염상섭 廉想涉
Novelist of 'Specimen in the Laboratory,' Mansejeon and Samdae; pen name Hoengbo
| Life | 1897 ~ 1963 |
| Era | 일제강점기·현대 |
| Clan | 파주 염씨 |
Life & career
Yeom Sang-seop (廉想涉, 1897-1963) was a leading writer of modern Korean fiction, of the Paju clan, with pen names Jewol (霽月) and Hoengbo (橫步). He was born on 30 August 1897 in Hanseong (Seoul; Jeokseon-dong, Jongno is given). His grandfather Yeom In-sik was a councillor of the Korean Empire's Privy Council, and his father Yeom Gyu-hwan served as magistrate of Gapyeong; his mother was of the Gyeongju Kim clan, and he is recorded as the third of eight children. Namuwiki places him in the Dongjeong-gong lineage. His wife was Kim Yeong-ok of the Uiseong Kim clan.
After Hanseong Normal School's attached primary school and Boseong primary school, he studied in Japan at middle schools in Tokyo and Kyoto and entered Keio University's history department in 1919 but left without finishing. He was jailed during his studies on suspicion of taking part in the March First Movement. He began his literary career in 1920 as a member of Pyeheo and in 1921 was credited with the first Korean naturalist novel with 'Specimen in the Laboratory (Pyobonsil-ui cheonggaeguri).' His works include Mansejeon (1924), Samdae (1931), Love and Sin (1927), Fig (1931), Hyopung (1948) and Chwiu (1952), and short stories such as 'Two Bankruptcies' (1949). With Kim Dong-in and Hyeon Jin-geon he is counted among those who established naturalism and realism in Korea.
In journalism he was political editor of the Maeil Sinbo, editor-in-chief of the Manseon Ilbo (late colonial period) and, after liberation, founding editor-in-chief of the Kyunghyang Shinmun in 1946. In the Korean War he was commissioned a naval major and worked in the information office, becoming a reserve naval lieutenant colonel, and in 1954 served as president of Seorabeol Arts College. Assessments of his work at a Manchurian newspaper in the late colonial period differ among scholars, so no tag is attached here and no judgment is made. He died on 14 March 1963 of rectal cancer at his home in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul.
'Specimen in the Laboratory' (1921) is credited as the first Korean naturalist novel, and Mansejeon (1924) has been included in high school literature textbooks. Samdae (1931) is widely known as a novel of conflict across three generations of one family. He had a dispute with Kim Dong-in in 1932 over 'The Toes Resemble' and is said to have cut ties for fifteen years. Contemporaries mentioned with him are Kim Dong-in and Hyeon Jin-geon.
Family Background
His grandfather Yeom In-sik was a councillor of the Korean Empire's Privy Council and his father Yeom Gyu-hwan a county magistrate, showing the Paju Yeom clan's renewed court activity continuing into the modern era. The clan's mid-founding ancestor is Yeom Je-sin.
Grave
His grave is in a cemetery in Banghak-dong, Dobong District, Seoul, where a literary monument was raised in June 1964 by literary figures and Hyundae Munhak. A statue was erected near his birthplace in 1996 and, after several moves, is said to stand in front of the Kyobo Building since 2014.