Kim Chi-ha
| Kim Jiha | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kim Yeongil February 4, 1941 Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, Korea |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Korean |
| Period | 1963 - present |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김지하 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | Gim Jiha |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Chiha |
Kim Jiha (Korean: 김지하, 1941-) is a Korean poet and playwright.
Kim Jiha was born Kim Yeongil on February 4, 1941 in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do. In 1966, he graduated with a degree in Aesthetics from Seoul National University. In March 1963, under the pen name Kim Jiha, he published the poem "Evening Story" (Jeonyeok iyagi) in the journal Mokpo Literature. He made his official literary debut in 1969.
Kim was a dissident under the Park regime, in fact he took the pen-name "Jiha" because it is the Korean word for "underground". After accusing the regime of extracting false confessions with the use of torture, he was tried and sentenced to death, which was commuted to a life sentence and eventual release following a public outcry. When he further accused the government of using torture to get confessions in the 1974 People's Revolutionary Party case, he was once again sent to prison and his life sentence renewed. He was subject to torture himself. As a Catholic, he compared the suffering of the Korean people with the greater suffering of Jesus Christ. His poem “Five Thieves”, critical of the government, was subject to censorship, as the entire issue of Sasangye magazine in which it was printed was pulled from circulation.
From his first collection, The Yellow Earth, to his collection of lyrical poetry, Looking up at a Starry Field, Kim has displayed a broad literary range including both narrative and lyrical poems, ballads, taeseol, drama, and prose. His works also cover the full gamut of religious thought and philosophy, from the Donghak, to the Catholic, Jeungsan, Avatamska, Zen, and Maitraya tradition.
The majority of Kim’s poems also present satirical social critiques. In The Yellow Earth and With a Burning Thirst, the poet offers a scathing invective of society through the medium of lyric poetry. In ballads such as "Five Bandits" (Ojeok) and "Groundless Rumors", he employs a pansori rhythm and occasionally obscure classical Chinese characters to satirize the misdeeds and corruption of those in power. The pansori rhythm is present again in A Rain Cloud in these Days of Drought, a collection of narrative poems that examine the life and death of Choi Jeu. Love Thy Neighbor, when compared to Kim's earlier works, focuses more directly on the notion of romantic love, thus marking a turning point in the poet’s thematic focus. Looking up at a Starry Field and The Agony of the Center reflect this shifting thematic interest in their lyrical content and intent in relating the individual’s interior monologue. These works also reveal a strong undercurrent of Romanticism, in focusing more deliberately on the poet’s desire to connect with nature than on his discontent with society.
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