National Library of Korea to Hold Academic Conference on the 9th... 'New Discoveries in Modern Literature and Cultural Materials'

The National Library of Korea will hold a joint academic conference on the 9th at 2 p.m. in the Digital Library's main conference room under the theme "New Discoveries and New Perceptions of Modern Korean Literature and Cultural Materials." The conference is organized in collaboration with the Society for Modern Bibliography and Kangwon National University.

At the conference, the censored script of the classic changgeuk play "Kim Yushin" will be revealed to the academic community for the first time. This script was written by Kim Geon, a leading playwright in the theater world, in November 1944 and submitted to the Police Bureau of the Government-General of Korea. Relatedly, Professor Yoo Chun-dong of Kangwon National University will present on the topic "The Reality of Censored Pro-Japanese Modern Plays: The Case of the Changgeuk Kim Yushin."

Jo Hye-rin, Head of the Rare Books Department at the National Library of Korea, will trace the history of the National Library through the discovery of the institution's bulletins "Gwanbo" and "Munwon," published after the library's opening on October 15, 1945. She highlights that despite difficult conditions, the library recognized the importance of publishing institutional bulletins earlier than other organizations in the liberation period and documented the library's activities.

Additionally, Professor Eom Tae-woong of Korea University will shed light on the emergence of popular educational history books based on marginalized ethnic groups and the public under the theme "Cheong-o Cha Sang-chan, a Modern Cultural Planner’s Popular Joseon History of Three Thousand Years." Professor Shin Sung-hwan of Kangwon National University will explore how the topic of divorce, symbolizing modern gender equality, was expressed through literature as a public forum in his presentation "The Issue of Divorce in the Modern Transition Period and Literature as a Public Sphere." Professor Kim Kyung-hee of Gachon University will trace how the first children's reading room in Korea was established and operated at the Kyungsung Library, founded by Koreans, in her presentation "The Formation and Significance of the Children's Reading Room at Kyungsung Library in the 1920s."

Jo Young-joo, Director of the Knowledge and Information Management Department at the National Library of Korea, stated, "After a long time due to COVID-19, we hope this face-to-face academic event will be an opportunity to share research results on materials related to modern Korean literature and culture and to shed new light on modern literature and cultural studies from diverse perspectives."

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