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March Special “Women in Literature”

Episode 1 “Mountain Road” by Ji Ha-ryun

It was rather questionable for me to not let on in front of her husband, albeit for just one night, the awkward problem of him loving another woman. But on the other hand, I couldn’t just break it without at least some psychological preparation. 

생각하면 남편이 다른 여자를 사랑한다는,

이 거추장스러운 문제를 안고,

비록 하룻밤 동안이라고는 하지만

남편 앞에서 내색하지 않은 것이 되레 의심쩍을 일이기도 하나

한편 나로서는 또 제대로 여기에 대한

다소나마 마음의 준비 없이 뛰어들 수는 없었던 것이다.

“Mountain Road,” published in 1942 in magazine Chunchu춘추, is a story about a woman’s psyche and suffering under the feudal patriarchal system.  

“Even if you win everything else, don’t love him more than I do. If I lose even in that, I have no other recourse than to deprave myself.” 

Yeon-hee continued in a sadder voice.

“He cherishes order in his life more than anything. Even if he loves me more than he loves you, he will never let out that feeling in real life.” 

Maybe she asked Sun-jae out to tell her this one thing.

Sun-jae was too tired to speak, but Yeon-hee was the intimidating one. She trusted herself. She couldn’t be any bolder about her life. 

“다른 거 다 이겨도 그분을 사랑하는 것만은

 나한테 이기지 마세요.

 여기까지 지게 되면 나는 스스로 타락할 길밖에 도리가 없습니다”

 뭔지 훨씬 서글픈 어조로 연희가 말을 이었다.

“그 분은 누구보다도 자기 생활의 질서를

 소중히 아는 사람입니다.

 설사 당신보다 나를 더 훨씬 사랑하는 경우라도

 결코 현실에서 이것을 표현하지는 않을 겁니다”

결국 이 한 말을 하기 위해

연희는 순재를 불러낸 것인지도 몰랐다.

순재는 거의 지쳐 그대로 입을 다물고 말았으나

연희야말로 무서운 여자였다.

인생에 있어 이처럼 과감할 수가 없다.

Interview by literature critic Jeon So-yeong

The scene in which Sun-jae and Yeon-hee meet is very meaningful and interesting. These two women are both held captive by the patriarchal ideology. But when they meet, they don’t fight over one man. Instead, they find that they both feel the loneliness that come from loving that man. One of the sentiments that is highlighted in this story is loneliness. Whether the woman is Sun-jae, a stay-at-home wife, or Yeon-hee, a mistress, the patriarchal system means nothing but pain to them. The two women, who have met as enemies, ended up forming an alliance of loneliness because of their position in the male-dominated society. 

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Ji Ha-ryun (Real name: Lee Hyeon-wook, Born in Geochang, Gyeongsangnam-do Prov., Jul. 11, 1912~?)

: Debuted by publishing “Separation” in 1940

Won the 1st Chosun Literary Award