A Study on Wonju Representation and Locality in Korean Modern Novel: Focusing on Wonju Native and Resident Writers

Recently, while locality literature research is being actively conducted, this paper examines the representation of Wonju and the characteristics of locality in modern Korean novels. Wonju, the most populous city in Gangwon-do with many rural areas, has escaped from the image of a military city and is known as a city of life, innovation city, UNESCO City of Literature, and a holy place of democratization. At the foot of Mt. Chiak, historical figures such as Ungok Won Cheon-seok and Songok Yi Dal with incision and loyalty, as well as thinkers Jang Il-soon, Bishop Ji Hak-soon, novelist Park Kyung-ri, and poet Kim Ji-ha, form the image of a city of rebellion, dynamism, and life. In Lee Ki-ho and Kim Hee-sun's novels, Wonju City (W City) is recreated as a military city identity and the home of small citizens. Lee In-hwi's novel is presented as an ecological alternative space and wound healing space for artists, and Oh Tak-bun's “Father and Chiaksan” is presented as a space of reconciliation and life through father-son conflict. In Won Jae-gil's “Wonju Station, September 1983” and Lee Ki-ho's “World History of the Second Sons,” Wonju is represented as the epitome of Korean society in the 1970s and 80s, where torture, intimidation, violence and human rights abuses against innocent citizens took place in disguised places of state power. KimHee-sun's novel, which reinvents W poetry with sci-fi imagination, expresses an other-centered minority-oriented stance. The artist, who depicts Wonju City as the center of the world and the space of the Other, dismantles the center and the periphery, revealing glocalist thought.