Kim Seong-kon

This is a Korean name; the family name is Kim.
Kim Seong-kon

Kim
Native name 김성곤
Born (1949-08-09)August 9, 1949
South Korea
Nationality South Korean
Education Doctor of Philosophy
Alma mater SUNY/Buffalo, Columbia University
Genre Literary criticism (literature and novels)
Subject Postmodernism, postcolonialism, cultural studies
Notable works Cultural Studies and the Future of the Humanities, Literature in the Age of New Media, Literature in the Globalizing World, Literature in the Age of Hybrid Cultures

Kim Seong-kon (Korean: 김성곤; born August 9, 1949), also known as Seong-kon Kim, is a South Korean academic, literary critic, and author.

Kim is the President of the LTI Korea (Literature Translation Institute of Korea) in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea. In February 2015, Kim was reappointed President of LTI Korea by the Korean government to lead the institution for another three years.[1] He was also appointed Co-editor of Korea Journal published by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO. Kim is also Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University where he was selected for the Distinguished Professor for Research Award seven times.[2]

A prizewinning literary critic, Kim initiated the debate on literary postmodernism for the first time in Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was also a pioneer in postcolonialism and cultural studies in Korea. His books on postmodernism, postcolonialism, and cultural studies have greatly influenced writers and scholars in the Korean republic of letters. In 2007, Kim received the prestigious Kim Hwantae Award for Literary Criticism and in 2014, the Wu Ho Humanities Award.

Kim was editor of literary journals such as Literature & Thought, 21st Century Literature and Contemporary World Literature. In addition, Kim has been a regularly featured columnist for the Korea Herald since 2003. His Herald columns have frequently appeared in The Nation, The China Post, Asia One, Pakistan Observer, The Star Online, Yahoo! News, The Kathmandu Post, and other international media.

He was also a Research Member of the South Korea’s Presidential Committee on National Cohesion, and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Korean Culture Overseas Promotion in the Ministry of Culture. Actively engaged in promoting Korean literature overseas, Kim is a member of the Advisory Committee on Korean literature of White Pine Press in New York, and Vice President of the Seoul Literary Society which consists of foreign ambassadors and high-ranking diplomats stationed in Seoul. Kim is also Honorary President of the SUNY Buffalo Alumni Association's South Korean chapter.

In addition, Kim received the CU Distinguished Alumnus Award (2009), the Fulbright Distinguished Alumnus Award (2010), and the SUNY Buffalo International Distinguished Alumni Award (2012).

In 2015 Kim was appointed as the speaker of two prestigious lectures: the NRF (National Research Foundation) Distinguished Professor Lecture and the NAVER Cultural Foundation Lecture. Kim was also selected as one of the 50 Representative Literary Critics of Korea since 1900 by the Association of Korean Literary Critics. In 2016, Kim was appointed Chairman of the Asia Culture Forum and a member of the Korea-China Cultural Exchange Council by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Early life and education

Kim received his Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, under the direction of the late Leslie A. Fielder. Then he went to Columbia University to study comparative literature under the late Edward W. Said. Upon completion of the Ph.D. coursework at Columbia, he joined the faculty of Seoul National University (SNU) in 1984.

Career

Academia

Kim was Dean of the SNU Language School (2001-2005), Director of the Language Research Institute (2001), Director of the American Studies Institute (1999-2001), and Director of the SNU Residence Hall (1987-1989) of Seoul National University. He was also Director of the Seoul National University Press (2009-2011) and President of the Association of Korean University Presses (2010-2011). Kim was also Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the annual BESETO (Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo)International Conference (1999-2001). Presently, Kim is Dean of the LTI Korea Translation Academy which offers various courses on translation studies for foreign and domestic students, and Director of the LTI Korea Press.

He was the founding President of the Korean Association of Literature and Film from 1998 to 2001, and was President of the International Association of Comparative Korean Studies from 2001 to 2003, President of the Korean Association of Modern Fiction in English from 2004 to 2006, and President of the American Studies Association of Korea from 2007 to 2008. Kim was Chairman of the Development and Promotion Council of the English Language and Literature Association of Korea from 2004 to 2005.

Kim has taught at SUNY/Buffalo, Columbia, Pennsylvania State University, Brigham Young University, and the University of California, Berkeley, and has conducted research at Harvard, Oxford and University of Toronto as a Visiting Scholar.

Professional career

Kim was Editor of the prestigious literary quarterly, Contemporary World Literature(1988-1988), and Editor-in-Chief of the celebrated monthly literary magazine, Literature and Thought(2002-2005), and co-editor of 21st Century Literature together with the late Yi Chong-jun, Kim Yun-shik, Yoon Hu-myong and Kim Jong-hoe (1998-2012).

As Vice Chair of the Seoul International Forum for Literature sponsored by the Daesan Foundation in 2000, 2005, and 2011, Kim worked with the eminent scholar and literary critic Kim Uchang and together brought a host of celebrated international writers to Seoul, including Pierre Bourdieu, Jean Baudrillard, Le Clezio, Orhan Mapuk, Oe Kenzaburo, Gary Snyder, Robert Coover, Robert Hass, Margaret Drabble, Gao Xingjian, Bei Dao and others.

A self-appointed cultural diplomat, Kim taught South Korean diplomats at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (1988-1994), and gave lectures extensively on Korean culture and society for foreign diplomats at the KOICA(Korea International Cooperation Agency) and at the COTI(Central Officials Training Institute) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (1997–present).

Administrative positions

Overseas teaching and research career

Awards and honors

Kim received the Wu Ho Humanities Award on April 25, 2014.
Kim received a medal from H.E. Alena Hanáková, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic on January 25, 2013
Literature & Thought, a literary monthly, featured a special edition on Kim in May, 2012. Kim also appeared on the cover of the magazine in Jaqnuary, 2001, October, 2007 and October, 2015 as well. The above photo has secured permission from the artist and the magazine. Copyright: artist Jung-hee Choi and Literature & Thought.
Kim delivered his acceptance speech at the State University of New York at Buffalo International Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony held at the UB North Campus on April 13, 2012.
After the award ceremony, Kim poses with SUNY/Buffalo President Satish Tripathi, Vice President, and President of the UB Alumni Association.
Kim posed when he received the Kim Hwante Award for Literary Criticism in 2008.
Kim and Edward W. Said in Seoul, South Korea in 1995
Kim and Leslie A. Fiedler in Seoul, South Korea in 1985




Invited lectures

Overseas publications (books)

Authored books

Edited books

Translations

From Korean into English:

Poems of Moon Chung-hee. Co-trans. Seong-Kon Kim. Alec Gordon
With this book, Poetess Moon was awarded the Cicada Award in Sweden.

From English into Korean:

References

  1. ↑ "LTI Korea > About LTI Korea". LTI Korea.
  2. ↑ "Department of English Language and Literature Seoul National University".
  3. ↑ "Seong-Kon Kim, PhD '84 & MA '81". buffalo.edu. 2012-03-20.
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