[Oct 22] Book Talk—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

Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=109751 

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.

I Jonathan Kief is 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.

Series coordinated by Prof. Su Yun Kim (suyunkim@hku.hk), Prof. Pei-yin Lin (pylin@hku.hk), and Prof. Alvin Wong (akhwong@hku.hk).

Website: www.meal.hku.hk