Emotion and Power in Modern Korean Literature

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course examines how emotion and power are explored in modern Korean literature from the early 20 th century to our contemporary moment of the 2020s. We will read novels, short stories, autobiography, poetry, and critical essays by colonial period intellectuals, activists of the democratization movement, contemporary novelists, and artists of the Korean diaspora. How do Korean writers, past and present, represent emotion and power in literature? What does emotion reveal about power, and what does power feel like? Topics discussed in the course will include popular culture, social movements, colonialism, gender and sexuality, race, class, and diaspora. From our vantage point as readers witnessing the global popularization of Korean culture, we will examine how modern Korean literature navigates Korean identity, creates new communities, and imagines a more just world. All course materials are in English and no previous knowledge of Korean is required.