"The wisdom of the humanities is in finding the meaning of life and loving it."
After 30 years of actively working as a lecturer, researcher and critic of literature, literary critic OH Saeng-Keun has reached the retirement age of 65. Professor Oh said his retirement makes him feel “the light-hearted sensation at the finish line of a marathon”.
- Reflecting upon the past 30 years spent in the lecture hall, what is the first memory that comes to mind?
“Starting from 1995, I was the chief editor at SNU DaeHak Shinmun for four years. There were lots of conflicts between the student journalists and me. One time we debated for five to six hours non-stop. However, not so long ago, those twenty students gathered to celebrate my retirement. They gave me presents, prepared a performance and sang the song"Goodness of the Teacher". That moment brought tears to my eyes. The undergraduate and graduate students also sang that song at the end-of-the-semester party. I got to hear that song three times this month. Who sings that song for professors nowadays? I felt that I was entering a very happy retirement.”
- What was the most meaningful thing that you did in your academic career?
“The poems of Paul Eluard were the reason why I decided to major in Surrealism. During my days in the military, his poems gave me the courage to live and a spirit of freedom. At the end of last year, I published a book that approaches Surrealism in a straight forward manner and that made me feel somewhat organized. That book landed me with the award from the National Academy of Sciences (Republic of Korea). I'm planning to publish a book that organizes Michel Foucault's work in an academic fashion. When studying in France, I always felt the need to introduce that kind of theorist to Korea. In 1984, I returned to Korea and wrote an introduction to Foucault about power and knowledge. This was probably the first introduction of Foucault in Korea. The translation of
- Foucault's ideas affected our academia greatly, but there are critics who point out that Foucault doesn't provide solutions to the problems.
“Foucault's ideas let us face the reality as it is. That reality is the fact that as information technology develops, it is increasingly restricting our liberty in return for the convenience it provides. The information-oriented society actually depends on the records of the information. The vast range of accumulated records on individuals is taking away the liberty of the individuals. For example, in the 1960s, a student who had gotten in lots of trouble could still be admitted to a prestigious university if he or she studied hard enough. (Professor Oh says that as a young student, he himself used to get into lots of trouble!) Nowadays, this is impossible. Detailed personal information reaching far into the past is now easy to get access to. This personal information is used to evaluate individuals. However, that personal information is not always objective. When teachers supervise students' behavior in class, the teachers' predisposition can interfere with efforts to evaluate objectively. When subjective opinion gets recorded, people tend to view it as a scientific fact. As students age, more and more personal records will be accumulated. These records will take away the students' opportunities and freedom. The Admissions Officer System plans to record the students' volunteer work experience by turning it into points using numbers. It makes me wonder if this information will be sufficient to assess the true value of one human being.
“The National Intelligence Service (NIS) used to collect information only about people with high-profiles. These days, all citizens' personal information is being recorded. This type of information management system is not centered on the government. Rather, today’s intelligence systems have a decentralized management system and target people indiscriminately. The problem doesn’t show itself in normal times. However, if one person appears not to be in sync with the society's rules or happens to be the weak one, the information management system is used to attack that person. In the old days, the line between the oppressor and the oppressed was clear. Using today's recording system, anyone can be the observer and anyone can be the subject of that scrutiny. The message that Foucault intended to send out is still valid today.”
- Compared to the past, the status of today's literature has fallen greatly. There are incessant speculations about how the study of literature is in the middle of a crisis.
"To tell the truth, when I was in high school, I wasn't confident about making a living. However, I thought that if I majored in literature, I would be able to learn the spirit and attitude of life, because the stories of so many people are inside literature. Once that was established, that was enough for me. As I look back, I wouldn’t have been able to find meaning in my life if I had not had literature.
“One would have to be short-sighted to say that the humanities is facing a crisis because it isn't lucrative and is losing touch with readers. Of course, I have to agree that the study of literature is indeed at a time of crisis. However, that crisis isn't the result of a lack of literature. Rather, the literary world is overabundant at the moment. There was never a time when the prize money for literary awards was as high as nowadays. Many new works are being published. This is where the sign of the crisis can be found. Crisis comes in the disguise of abundance."
Professor Oh Saeng-Keun's and other professors’ retirement ceremony will take place on August 31.
Written by JANG Hyo Jeong, SNU English Editor, fatalbonds@snu.ac.kr ?
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor, morningcalm2@gmail.com