Literary critic, first editor of Hyundae Munhak; a figure whose pro-Japanese literary writing is discussed
| Life | 1920 ~ 1981 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 함안 조씨 |
Jo Yeon-hyeon (趙演鉉, 1920-1981) was a literary critic of the Haman Jo clan, with the pen name Seokjae. He was born in Haman, South Gyeongsang, on 26 July 1920 and graduated from Baejae High School in Gyeongseong in 1939. He debuted as a poet in 1938 and as a critic in 1941, and after early June 1945 gave up poetry to devote himself to criticism. His Japanese-style name was Tokuta Enken (德田演鉉).
After liberation he formed the Joseon Youth Writers' Association with Kim Dong-ri, Seo Jeong-ju and others, played an important role in forming the Federation of Cultural Organizations in 1946, and launched the magazine Yesul Burak. From about 1947 he was a leading figure of the right-wing literary world, and he took part in founding the Korean Literary Association in 1948. In 1954, at 35, he was elected the youngest member of the National Academy of Arts, and in 1955 he founded the literary magazine Hyundae Munhak and served as its editor. He was a professor at Dongguk University and chairman of the Korean Writers' Association.
In the closing period of the Pacific War, when "national literature" flourished, he is recorded as leaving six pro-Japanese critical essays in Dongyang Jikwang and elsewhere, some written in Japanese, with "Nostalgia for the East" (1942) cited as a representative piece. He was included in the list of 42 pro-Japanese writers announced in 2002 and in the 2008 list of those slated for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators by the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, though he was in his mid-twenties at liberation and is relatively young among those listed. He received the Order of Cultural Merit (1963), the Academy of Arts Prize (1966), the Order of Civil Merit (1971) and the March First Culture Prize (1972), and the Jo Yeon-hyeon Literature Prize is named after him.
Hyundae Munhak, founded in 1955, became the central organ of the conservative literary world, and Jo Yeon-hyeon is assessed as having exercised great influence as a literary administrator. The novelist Jo Jeong-rae also debuted through this magazine's recommendation in 1970. There are also assessments that he ruled the magazine arbitrarily as editor, and stories of a struggle with Kim Dong-ri over the chairmanship of the Korean Writers' Association.
His criticism is often called physiological criticism. Holding that national physiology precedes political ideology, it is assessed as right-wing nationalist in tendency, while there is no little criticism that he was power-oriented and conformist. This page does not settle the assessment and records only what is known.
The list of those slated for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators was announced in 2008 by the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, and being on the list should be distinguished from actual inclusion in the dictionary. For Jo Yeon-hyeon, essays in Dongyang Jikwang and elsewhere are cited as the basis. His literary activity and honors after liberation are also recorded, so both sides are written here. For the clan see Haman Jo.
His place of death is recorded as Tokyo, Japan. His tomb could not be confirmed here.