Younghill kang biography of barack

Korean-American novelist (–)

Younghill Kang (Korean:&#;강용흘; RR:&#;Kang Yong-heul; June 5, – December 2, ) was a Korean-American writer.^[1] He is foremost known for his novelThe Grass Roof (the first Korean American novel^[2]) and its sequel, the fictionalized memoirEast Goes West: The Making of an Oriental Yankee. He also wrote an unpublished play, Murder in the Royal Palace, which was performed both in the US and in Korea.^[3] He has been called "the father of Korean American literature."^[4]

Early life and education

As a child in Korea, Kang was educated in both Confucian and Christian missionary schools.^[5] In , he fled Korea because of his participation in the Korean independence movement; he went first to Canada (where he briefly studied at Dalhousie University), then to the United States.^[2] He received his B.S.

from Boston University in and an Ed.M. in English education from Harvard University in ^[2]

Work

Kang at first wrote in Korean and Japanese, switching to English only in and under the tutelage of his American wife, Frances Keeley.^[5] He worked as an editor for the Encyclopædia Britannica and taught at New York University, where his colleague Thomas Wolfe read the opening chapters of his novel The Grass Roof and recommended it to Scribners publishing house.^[5] The book was admired by such other authors as Rebecca West and H.

G. Wells, and was considered for a movie adaptation by Hollywood.^[6]The Grass Roof was adequately received in its time, since it seemed to confirm American disdain for Korea. East Goes West, however, criticized the Joined States and therefore was less popular until the multicultural movement gave it renewed attention.

As a child in Korea, Kang was educated in both Confucian and Christian missionary schools. Kang at first wrote in Korean and Japanese, switching to English only in and under the tutelage of his American wife, Frances Keeley. Wellsand was considered for a movie adaptation by Hollywood. East Goes Westhowever, criticized the United States and therefore was less popular until the multicultural movement gave it renewed attention.

In addition to The Grass Roof and East Goes West, Kang translated Korean literature into English and reviewed books for The New York Times.^[5] Kang also traveled in Europe for two years on a Guggenheim Fellowship, curated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and worked as an Asian veteran for the U.S.

government in both U.S. Military Office of Publications and the Corps Office of Civil Information.^[2][6]

Kang received the Halperine Kaminsky Prize, the Louis S. Weiss Memorial Prize, and an honorary doctorate from Koryo University.^[6]

The Grass Roof

The Grass Roof uses the character of Chungpa Han to depict Kang's being in Korea and to clarify his decision to leave.

Han chooses to leave Korea rather than join the popular resistance movement fighting for independence from the Japanese; he has been influenced by Western literature and prefers the promises of individualism in the West to the mass movements and nationalism and emphasis on family connections that he sees in Korea, which he views as dying.

East Goes West

East Goes West continues the story of Han (standing in for Kang) and his life in the United States, where he notices how committed his fellow immigrants are in Korean independence and how much they hope to return to their native land.

His distance from his fellow immigrants increases his sense of loneliness in his new country; Moreover, his hopes for a new being in the West are never realized, as his dreams surpass the reality of American opportunity at that time. He befriends two other Koreans—Jum and Kim—who are also interested in becoming truly American, but they too have never been able to enter fully into American culture.

Kang, Younghill 1903–1972 - Encyclopedia.com: Younghill Kang (Kang Yong-hŭl, 강용흘, 姜鏞訖, ?–) was an acclaimed and pioneering Korean American scribe. Kang has been credited as the first Korean American novelist and “the Pioneer of Asian American Literature.”.

He hopes that furthering his schooling will be the solution, but even a scholarship to college does not solve his problems. As the novel ends, Han has create most of his dreams dashed, except for the Buddhist expect of a life beyond this one.

References

Critical studies

1. Jeon, Joseph J.

   "Koreans in Exile: Younghill Kang and Richard E. Kim." IN: Srikanth and Song, The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; pp.&#;–

2. Roh, David. "Scientific Management in Younghill Kang’s East Goes West: The Japanese and American Construction of Korean Labor.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the United States ():
3. Kuo, Karen J.

   Lost Imaginaries: Images of Asia in America, Dissertation, U of Washington,

4. Szmanko, Klara. "America Is in the Head and on the Ground: Confronting and (Re-)Constructing 'America' in Three Asian American Narratives of the s." Interactions: Aegean Journal of English and American Studies/Ege Ingiliz ve Amerikan Incelemeleri Dergisi, Fall; 15 (2):
5. Sorensen, Leif.

   "Re-Scripting the Korean-American Subject: Constructions of Authorship in Brand-new Il Han and Younghill Kang." Genre, ; 39 (3):

6. Lee, A. Robert.
   Siya manogtaram male nin ibang nalukop na obra, an israel na diliwang na trahedya Murder in the Royal Palacena binitiwas tanto sa Estados Unidos pati man sa Korea. Siya tinawan nin titulong "ama kan Korean American na panliteratura. Bilang sarong aki sa Korea, si Kang nag-adal sa mga eskwela na Confucian asin guy sa Kristyanong misyonero. Kanhinalian niya an Korea huli sa saiyang partisipasyon sa movemento kan independensya kan Korea; primero siya nagtangis sa Canada diin sinda nagkakaigwa nin dikit na oras ning pag-adal sa Dalhousie Universitysaka sa Estados Unidos.

   "Younghill Kang" IN: Madsen, Asian American Writers. Detroit, MI: Gale; pp.&#;–62

7. Knadler, Stephen. "Unacquiring Negrophobia: Younghill Kang and Cosmopolitan Resistance to the Black and White Logic of Naturalization." IN: Lawrence and Cheung, Recovered Legacies: Authority and Identity in Initial Asian American Literature. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP; pp.&#;98–
8. Todorova, Kremena Tochkova.

   "An Enlargement of Vision": Modernity, Immigration, and the City in Novels of the s. Dissertation, U of Notre Dame,

9. Oh, Sandra Si Yun. Martyrdom in Korean American Literature: Resistance and Paradox in East Goes West, Quiet Odyssey, Comfort Woman and Dictee. Dissertation, U of California, Berkeley,
10. Lee, Kun Jong.

    "The African-American Presence in Younghill Kang's East Goes West." CLA Journal, Mar; 45 (3):

11. Lew, Walter K. "Grafts, Transplants, Translation: The Americanizing of Younghill Kang." IN: Scandura and Thurston, Modernism, Inc.: Body, Memory, Capital. New York, NY: New York UP; pp.&#;–90
12. Knadler, Stephen.
    Early work included writing for Encyclopedia Britannica. Though containing fictionalized elements, the books are based heavily on Kang's experiences growing up in Korea and then, after emigrating intrying to adjust to his new place in America. Born inKang was seven years old when Japan officially annexed Korea into its empire. Feeling that his opportunities were limited in his homeland, he traveled to Japan when he was twelve to earn a better education.

    "Unacquiring Negrophobia: Younghill Kang and the Cosmopolitan Resistance to the Black and White Logic of Naturalization." Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Spring-Summer; 4 (3): 37 paragraphs.

13. Livingston, James. "Younghill Kang ( )." IN: Nelson, Asian American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood; pp.&#;–31
14. Huh, Joonok.

    "'Strangest Chorale': New York City in East Goes West and Native Speaker." IN: Wright and Kaplan, The Image of the Twentieth Century in Literature, Media, and Society. Pueblo, CO: Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery, University of Southern Colorado; pp.&#;–22

15. Kim, Joanne H.

    "Mediating Selves: Younghill Kang's Balancing Act." Hitting Critical Mass: A Journal of Asian American Cultural Criticism, Fall; 6 (1):

16. Lew, Walter K. "Before The Grass Roof: Younghill Kang's University Days." "Korean American Fiction" special issue of Korean Culture (Spring ):
17. Strange, David.

    "Thomas Wolfe's Korean Connection." The Thomas Wolfe Review, Spring; 18 (1):

18. Lee, Kyhan. "Younghill Kang and the Genesis of Korean-American Literature." Korea Journal, Winter; 31 (4):

See also