Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
| Theresa Hak Kyung Cha | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | 차학경 |
| Born |
March 4, 1951 Busan, South Korea |
| Died | November 5, 1982 (aged 31) New York City, United States |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (MFA) |
| Period | 1969 to 1963 |
| Notable works | Dictee (1982) |
| Spouse | Richard Barnes |
| Theresa Hak Kyung Cha | |
| Hangul | 차학경 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 車學慶 |
| Revised Romanization | Cha Hak-gyeong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'a Hak-kyŏng |
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (Korean: 차학경; March 4, 1951 – November 5, 1982) was an American novelist, producer, director, and artist of South Korean origin, best known for her 1982 novel, Dictee. Cha was considered to be an avant-garde artist. Cha was fluent in Korean, English, and French. In her works, such as Dictee, Cha took language apart and experimented with it in her writing. Cha's interdisciplinary background was clearly evident in Dictee, which experiments with juxtaposition and hypertext of both print and visual media. Cha's Dictee is taught in contemporary literature classes including women's literature.
Cha, a Korean American, was born in Busan, South Korea during the Korean War. She was the middle child of five to Hyung Sang and Hyung Soon Cha. Both of her parents were teachers. Her mother and oldest brother left Korea for Hawaii when Cha was young, in 1962. The rest of her family eventually moved to the United States in 1963, temporarily settling in Hawaii. A year later, in 1964, Cha's family relocated to California, where she attended Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco. During her time at Sacred Heart High School, Cha studied French. Cha was fluent in the French, English and Korean languages.
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha attended a private Catholic high school, Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, in San Francisco. At this school Cha started her education in western classics and language. She also studied French, Greek, and Roman classics. During her time at Sacred Heart, she sang in the choir. It is suspected that Cha's time at Sacred Heart inspired her to write Dictee. By the time she graduated Cha had earned many scholastic awards.
Before committing to Berkeley, Cha attended University of San Francisco for one semester. Cha transferred to University of California, Berkeley the following year, where she completed her studies in art and writing. There, she also studied ceramics with Peter Voulkos and James Melchert, who encouraged her to work in performance. As a student, she became close friends with Dennis Love, another student and Bertrand Augst, a professor of French and comparative literature. Her classes with Augst influenced Cha to study comparative literature, which she later earned degrees in. It is noted by teachers and friends that Cha enjoyed reading broadly, anything from Korean poetry to European modernist and postmodern literature. In 1973, Cha received her B.A. in comparative literature and 1975 she received her B.A in art from Berkeley. She worked as a student employee of the Pacific Film Archive for three years.
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