.
Kim Youngha, I have the Right to Destroy Myself (Harvest, 2007)
Sunyoung Park, trans. and ed. On the Eve of the Uprisingand Other Stories from Colonial Korea (Cornell University Press, 2011) [U]
Michael Robinson, Korea’s Twentieth-century Odyssey(University of Hawaii Press, 2007). Required for background reading on modern Korean history.
Sin Kyungsook, Please Look After Mom (Vintage, 2012)
Course Reader [R]. Available at Magic Machine University Graphics, University Village
Entrance #1 (behind Berger King), 3309 S. Hoover St., Los Angeles. (213) 744-1511.
Requirements:
Your final grade will be based on active participation in class discussion (10%), two in-class exams (20% each), three essays (15% each), and an improvement credit (5%), which will be given to those whose essay grades have consistently and substantially improved over the semester.
1. Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Persistent tardiness will have a negative effect on your evaluation.
2. Participation (10%): Your active participation is essential for the success of this course. You are responsible for reading all assigned materials before coming to class, and you should make your best effort to contribute positively to class discussion. To prevent your distraction, the use of a laptop or a cell phone during the class is prohibited.
3. Midterm and Final Exams (20% each): We will have a midterm exam on March 3 and a final on May 13. The exam will be based on our readingsand class discussions. The exams will require you to identify major literary figures and groups, define key concepts, and answer essay questions. There will be no review session for the exam, but exam keynotes will be made available a week before the exam.
4. Three Essays (50%): You will write three essays (5 pages; 1500 words in max.) in response to one of a given set of questions, which will be distributed in time. For one of these essay assignments, you may choose to write on your own topic after consulting the instructor. You are expected to revise and proofread your essay at least once in print. To help you in this process, a revision checklist will be posted on the Syllabus section of our Blackboard course webpage. All essays should be typed double-spaced and should include in-text citations as well as a works cited list. Please format your citations according to the Chicago, MLA, or whichever guideline you are familiar with. If you are not familiar with any, please teach yourself before your first essay submission. You are required to bring a hard copy of the essay to the class on the due date and also to post its electronic file at the Assignment section by the deadline. Due to the principle of fairness, late submissions will be subjected to a reduction of one third of a letter grade per day.
□Grading Scale for Essays
CriteriaA100-90 % / creative, original textual analysis; well-organized, articulate writing; perfect or near-perfect documentation
B89-80 / attentive, substantive textual analysis; organized, logical writing; good documentation
C79-70 / Acceptable analysis, writing, and documentation with some flaws
D69-60 / lack of textual analysis; poor writing; little or no documentation
F59 / no assignment or plagiarism
Syllabus
Week 1Introduction
1/14Organization
1/16Terry Eagleton,“Introduction: What Is Literature?” 1-14 [R]
Sunyoung Park, “The Korean Novel,” 1-7 [R]
Week 2-3The Enlightenment and the I-Novel
1/21No Class—Martin Luther King’s Birthday
1/23Yi Injik, Tears of Blood, 159-221[R]
Robinson, “A New Century and the End of an Era,” 8-35
1/28Na Hyesŏk, “Kyunghui,”24-54 [R]
Yi Kwangsu, “What Is Literature?” 293-314 [R]
Screening: clips from Soyoung Kim, New Woman: Her First Song
1/30Yŏm Sangsŏp, On the Eve of the Uprising, 1-112 [U]
Robinson, “Colonial State and Society,” 36-55
Week 4.The Proletarian Cultural Movement
2/4Ch’oe Sŏhae, “Escape,” 113-124 [U]
Na Tohyang, “Samnyong the Mute,” 125-140 [U]
Robinson, “Class and Nation in Colonial Korea: the 1920s,” 56-75
2/6Song Yŏng, “Blast Furnace,” 1-14 [R]
Kang Kyŏngae, “Underground Village,” 77-106 [R]
Lynn Mally, “Proletarian Culture and the Russian Revolution: The Origins of the Proletkult Movement,” 1-32 [R]
Week 5-6. Modernist Avant-Gardes in Colonial Cities
2/11Pak T’aewŏn, “One Day in the Life of Kubo the Novelist,” 141-194 [U]
George Simmel, “Metropolis and Mental Life,” 174-186 [R]
2/13Yi Sang, “Wings,” 65-84, “Crow’s Eye View” and “Mirror” 64-69 [R]
Robinson, “Colonial Modernity, Assimilation and War: 1930–1945,”
76-92
2/18No Class—President’s Day
2/20Ch’ae Mansik, “My Innocent Uncle,” 43-58 [R]
Sunyoung Park, “Reportage: A Forgotten Aesthetic,” 1-41 [R]
Week 7. Nativist Aestheticsin the Era of Pan-Asianism
2/25 Kim Tongni, “The Shaman Painting,” 35-58 [R]
Raymond Williams, “Cities and Countries,” 289-306 [R]
2/27 Kim Namch’ŏn, “Barley,” 1-35 [U]
Kim Saryang, “Into the Light,” 13-38 [R] *
Robinson, 92-99
Week 8 Midterm/ Domestic Melodrama in Korean Popular Culture
3/4 Midterm
3/6 Han Hyŏngmo, Madam Freedom (1956)
available at the Youtube site of the Korean film archive:
Jiweon Shin, “Social Construction of Idealized Image of Women in ColonialKorea: the ‘New Woman’ versus ‘Motherhood’,” 162-173 [R]
Week 9 Pure Literature in the Cold War
3/11 Yi T’aejun, “Before and After Liberation,”235-274 [U]
Robinson, “Liberation, Civil War, and Division,” 100-120
3/13 Hwang Sunwŏn, “Cranes,” 90–95 and “Pierrot,” 107-121 [R]
Theodore Hughes, “Ambivalent Anti-Communism: The Politics of Despair and the Erotics of Language,” 91-128 [R]
Week 10Spring Recess
Week 11Existentialism and Littérature Engagée
3/ 25Ch’oe Inhun, “The Gray Club,” 125-149 [R]
Jean-Paul Sartre, “Existentialism is Humanism,” 1-20 [R]
Robinson, “Political and Economic Development in South Korea,”121- 129
3/27Cho Sehŭi, excerpts frm The Dwarf, 1-12 and 33-91 [R] Pak Wansŏ, “Identical Apartments” 139-160 [R]
Robinson, 129-139
Week 12Chuch’e Ideology and Literature
4/1Kim Pukhyang, “The Son,” 186-213 [R]
Jang Inhak, A School Girl’s Diary (2006) [Youtube]
Robinson, 146-163
4/3 Han Ung-bin, “Second Encounter,” 1-16 [R]
Robinson, 164-166 and 182-189
Screening: clips from Kim Jung Eun, Dispatches: Under Cover in the Secret State
Week 13The Culture of MinjungActivism
4/8Cho Chŏngnae, “Land of Exile,” 200-243 [R]
Ruth Barraclough, Factory Girl Literature, 56-86 [R]
Robinson, 139-145
4/10Kang Sŏkkyŏng, “Days and Dreams,” 1-27 [R]
Kong Jiyoung, “Human Decency,” 42-78 [R]
Robinson, “Democratization in South Korea: 1987–2000,” 167–181
Week 14Postmodernism and Fantasy Literature
4/15Kim Youngha, I have the Right to Destroy Myself
4/17 Pak Min’gyu, “Is That So? I’m a Giraffe,” 62-82 [R]
Gi-Wook Shin and Kyung-Sup Chang, “Social Crisis in Korea,” 75-99 [R]
Week 15Melodrama and Nostalgia in the Age of Globalization
4/22Sin Kyung Sook, Please Look After Mom, 1-113
4/24Sin Kyung Sook, Please Look After Mom, 114-237
Week 16Sci-Fi Imagination in New Millennium Korea
4/29TBA (21st Century Korean Sci-Fi Fiction)
5/1Class Party
Week 17. Study Days
Week 18. Final Exam