“The heart, which does not say goodbye despite human cruelty, means never giving up.” The writer Han-Kang (Writer Han) defined herself as the role of the "middleman," saying that she wanted to connect people of the past and present inside the terrible massacre through the book, "Not Saying Farewell (작별하지 않는 마음)."

On November 17th, the PNU library held the second lecture, “Meeting with the Writer” and provided a lecture with Writer Han Kang. Writer Han won the 30th Daesan Literature Award with "Not Saying Farewell," which deals with the Jeju Uprising.

■ How to Awake Your Senses

Writer Han gave a lecture on the writing process of the book "Not Saying Farewell." It contains the determination and willingness not to say goodbye to the tragedy of the Jeju uprising, and the desire to remember it for a long time. Writer Han spent eight to nine hours a day reading references for a month to deal with the incident. She learned the details of the experience and how it changed the entire life of survivors and witnesses through testimonies. She said, "I tried to contain the victims' pain caused by the massive massacre without defining the Jeju uprising itself locally and carried on to Gyeongsan."

Writer Han had to try to not lose her sense of "eye," which appears as an important medium in the book. She visited nature every snowy day and captured the feelings she felt to write it down fully in words. She also filmed the snow touching her hand, melting away, and the scenery of the snow mountain. She said, "I wanted to draw the exceeding heart which does not bid farewell, and the existence that unites like the snowflakes of snow."

■ Keeping in Mind, Not Forgetting

Writer Han said that the most important part of the writing process was “the act of condolences.” She performed carrying a white cloth from the slaughterhouse to the beach and left it as a video. The sea on the cover of the book, "Not Saying Farewell," and the white cloth above were constructed, based on a scene from the video.

She said, "The writing process was also a part of mourning. History is not a story of the deceased, but the temptation to make the living participate in the conversation. The phrase that narrating history is to stand on the other side of violence was a big boost."

Writer Han also said that it was hard to see the vivid materials, so she wanted to finish quickly. Nevertheless, she did her best to play the role of a middleman so that the readers could feel the scene while searching through numerous data and joining along the past. Do not say farewell to the cruel past. That is what the writer wants to convey to the readers, "The heart of not forgetting, not saying farewell."

Reporter Kim Hyeon-Kyung

Translated by Shin Ji-Won