Choi Il-nam
Born(1932-12-29)29 December 1932
Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, Chōsen
Died28 May 2023(2023-05-28) (aged 90)
Seoul, South Korea
LanguageKorean
NationalitySouth Korean
CitizenshipSouth Korean
Korean name
Hangul
최일남
Revised RomanizationChoe Il-nam
McCune–ReischauerCh'oe Il-nam

Choi Il-Nam (Korean: 최일남; 29 December 1932 – 28 May 2023) was a South Korean writer.[1][2]

Life and career

Born in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do on 29 December 1932,[3] Choi Il-Nam graduated from Seoul National University in 1957 with a degree in Korean language and literature. He received his Ph.D. in Korean literature from Korea University in 1960 and embarked on a career that combined journalism and fiction writing. He served as the head of the culture department at Minguk Daily, Kyunghyang Daily News, and The Dong-A Ilbo; and subsequently became the editor-in-chief of The Dong-A Ilbo, a position he held until he was dismissed in 1980.[4]

Choi died on 28 May 2023, at the age of 90.[5]

Work

After publishing fewer than two dozen stories in the 1950s and 1960s, Choi became more prolific in the 1970s, which featured his first book of fiction, People of Seoul[6] (Seoulites).

Choi's novels fall into two broad categories. His works prior to 1980 often portray a person from the countryside coming to the rapidly urbanizing and industrializing city where they succeed in building a new life. Despite the characters' success, however, the industrializing city is always shown to be founded on the relative poverty of the countryside, pointing to the sacrifice of the latter in achieving the success of the former. In his early novels, Choi wished to show the dark side of industrial development. Following his forced dismissal from journalism in 1980, Choi's stories shifted to a more intense criticism of social reality. But rather than landing sharp attacks on society, his later works are constructed so as to point to everyday human egotism existing in pockets across the social landscape, or to describe powerless individuals alienated by power.[1]

Works in translation

  • "The Lone Wolf", in Anthology of Korean Literature Vol. 1 (1988)
  • "Ballad" in Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology (2005)

Works in Korean (partial)

Short story collections

  • Seoul salamdeul (Seoulites, 1975)[7]
    • Nosae du mari (Two Mules)[8][9]
  • Geu ddae mal i isseossne (There Was Talk Then, 1989)
  • Hiteulleona jindallae (Hitler and Azaleas, 1991)
  • Seongnyu (Pomegranate, 2004)

Novels

  • Ssuk iyagi (The Tale of Mugwort, 1953)[10]
  • Geuligo heundeullineun bae (And Then the Rocking Ship, 1984)
  • Heureuneun buk (The Flowing Drum, 1986)[11]
  • Hayan son (The White Hand, 1994)
  • Mannyeonpil gwa papiluseu (Pen and Papyrus, 1997)

Awards

  • Woltan Literature Prize (1975)
  • Korean Creative Writing Prize (1981)
  • Yi Sang Literary Award (1986)
  • Catholic Press Literature Award (1988)
  • Inchon Literature Prize (1994)

References

  1. 1 2 "최일남" biographical PDF available at LTI Korea Library or online at: "Author Database - Korea Literature Translation Institute". Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  2. ↑ "Choi Il-nam(최일남)". Digital Library of Korean Literature(LTI Korea). Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Lee, Kyung-ho (1996). "Cho Il-Nam". Who's Who in Korean Literature. Seoul: Hollym. pp. 62–64. ISBN 1-56591-066-4.
  4. ↑ "Choi Il-Nam" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: "Author Database - Korea Literature Translation Institute". Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  5. ↑ 최일남 전 한국작가회의 이사장 별세 (in Korean)
  6. ↑ Bruce Fulton & Youngmin Kwon, ed. (2005). Modern Korean Fiction An Anthology. New York: Coumbia University Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0231135139.
  7. ↑ ""Seoulites" by Choi Il-nam". KBS World. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. ↑ ""Two Mules" by Choi Il-nam". KBS World. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. ↑ 진주동중학교 3 2 2단원 노새 두 마리 줄거리 [Jinju-dong Middle School 3 2 Unit 2 Two Mules Synopsis] (in Korean). 진주동중학교. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  10. ↑ ""The Tale of Mugwort" by Choi Il-nam". KBS World. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  11. ↑ ""The Flowing Drum" by Choi Il-nam". KBS World. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
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