This research study aims to contemplate as a whole the works in the poetry world of Kim Shin-yong, who made his debut in 1980 and up until his most recent collection of poems 『Dojanggol Collection of Poems』 in 2007, five of his poetry collections ...
This research study aims to contemplate as a whole the works in the poetry world of Kim Shin-yong, who made his debut in 1980 and up until his most recent collection of poems 『Dojanggol Collection of Poems』 in 2007, five of his poetry collections have been published. In the world of poetry Kim Shin-yong can truly be said to be one of a kind in his unique life and experiences, in addition to the voice of genuine sentiment which wells up from the basis of the poems, which are the reasons his poems are in a different league to those of other poets.
Kim Shin-yong lost his father when he was at the age of 13 and was left to live on his own in a harsh and frightening society. As a result, he used his experiences in life as a foundation for his poems and covers issues such as the description of pain in his poverty and famine-filled life, the pain of his neighbors and the poor residents of the city who undergo pain in unseen dark places and their pains in the depths of society, with the labor of reality which leads them to feel desperation and alienation.
His general while factual pain descriptions are individual and belonged to a world in the 80s which was a discourse from the mainstream, making that a remarkable pulse which was a unique world which only belonged to poets. As a result, his poetry world was in the fence of the mainstream literature which swept the generation away and fell away from this fence, creating a particular world of experimental works. Due to this, it was a fact that his works were in a faraway position from the fixed areas of the same-generation poetry world.
However reflection of literature which was based on such goals and consciousness ideology are daily factors in our literature world and individual and trivial scenes from life are told with a voice of genuine sentiment, rendering them to be works which evoke tears and touching of the heart in their own right. When looking back at the poets at this time, the one we see is Kim Shin-yong. Kim Shin-yong's world of poetry cannot be classified by a particular sect or trend but it belongs to his very own extremely special poetic ignited era. These areas are what make Kim Shin Yong a poet whose poems extremely colorful and meaningful and were also the parts which enabled the gaining of the position. Kim Shin-yong's poems are hard to place and be explained in the generally designated so-called 'Labor Poetry' titled category. In addition, it would also be inappropriate to describe his poems as explaining the poor citizens and their painful lives and alienation. In his poems, such a severe reality is described in a concrete language which is absolutely the poet's insight perspective and very much the existence, at the same time a criticism of reality which is calmly melted away. At the same time a reflective self-consciousness of the poet or love and sacrifice towards neighbors which are combined together and contained. Such points mean the poet is not tied to literal theory but is able to honestly talk of their own vivid life and traces, with such a will enabling the blooming of a new domain.
Therefore this research study follows his poetic world in a time-like sense and as a whole the journey of his poems up until the reaching of his most recent 『Dojanggol Collection of Poems』 as a keynote. First of all in the second section of this thesis looks at the early stages of the poet's work as a foundation, encompassing works such as his first collection of poems 『Abandoned People』 (1988) and 『A Record of Days as a Dog』 (1990) and 『Walking in Sleep』 (1998), all of which the poet shows us the joys and sorrows and pains of poor citizens, and the world of labor in the depths, which leads them to feel desperation and alienation, portrayed in a poetic formation and also regarding this the poet's own insight perspective and self-conscious world. These make up the focus of the discussion. The poet's poor and famished desperation how he could not give up his own paradoxical life in the midst of this and found a will which he then kept up a bitter struggle to keep. Such a poet's will of life and the love for neighbors who were in pain these were elements found in the early stages of his created poetry world.
In the third section the thesis goes on to look at the poet's relatively more recent 『Pain Reverie』(2005) as a basis and looks at the poet's gaze and memory of pain in his memory and also individually the present pain, igniting a language formation and it is examined whether it finds its form in poems. After the poet vanished from the painful life in the past days he still feels a 'pain reverie' which is not actual pain in the midst of the present. This leads to the feeling of another type of pain which is he is compassionate towards, and hence induces the serene self-reflection of his life. The poet's self-reflection becomes further spread and develops to the point where it attempts to embrace the pain and agony of our present lives and draws close. This collection of poems looks hard at the pain life brings, and within the veins of life the poet attempts to reflect, showing the collection of poems off to advantage in character.
In the fourth section focuses on the most recent 『Dojanggol Collection of Poems』 (2007) and the life in the midst of nature, small yet significant, which the poet shows us through this new dimension. Also, in the midst of that, the lives of humans are looked at, gazing at the lives of citizens and examining songs which contain reflection. In humans' eyes, the poet may not have anything remarkable about him and small objects can be passed-by without noticing in the midst of nature where small lives face the direction of a true life and this realization is reflected. This looks at nature not as an absolute glorification of truth but as the place where we humans search for the road of life and where the poet himself reflects with a constant internal contemplation, that which is a language.
Kim Shin-yong used his own painful life experiences as a foundation base and life in the depths of society which brings the concreteness of pain and in the midst of this the impoverished form which dehydrate their own souls in the dark unseen places of this society and the estranged social classes, the pain of such lives and their same category and solidarity consciousness, and the compassion which sprouts out as well as the voice which speaks for the pain, writing poems from all of these factors. Especially in the early days of his poetry world these protruded as a characteristic. Occasionally such a poet's languages may bring discomfort in the heart but through such bare descriptions of agony the poet attempts nothing but the unhealthy and sick lives in the reverse side of society and such a poet's songs serenely paint out these in an attempt to make them seen, which can be seen as a form of documentary painting through the poet's will.
As a result this research aimed to look at the poet Kim Shin-yong, who is still actively and constantly engaged in creative activity and the poet's unique life in its own league and his life's literal journey of footprints and accordingly his world of poetry which is painted and recited, the individual contemplations and the change and development phases in the contents and titles of his poems and the overall contemplation.