Hwang Sun-won

The Sonagi Film: Both Adaptations of Hwang Sun-won’s Story Explained

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Male and female students sheltering from the rain

If you have searched for the Sonagi film and come away confused, there is a good reason. Hwang Sun-won’s short story has been adapted twice for the screen, and both adaptations carry the same English title: The Shower. The story itself circulates in English under three different names. Almost nothing lines up. Here is what … Read more

Sonagi (The Shower) by Hwang Sun-won: Summary, Ending, and Meaning

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Illustration inspired by Sonagi, a Korean short story about young love in the countryside

Ask any Korean, from a teenager to a grandparent, about a short story called “Sonagi,” and watch their expression soften. For more than sixty years, this brief, aching tale of first love has been taught in Korean classrooms, so nearly everyone in the country has read it at the same tender age. It is arguably … Read more