Triangle Republics: Cross-Border Literary Transits between the Cold War Koreas and Japan
Modern East Asian Literature Research Cluster presents
Emerging Research on Modern East Asian Literature
Speaker: I Jonathan Kief, Associate Professor of Korean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Moderator: Su Yun Kim, Associate Professor, Korean Studies, HKU.
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026
Time: 9:30-11:00am (HK Time) // Oct 21 (Wed) 9:30-11:00pm (EDT)
Venue: on Zoom
All are welcome. Registration is required.
In this talk, I Jonathan Kief introduces his new book, Triangle Republics: Cross-Border Literary Transits between the Cold War Koreas and Japan (Columbia UP, 2025), which follows the multi-directional itineraries of literary exchange linking Cold War-era North Korea, South Korea, and Japan. Although the two postcolonial Koreas are typically seen as isolated from each other, Triangle Republics demonstrates that texts continued to circulate between them with the assistance of an array of colleagues in Japan. Highlighting the creative ways in which poets, playwrights, novelists, critics, and academics in these three locations crossed boundaries of language, ideology, and genre, the book offers a new perspective on this era that emphasizes its vibrant, dynamic, and interconnected nature.
Bio:
I Jonathan Kief is an Associate Professor of Korean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also serves as Associate Chair and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. He is a scholar of modern Korean literature and culture whose research explores the movement of words, sounds, and ideas across the spatial, ideological, and media boundaries of the Cold War era. His first book, Triangle Republics (Columbia UP), was published in 2025.
REGISTRATION INSTRUCTION
Registration is open from 02/10/2026 10:00(HKT) to 21/10/2026 13:00(HKT) on a first-come-first-served basis. The registration quota for this event is 100.
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