Meanwhile, Carefully Woven, Viewing Another Perspective of One Piece

Minumsa Humanities Magazine 'Hanpyeon' Launched... Featuring Around 10 Short Stories of About 30 Manuscript Pages Each
Published Regularly Three Times a Year in January, May, and September... Writers Share and Review Each Other's Work
Three Editors Born in the 1980s Aim for Writing Shorter Than Books but Easier Than Academic Papers

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] "There are no longer authoritative intellectuals like Sartre."

This is a striking sentence from the editorial of the inaugural issue of the humanities magazine 'Hanpyeon,' published by Minumsa on the 14th. The author is Shin Saebyeok, manager (32) of Minumsa's editorial nonfiction team.

"I think the era of intellectuals has passed. Not just one person, but many people are connected through the internet, exchanging information in real time. Unlike in the past, I often feel that it is an era where there cannot be an authoritative thinker."

Hanpyeon aims to be a humanities magazine that contains diverse perspectives from multiple people. The inaugural issue features ten short essays of about 30 pages of 200-character manuscript paper on the theme of 'generation.' The authors range in age from their 20s to their 50s.

Minumsa launched the literary magazine 'Littor' in August 2016. As Littor established itself, a plan was made to publish a nonfiction magazine, and the founding work began in earnest in March last year, centered on the nonfiction team. With the addition of Heo Jumi (37), team leader of the editorial literary team 3, and Lee Hansol (31), staff of the editorial humanities and general knowledge team, the editorial framework for Hanpyeon was formed.

Team leader Heo said, "I have been very interested in the humanities," adding, "Since the books handled by the team are literary works, I had no opportunity to explore the humanities, but Hanpyeon helped to soothe that regret."

Manager Shin said, "I pondered for a long time about what to do if not literature," and revealed, "In a situation where the teams are different, the category that can most broadly encompass everything was the humanities."

In the early 2000s, phrases like the crisis of the humanities and the death of the humanities were popular. Since then, there has been a kind of backlash. Voices have emerged saying that the humanities must be revived and that humanities literacy is necessary in an increasingly harsh world. But has the humanities truly been revived? Doubts remain. So when news of the launch of a humanities magazine came out, the first thought was skepticism about 'how long it can last.'

Staff Lee said, "Among the authors, some mentioned that a magazine they had previously contributed to only published one issue and then stopped, and they said they hoped Hanpyeon would do well."

Perhaps due to the contraction of the humanities, recruiting authors was not difficult. Team leader Heo said, "Overall, the commissioning process went smoothly," and added, "Authors were favorable to the fact that a space to publish their writing was created."

Hanpyeon boldly took the form of a regular publication rather than a mook (irregular publication). It is published three times a year, in January, May, and September. With long-term publication in mind, the burden of being a regular publication was minimized, resulting in the unique triannual publication schedule. Hanpyeon is run without editorial board members; editors share opinions and collaborate in editorial meetings held every two weeks. It also takes the form of joint research.

Manager Shin said, "Usually, authors check other authors' writings after their own book is published. However, in Hanpyeon, authors participating in the same issue read each other's drafts and shared a lot. They examined how the same topic was written from different perspectives and went through a verification stage among themselves. A pre-seminar involving the authors was also held. After listening to each other's opinions and sharing many ideas, they revised their writings."

Staff Lee added, "We were able to see the actual development of the writings. Some authors applied other authors' writings to their own research. We placed great importance on enabling communication among researchers during the magazine preparation process. I think there were achievements and possibilities in that regard."

Minumsa launched the humanities magazine Hanpyeon on the 14th. Hanpyeon aims to provide articles that are "shorter than books and easier than academic papers." The inaugural issue features ten articles on the theme of "generation," each about 30 pages long in 200-character manuscript paper format. Hanpyeon is published three times a year, in January, May, and September. The May issue will focus on "influencers," and the September issue will explore the theme of "fantasy." From left to right, Hansol Lee, Saebyeok Shin, and Jumi Heo from Minumsa's editorial team, who manage Hanpyeon.

The theme of the inaugural issue, generation, may have been a natural choice considering the recent conflicts emerging in our society. All three members of the Hanpyeon editorial team were born in the 1980s, belonging to the same generation. They attended university after the financial crisis and experienced a more intense university life than the previous generation.

Manager Shin majored in philosophy and was active in academic societies. Staff Lee, who majored in Chinese literature, participated in an internet media-related club. Team leader Heo spent most of her time in the library rather than in clubs or academic societies. She majored in French literature and philosophy.

There are surely subtle generational differences even among the three. Team leader Heo recently started studying again in graduate school and felt that the generation had changed once more. "I graduated from university just before the iPhone came out. Therefore, I experienced a school system operated by smartphones for the first time in graduate school. Naturally, I thought that the generation who experienced university life with smartphones would be really different from me. Since the communities where people talk and many other things change with technological development, whether one experienced smartphones during university seems important."

Hanpyeon aims for writing that is "shorter than books but easier than academic papers." Manager Shin pledged to find Hanpyeon's direction somewhere between journalism and academia, which the publishing industry always pays attention to. The intention is to include writings that have a longer breath than journalistic articles but are easier for the public to approach than academic papers. Content-wise, the focus is on understanding the context in which phenomena occur rather than on conclusions about right or wrong.

Manager Shin added finally, "When I meet the authors, they do not make definitive judgments like this or that. Scholarship is originally about delving deeper and observing various things to take steps toward something concrete. Rather than making judgments of good or bad, I hope it becomes an opportunity to look at things from various perspectives and think together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.