| Seo Jeong-ju | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 서정주 |
| Hanja | 徐廷柱 |
| Revised Romanization | Seo Jeong-ju |
| McCune–Reischauer | Sŏ Chŏng-ju |
| Pen name | |
| Hangul | 미당 |
| Hanja | 未堂 |
| Revised Romanization | Midang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Midang |
Seo Jeong-ju (May 18, 1915 – December 24, 2000) was a Korean poet and university professor who wrote under the pen name Midang (lit. "not yet fully grown"). He is widely considered the best poet in twentieth-century Korean literature. He was nominated five times for Nobel Prize in literature.[1] He published 15 books of poetry consisting of around 1,000 poems.
After his death, South Korean Government officially presented Gold order.
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Seo Jeong-ju was born in Gochang County, Jeollabuk-do,[2] and received his primary education in the village Seodang until 1924. He had heard many traditional stories and stories of ancient times from his grandmother as he grew up. The stories from his grandmother, his primary education and his experiences of youth influenced his literatrary style. He went to Jung-Ang Buddhism College, but he dropped out of school in 1936 involved in demonstration.[3] In 1936, his poem, Byuk (Wall), was published in the Dong-Ah Ilbo newspaper. However, he become a pro-Japanese activist, and wrote various poems about praise for Japanese Imperialism in the late Japanese colonial period.
After the independence of Korea, He worked as a professor of literature at Dongguk University and other universities from 1959 to 1979. Since his wife's death in October 2000, he barely ate or drank anything besides beer. He died on December 24, 2000.
Seo Jeong-ju's early works were modernistic and also surrealistic, influenced mostly by foreign literature. His first collection of poems, Haw-Sa Jip (Flower snake), was published in 1941. The book explores humanity's feelings of guilt and folklore. His poem Jahwasang (Portrait) describes a young poet whose desire to learn was interrupted by the Imperial Japan in 1910. However, Midang wrote Japanophilic literature for the newspaper Mail Ilbo from 1942 to 1944 under the Japanese penname, "Datsusiro Sijuo" (達城靜雄).
His influence on Korean poetry stems in part from the anthology The Early Lyrics 1941-1960. His later poetic style was Oriental and nationalistic, discussing self-reflection and redemption in Buddhism. His works have been translated into a number of languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German. According to translator Brother Anthony, he is the founding father of modern Korean poetry.[4]
In 1997, his poems were finalized the course of translation in Spain and France thanks to donation of Daesan Culture Foundation.[5]