Young-min Kim


Young-min Kim is a South Korean literary scholar and critic. Kim's research interests have included the history of modern and contemporary Korean literature, with a focus on literary works produced during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He conducted research concerning the Korean Enlightenment period in the late nineteenth century.
Kim was recognized as a distinguished scholar by the National Research Foundation of Korea for his study of Korean literature in 2007. He has also received the title of Distinguished Underwood Professor by Yonsei University, and he was awarded the Nanjeong Academic Prize in 2019.

Life and career

Young-min Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, on April 26, 1955. Kim attended Daegwang Middle School and Daegwang Highschool, later studying at Yonsei University where he earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Korean Literature. He wrote his doctoral thesis on 1920's Korean literary criticism.
From 1984 to 1987, Kim served as an assistant professor at Jeonbuk National University and later as a professor of Korean literature at Yonsei University Mirae Campus. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard-Yenching Institute in 1994 and 2003, and a visiting scholar at Rikkyo University from 1997 to 1998.
In 2007, Kim was selected as a national scholar for his achievements in the study of the history of modern Korean novels.
From 2008 to 2010, Young-min Kim was the president of the Society of Korean Literary Studies and the director of the Institute for the Study of Korean Modernity. He is currently a professor emeritus of Korean literature at Yonsei University.

New Methodology for Modern Korean Literature

Kim introduces a paradigm that works as the foundation for the history of modern Korean novels. He applied his methodology emphasizing media and language to describe the formation of modern Korean literature.
His book, A Study on the Literary System and Formation of the National Language for Modern Korean Literature, the English translated version of which is The History of Modern Korean Fiction : The Topography of Literary Systems and Form, is the first South Korean book to be selected for Choice Reviews' annual list of Outstanding Academic Titles. Choice Reviews praised Kim's detailed and extensive notes on the development of modern fiction and the translation of Rachel Min Park.
His book explores Korean texts in the Korean Enlightenment period, illustrating his comprehensive and contextualizing perspective. His analysis provides new insights into cultural developments, such as the emergence of new literary styles and genres.
He analyzes a wide array of genres and styles of texts, bridging the gap left by literary scholars who disregarded the importance of socio-historical context.

Awards and achievements

Kim received many awards, including:
  • Yonsei University Academic Award
  • Distinguished Underwood Professor
  • 38th Korea Baeksang Publishing Culture Award - Writers' Award
  • Distinguished Scholar by National Research Foundation of Korea
  • Yonsei University Outstanding Researcher Award
  • Recognition of Outstanding Research Capabilities
  • Yonsei University Outstanding Researcher Award
  • Outstanding Achievement Award
  • 4th Nanjeong Academic Award

Criticism

Kim had changed the trend of modern Korean literary criticism, mainly focusing on the criticism of proletarian literature during the 1920s-30s. Kim's approach emphasized the significance of continuity in Korean literary criticism. According to the "continuity theory" he advocates, the interconnections between literary theory and the historical context of Korea form the development of modern Korean literary criticism. Kim contributed to bridging the gap between literary criticism and historical context by stressing continuity.
Examples he provides for his continuity theory include his assessment of the history of criticism in the 1930s. He views the history of criticism in the 1930s as "the united front of literature", advocating Ham-gwang An's perspective that perceives humanism as an anti-fascist struggle for class solidarity. Concerning Kim's opinion, Sung-su Kim, a lecturer at Sungkyunkwan University, argues that the assumption of cooperation and solidarity seems questionable since hegemony and collision occur between bourgeois literature and proletarian literature.
Kim highlighted the close connection between the history of criticism and the evolution of national literature theory, encompassing the period from pre-independence to the early 1990s. Additionally, he expanded the boundaries of national literature theory by underlining the continuity of criticism that persisted from the post-independence era to the critique of modern Korean fiction during the colonial period. In 1999, he addressed the history of KAPF 's literary criticism and the main arguments in the history of modern Korean literary criticism.

Works

Remapping and Positivism of Literary History

Kim restructures literary history through two notions, i.e., "remapping" and "positivism". He introduced these notions in his book, A Study on the Literary System and Formation of the National Language for Modern Korean Literature . He remaps authors and literary works by time and place. He analyzes many sources, such as newspapers and magazines, to prove that positivism is crucial. He argues that interpretations based on Western ideological criteria distorted Korean literary history by overlooking external sources which formed modern Korean fiction. Kim uses various external sources, such as literary systems, media, and language, beyond the boundaries of literature to restructure the history of Korean literature.

The Formation of Modern Fiction through Editorials and Narratives

Yu-Chan Choi, a professor of Korean language and literature at Yonsei University, credits Kim for discovering the importance of editorials and narratives in the development of modern fiction. In his book, History of Modern Korean Fiction, Kim defines the critical traits of modern fiction as editorials, narratives, and enlightenment. He connects the three categories, focusing on the contributions of editorials and narratives to the Korean Enlightenment in developing the history of fiction. He uses Yi Gwangsu's works as an example of modern fiction. He redefines Yi Gwangsu's Mujeong as modern fiction by comparing the similarities and connections between Yi Gwangsu's editorial, Rural Community Development, and his fiction, Mujeong. By verifying the relationship between Yi's editorial and fiction, he argues that the influence of editorial and narrative forms modern fiction.

Published works

Authored books

Suju Byeon Young Lo Critical Biography A Study on Modern Korean Authors A Study on Literary Theory A Study on the History of Korean Literary Argument Criticism National Literature and Modernity History of Modern Korean Fiction A New Understanding of Yeom Sang-seop's Literature A Study on the History of Modern Korean Literary Criticism The Reflection and Prospect on Korean Literature in 20th Century A Study on the History of Modern Korean Literary Criticism 2 Korean Literature in the World Korean Literature in a Multimedia Era A New Understanding of Lim Hwa's Literature Accommodation of Western Culture and Modern Reformation A New Understanding of Lee Tae Jun's Literature A Study on the Relationship between Modern Korean Narratives and Media Korean Language and Literature Asking the Future Path A Study on the Process of Development of Modern Korean Narratives Tradition and Modernity of East Asian Narratology A Study on the Modern Korean Narratives and Newspapers: Korea Daily News Reading Korean Classics A New Understanding of Korean Literature in the Modern Enlightenment Era A Study on the Modern Korean Newspapers and Modern Novels 2: Hanseong Shinbo Reading the History of Literature through Papers 1 Modernity and Postmodernity of Korean Literature The History of Modern Korean Fiction: The Topography of Literary Systems and Form Controversial Issue of Study on Modern Korean and Japanese Language and Literature A Study on the Modern Korean Newspapers and Modern Novels 3: Manse Sinbo Time under the Heaven Tree: Reading Yeom Sang-Seop A New Understanding of Yeom Sang-Seop A New Understanding of Yi Sang's Literature
  • ''A Study on the Modern Korean Literature and Magazine Issued by Korean Students in Japan in the 1910s''

Edited books

A Complete Collection of the Short Narratives in the Modern Enlightenment Period Animal's Congress
  • ''A Study on the Short Narratives in the Modern Enlightenment Period''

Translations

The Anatomy of the Novel Realism and Literature Modern Knowledge and 'Choseon-World' Transition of Perception A Study on the Process of Development of Modern Korean Narratives A Literary Understanding of the 3.1 Movement
  • ''Media Text Language and Cultural Changes in Early Modern Korea''