Abstract

This study critically investigates the discursive framework in which Shin Kyung-sook’s literature has been positioned as representative of 1990s Korean literature, with par- ticular emphasis on the conceptual lens of “inner nature, ” and offers a comprehensive analysis of her early thematic concerns, which the conventional “1990s” framework has failed to fully address. This study argues that the sense of critical awareness found in Shin Kyung-sook’s early works is closely connected to, and further developed through, the theme of how to remember the literary era of the 1980s by means of “ re- writing.” From this perspective, her early literary works show that her so-called “1990s literature” cannot be understood solely as a product of that decade. The characteristics attributed to her writing are instead the result of a dialectical engagement between the 1980s and the 1990s. In this way, Shin Kyung-sook’s early works—when considered in conjunction with her later literature—offer a unique literary achievement, reflecting deeply on the meanings of Korean literature in both the 1980s and the 1990s.