Yi Sang (1910-1937)

Yi Sang (1910-1937)
Phantom Illusion
Korean
Modernism / Postcolonialism
Yi Sang (a.k.a. Lee Sang, with the surname being Yi or Lee) is the pen name of Kim Hae-kyeong—a notable avant-garde Korean writer when Korea was a colony of Japan; the Japanese colonial rule of Korea lasted from 1910 to 1945. Even though his biological father was still alive, Yi (born in Seoul in 1910) was adopted at around age two by his eldest uncle who didn’t have a son; this was due to the residual tradition of primogeniture. For Yi, however, having been separated from his own family and raised in his uncle’s family was a source of life-long trauma. Although initially trained as an architect, Yi later joined Guinhoe, a circle of Korean writers that was formed in 1933. He first began writing poems and later wrote short stories. His work, suggesting the influence of existentialism, Dadaism, and surrealism, is considered modernist in the ways in which it employs language, numbers, and geometric shapes as well as the motif of fragmented and alienated selves. After Yi moved to Tokyo, Japan, in 1936, he was soon arrested by the Japanese police for his “unsound” ideas. Although he was released because of illness, he soon died of tuberculosis in 1937. His best-known work is “Nalgae [The Wings]” (1936), a short story that invites multiple interpretations, such as those from postcolonial, biographical, and psychoanalytical perspectives. He also wrote many experimental poems. “Phantom Illusion” (Korean title: “Hwansigi”), published posthumously in 1938, is a semi-autobiographical short story. It displays many of Yi’s signature styles and motifs, including modern alienated men and women, a new modern educated woman, questions about human/romantic relationships, and a sense of nausea.
Consider while reading:

1. How might the narrator reflect the author’s biography or his psychology ?
2. How does the style of the story reflect the themes of alienation and isolation?
3. In what ways does the short story reflect the historical context of colonial Korea?
4. In what specific ways does the short story reflect modernist literary characteristics?

Written by Kyounghye Kwon