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A review by partypete
Yi Sang: Selected Works by Yi Sang
5.0
so I’m going to be blunt: the poetry of yi sang is interesting, especially from a historical perspective, but really not the kind of poetry I enjoy. but man, wave books really outdid themselves with providing excellent context throughout the entire book. and really I don’t think you can ask for much more than that.
yi sang was kind of this enfant terrible of Korean modernism, who mixed surrealism and Dadaism with a kind of experimental formalism that at times reminds me of the language school. I have no doubt at all that it was a massive culture shock, I just don’t particularly enjoy dreamlike surrealism unless it’s telling me more. the translators insist that it underpins his anxieties of Japan’s colonization of Korea, which I wish they highlighted a little more.
his essays were incredible, and the inclusions of his typography as facsimiles helped me understand what he was all about. for someone writing in the 1930s, his work felt surprisingly fresh - this may be the result of good translators.
aside from Han Kang, I know virtually nothing about Korean literature. Not mad that this was my first introduction to a major author!
yi sang was kind of this enfant terrible of Korean modernism, who mixed surrealism and Dadaism with a kind of experimental formalism that at times reminds me of the language school. I have no doubt at all that it was a massive culture shock, I just don’t particularly enjoy dreamlike surrealism unless it’s telling me more. the translators insist that it underpins his anxieties of Japan’s colonization of Korea, which I wish they highlighted a little more.
his essays were incredible, and the inclusions of his typography as facsimiles helped me understand what he was all about. for someone writing in the 1930s, his work felt surprisingly fresh - this may be the result of good translators.
aside from Han Kang, I know virtually nothing about Korean literature. Not mad that this was my first introduction to a major author!