Sad Contradiction

One of the pioneers of modern Korean literature, Yang Geon-sik (1889 – 1944) was born in Tap-dong, Gyeong-seong in 1889 and studied at Hanseong National Foreign Language School. He went on to study for ten years at Peking University in China, matriculating in 1910. Working as the chief scribe of the Society for Promoting Buddhism and as journalist and editor of its journal, Monthly News of the Society for Promoting Buddhism, he engaged in a cultural enlightenment movement based on Buddhism.

He started his literary career in 1915 when he published a story titled “Image of a Stone Lion,” which had a strongly Buddhist undertone, in the Monthly News of the Society for Promoting Buddhism. He afterwards revealed his self-reflection on literature and his critical consciousness on reality through works such as “Homecoming” and “Sad Contradiction,” among others. Like many writers of his time, he also worked as a literary critic, and his criticism shows some hints of early thought on l’art pour l’art, requiring the recognition of art’s aesthetic quality.