[W Forum] Becoming Brave

Professor Jeong Eungwi, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

When I happen to meet readers by chance, I am reminded to reconsider the act of writing and the space of poetry. Last year, after translating and publishing the poetry collection by American female poet Anne Sexton titled Braver at Night, someone from Gangwon-do sent me their thoughts. In their mid-50s, a mother with a daughter who says, "Mom doesn't understand me," and still worries about her daughter as an aging mother, they said that the reality of 1960s America is not very different from our current reality. They expressed a painful empathy that transcends time, space, language, and cultural differences, and said, "Becoming brave is still so difficult."

The poetry collection’s title, Braver at Night, comes from a poem titled "Such a Woman," which is quite a complex poem to read. It tells the story of a woman who, seized by uncontrollable passion, leaves her home and flies around like a witch, only to end up in a forest cave. Reading about her setting a table for fairies there, I felt the poet skillfully captured the reality of women who, even after leaving home, cannot completely shake off the role of 'caregiving.'

Breaking free from the roles or customs imposed by society is not easy. There are roles learned from childhood, and it takes great courage to cast them off. The long-imposed title of "angel of the household" on women is a case in point. Working women are expected to perform as well as men outside, perfectly educate their children, prepare meals for the family, and take good care of elders?all at the same time. Missing even one of these responsibilities leads to feelings of inferiority, and when problems arise, they fall into self-blame, thinking it is their fault.

The poet, who exquisitely captured the fragmentation experienced by women who neither abandon nor fully bear the role of the household angel imposed by the times, could not bear the weight of her own life and passed away, contrary to the brave language of her poetry. Just as the female speaker in the poem joyfully roams the streets but ends up with her ribs shattered by a cartwheel, the poet too was broken in that way. Though the poet has left, readers say they gain strength to breathe more deeply today by reading her poetry.

Reading poetry again, I ask: How brave can we become? How is it possible to live bravely without breaking? Hearing the story of someone who bravely reported sexual harassment by a superior, suffered secondary victimization, and died; seeing the kind eyes of a firefighter who lost their life while bravely putting out a fire; I ask once more: How can we protect that good courage to be brave? In a society where many easily mock others’ bravery to hide their own cowardice, what is needed to be brave as a human being?

Saving someone who gets hurt or dies while being brave is, after all, about being there together. To those who fight to protect human dignity and reveal the truth, I say you are not alone. I reach out a hand to that loneliness and hardship. Hoping that a single word of "I will be by your side" might save a person.

Jeong Eun-gwi, Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

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