Eunah KimLecturer

I teach classes in Korean grammar.

Working title of the dissertation: A Feminist-narratological study of Pak Wansô’s short stories from the 1970s 

My Ph.D. thesis is devoted to the works by the Korean author Pak Wansô (1931-2011). Since her literary debut in 1970 with the autobiographical novel Namok (The naked tree) this prolific writer has produced more than 20 novels, numerous short stories and essays and been awarded several prestigious literary prizes. Despite a long successful career and a solid status in the contemporary Korean literature, the scholarly research concerning her works has been insufficient in that it lacks any extensive study of the narratological aspects of her writings. By close reading Pak Wansô’s works, mainly her short stories from the 1970s, I hope to shed more light onto some of the characteristics and internal contradictions running through her works. Through a feminist narratological approach, I’m examining various narrative features like the development of the plot, the use of narrative voice, point of view, the relationship between the implied author and the protagonist. Considering the fact that every single narrative practice is a result or consequence of ideology and social conditions, I would also like to place the narrative within a broader historical, social and literary context. 

Other research interests:

20th Century Korean Literature, Contemporary South Korean Women’s Literature (Prose and Fiction), Gender studies, Korean Popular Culture in a global context, Literary translation.