Mun Jeonghui
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Mun Jeonghui is a South Korean poet.


Life

Mun Jeonghui was born in Boseong,
South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...
,
southern Korea South Korea is located in East Asia, on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula located out from the far east of the Asian landmass. The only country that shares a land border with South Korea is North Korea, lying to the north with of ...
on May 25, 1947. She attended Jinmyeong Girls' High School, majored in
Korean Literature Korean literature is the body of literature produced by Koreans, mostly in the Korean language and sometimes in Classical Chinese. For much of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja. It is commonly divided into classi ...
at
Dongguk University Dongguk University () is a private university in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. A top-tier university acknowledged locally in Korea. It is one of the few Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world, and is a member of the International Asso ...
, and completed her graduate studies from the same university, where she has also taught. While still in high school, she published her first collection of poems, ''Kkotsum'' (1965). In 1969 Mun Jeonghui made her debut in literature when her poems "Bulmyeon" (''Insomnia'') and "Haneul" (''Sky'') were accepted in ''Wolgan Munhaks feature on new poets. In 2014, she served as the chairman of the
Society of Korean Poets The Society of Korean Poets () is a literary organization established in 1957. It is the oldest active poetry organization in South Korea. Every year, the organization awards the Society of Korean Poets Award, and holds the National High School ...
.


Work

The core of Mun Jeonghui's poetry reveals a distinctly romantic consciousness, expressed in crystalline language, dominated by a complex interplay of vivid emotions and sensations. Her fine, occasionally startling poetic sensibility is best represented in the poem ''Hwangjiniui norae'':
No, that isn't it. Even with little sunlight / with love alone / that is shy of new faces / like flowers of grass / I want to knock my whole body against a massive wall / and fall.
Mun's similes and metaphors are entirely subjective, having been internalized to chart the evolutions and dramas of her own emotions. Her figurative language becomes a register of her sensitivity, and movingly treats the themes of romantic love, reticence, suffering, and freedom. In a few poems such as ''Potatoes'' (Gamja), ''Saranghaneun samacheon dangsinege'' and ''Namhangangeul barabomyeo'', Mun Jeonghui makes use of the elements of fairy tale narratives in order to arrive at an allegorical distillation of present reality."문정희" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea library or online at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#


Works in translation

* Windflower () * Woman on the Terrace () * Die Mohnblume im Haar () * Celle qui mangeait le riz froid (édition Bruno Doucey, 2012), trans. Kim Hyun-ja


Works in Korean (partial)

* Kkotsum (1965) * Mun Jeonghui Sijip (1973) * Honja muneojineun jongsori (1984) * Aunaeui sae (1986), Geuriun naui jip (1987) * Je momsoge salgo inneun saereul kkeonaeeo juseyo (1990)


Awards

* Contemporary Literature (Hyundae Munhak) Award (1975) *
Sowol Poetry Prize The Sowol Poetry Prize () is one of the most prestigious literary awards in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and border ...
(1996) *
Jeong Jiyong Literature Prize Jeong Jiyong Literature Prize () is a South Korean literary award established in 1989 to recognize "poets and poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesth ...
(2004)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mun, Jeonghui 1947 births Living people Dongguk University alumni South Korean women poets Jeong Jiyong Literature Prize winners International Writing Program alumni People from Boseong County