“This suggests that what could be described as a ‘wretched life’ is, in fact, the grotesque physicality of filth, which takes shape as a form of political subversiveness in Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye).” (Kwon, Bodeurae. “4worui Munhakyeongmyeong, Geundaehwarongwaui Daegyeol - Icheongjungwa Bangyeongung, 《Sanmunsidae》eseo 《Changjakgwabipyeong》kkaji” [“The April Literary Revolution and Contesting Modernization Theory: From Prose Era to The Quarterly Changbi, Yi Cheong-jun and Bang Yeong-ung”]. Hangungmunhangnyeongu [Research on Korean Literature], vol. 39. Dongguk University Korean Literature Research Center, 2010)
Bang Yeong-ung is a novelist who realistically portrays the tragic reality of Korean rural and urban citizens through objective description and humorous composition.
1. Life
Bang Yeong-un was born in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province on May 20, 1942 and died on August 31, 2022. In 1956, he left Yesan and settled in Geumho-dong, Seoul, a slum area, and his experiences there had a strong influence on his fictional world. Although he gave up on university after repeated admission failures and financial hardship, he began studying literature through literary magazines such as Hyundae Munhak. He submitted his novella Bimil (Secret) to the New Writers Literary Award (1966), organized by the monthly Sedae, and was shortlisted but did not win. Later, he rewrote it as a novel, which became his most famous work, Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye). He made his literary debut in 1967 by publishing the novel in three installments in the newly launched magazine, The Quartely Changbi. It was regarded as a work that reflected the magazine’s literary direction. Moreover, it gained attention from literary circles after Paik Nak-chung, the magazine’s leading author, spoke highly of it. The novel was also adapted into a film, for which Bang contributed as a screenwriter, and it was a success. He consistently published novels until the late 1980s, but from the 1990s onward, he has produced little work.
2. Writing
Bang’s most notable work is his debut novel Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye), which depicts the original form of traditional rural life in an agricultural village setting. With the launch of The Quarterly Changbi, Paik Nak-chung had been searching for a new literary direction and remarked, “It feels like this novel is a test of the quarterly’s purpose and critical discernment,” making the novel’s artistic achievement a subject of debate in Korean literary circles at the time. Driven by a desire for realist literature that captures the representative spirit of its era and moves beyond petty-bourgeois illusion, Paik discovered a vivid and lifelike sense of realism in Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye), which marked a departure from the petty-bourgeois fiction of the 1960s. Likewise, Bang’s short story “Dal” (“Moon”) is set in an agricultural village and does not clearly indicate a specific time period. As in Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye), the narrative reflects the moral awareness of the ordinary people of the time, represented through rural characters. In Saraganeun Iyagi (Life Stories), a short story collection published in 1974, Bang presents characters who move into urban areas and, through them, explores the reality of people unable to settle down and drifting from place to place. As such, his short stories focus deeply on those marginalized by society. In addition, Bang contributed as a screenwriter when Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye) was adapted into a film by Yu Hyun-mok, which achieved considerable success and received many awards.
Reference
Bullyegi (The Story of Bullye). Hongik Publishing, 1968
Saraganeun Iyagi (Life Stories). Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 1974
Cheonnun (First Snow). Seoeum Publishing, 1976
Bakindol Ppopindol (Stone Driven In, Stone Pulled Out). Jeonyewon, 1980
Yunbonggil Uisa (Yun Bong-Gil the Matyr). Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 1983
Geumjosan (Mount Geumjo). Samsung Foundation of Culture, 1992
Bulkkochi Doen Cheongnyeon Yunbonggil (Yun Bong-Gil, a Young Man Who Became a Flame). Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2006
Reference
Kwon, Bodeurae. “4worui Munhakyeongmyeong, Geundaehwarongwaui Daegyeol - Icheongjungwa Bangyeongung, 《Sanmunsidae》eseo 《Changjakgwabipyeong》kkaji” (“The April Literary Revolution and Contesting Modernization Theory: From Prose Era to The Quarterly Changbi, Yi Cheong-jun and Bang Yeong-ung”). Hangungmunhangnyeongu (Research on Korean Literature), vol. 39, Dongguk University Korean Literature Research Center, 2010
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