Professor John M. Frankl On his book Images of “The Foreign” in Korean Literature and Culture John M. Frankl is currently Common Curriculum Program Chair of Underwood International College (UIC) at Yonsei University. He also works as an assistant professor of East Asian Literature at UIC. He received his B.A in East Asian Language from University of California, Berkeley in 1989. He, then, most interestingly, came to Korea to study Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University, graduating with a master’s degree in 1993. He also got his M. A. in Regional Studies of East Asia and his Ph.D from the East Asian Language and Civilizations program of Harvard University, in 1997 and 2003 respectively. Professor Frankl published a book titled Images of “The Foreign” in Korean Literature and Culture in February, 2008. He wrote this book originally in English, and then republished it in Korean with the help of the faculty and students in the department of Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University. In his book, Professor Frankl emphasizes that Korea is not a “hermit kingdom” as people tend to think. He shows that Korea has had international relationships with foreign states such as China, Japan, Ryukyu, Siam, and the Arabs. He illustrates with various examples how foreign images in Korean literary works have changed through time. “My book is targeted toward both foreigners and Koreans.” I visited Professor John. M. Frankl in his office in the New Millennium Hall when the summer break had just begun. He gave me time for an interview although he seemed to be extremely busy. I asked him to respond to a few questions about his recent book and his professorship at UIC. “I think many historians have previously worked with the issues in the book. The difference is that I tried to reveal or define the radical changes in the way that Koreans viewed foreigners and foreign culture around the nineteenth century. I needed to explore the foreign images in pre-modern works so as to contextualize modern Korean fiction, which is my main interest.” I asked how long it took him to complete this book. He replied that he had started his research of the image of America in early modern Korean fiction at Harvard while working on his second Master’s degree. He developed his research into a dissertation for his Ph.D., and then finally turned his dissertation into a book. It had taken a total of six to seven years to produce the original English version. Professor Frankl remarked, “This book is targeted toward both foreigners and Koreans. Although Koreans know that there had been interactions with foreigners, they do not seem to understand its significance. There are still many Koreans who believe that they are made up of a single, ‘pure’ race without foreign influences.” Interest in early twentieth-century Korean literature I also asked him what motivated him to study at Yonsei. He stated that he started studying Korean literature as a part of learning the Korean language. He studied Korean, Mongolian, Chinese and classical Chinese at Berkeley, but his major was Korean. He said he has no specific reasons why he became interested in Korean literature. However, he gave a reason for his interest in early modern literature. “My main interest was early twentieth-century literature because this period is when the modern Korea came into being. I feel that the early twentieth century was more ideologically liberal than the 1960s or 70s. Korean society in the 1920s and 1930s was much more open and liberal and I find this intriguing.” Professor Frankl told me that he is now working on literature of the 30s, such as Yi Sang and Yi Hyo Seok. He personally thinks that the literature of the 1930s is not well understood by critics. “They do not see how many interesting books and newspapers had been published between 1936 and 1940. Critics merely see the latter half of the thirties as the Dark Age without noticing what really happened. I do not agree with these critics.” To a question on the significance of globalization regarding Korean literature, Professor Frankl claimed that Koreans have always been international throughout history. “In the Three Kingdoms Period, famous people like He Chyo and Choi Chi Won studied with Indian and Chinese teachers. Chang Bo Go managed international business much as today’s multinational Korean corporations like Samsung and LG do. In terms of language, Koreans were always bilingual. Educated Koreans spoke Korean but wrote in classical Chinese. Today, people study English. I believe that Koreans have been “globalized” for thousands of years.” Working on literature of the thirties Professor Frankl is actually teaching Yi Kwang Su and Yi In Jik’s works at UIC. Students are studying Korean literature with English texts. I asked if they have no trouble understanding early Korean literature. He replied, "Why would they? Do Korean students understand Korean literature better? I know that styles become different when works are translated. But the plot and message are what is important. Students understand the plot well in spite of style differences in translation.” To a question on his future plans, he told me that his article on Yi Sang’s essays is coming out in October. Professor Frankl has been an assistant professor since UIC was established in 2005. I inquired about the future prospects of the college. “I believe UIC has a very good quality of curriculum. Currently, the very first UIC students are juniors. These students will graduate in a year and a half. They will probably apply to prestigious graduate schools in the US such as Harvard and Princeton or be employed by top international corporations. We will just wait and see how the results come out."