Park Jiwon’s Short Stories:
How a Yangban Uncovered the World of Ordinary People
Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Lecturer: Emanuel Pastreich (Kyung Hee University)
Venue: Second-floor Residents’ Lounge, Somerset Palace
Admission: 5,000 won (non-member); free for members
Park Jiwon was a powerful advocate of a more open and imaginative nation in the second half of the 18th century. He wrote extensively on foreign policy, advocating a nuanced engagement with the Qing, government reform and agriculture. But he is best known for his short stories, poignant tales of strong-willed individuals who created their own cultural space in a rigid society, suggesting new prospects for the future. Park intentionally chose individuals from the lowest classes in society, beggars, courtesans and dealers in night soil, as the protagonists of his tales.