Applying Literary Composition to Comparative Research on Hyun Jin-Geon and Nam Cao, Two Authors in General Literature Education Program of Korea and Vietnam

Abstract

This is a comparative study of two works by Nam Cao and Hyun Jin-Geon dealing with intellectuals, Hyun Jin-Geon's “My Destitute Wife” and Nam Cao's “A Redundant Life”. I have focused on the comparison of the narrative perspective and the artistic view of the two works as the main part of this comparative study. These two works both deals with the story of a married couple. Also, both of the stories feature a husband who is a poor writer. Works of realism are created from an objective point of view. In accordance with such characteristics, Hyun Jin-Geon's work objectively and calmly depicts the narrator even though it is from a first-person point of view. On the other hand, Nam Cao's work is based on an objective narrative point of view in which the characters in the work, the wife and husband, appear in the third person perspective, but express Nam Cao's unique polyphonic voice through the movement of perspective. These similarities and differences contain the same artistic intention to create works with vitality that go beyond realism or narrative perspectives. Their views on art share a valuable literary idea sufficient to lay the groundwork for realism in both countries. It is true that the history and culture of Korea and Vietnam are different from each other in their views on art, but their artistic ideas have provided high value to the literature of both countries. They use their own language to capture the cry of those who suffer, face the cause of life becoming hopeless, and urge them to live their lives with all their might. As writers under colonial rule, they were writers who conveyed light in the darkness of history. Their artistic conception does not stop at targeting intellectuals as in this study but also conveys the same message in other works relating stories of women and the lower classes.