FROM A RADICAL NEW WOMAN
TO A DEVOUT ZEN BUDDHIST NUN
THE EVOLUTION OF KIM WŎNJU’S WORLDVIEW
FROM A RADICAL NEW WOMAN
TO A DEVOUT ZEN BUDDHIST NUN
THE EVOLUTION OF KIM WŎNJU’S WORLDVIEW
Author(s): Anna Diniejko-WąsSubject(s): Gender Studies, Gender history, Other Language Literature, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: New Woman; Buddhist Nun; feminist writer; Japanese colonization; self-awakening; religious worldview;
Summary/Abstract: Kim Wŏnju (also known as Kim Iryŏp, (1896–1971) went down in modernKorean history as one of the main representatives of the ‘New Women’ in the1920s and remains an icon for contemporary feminists, even though later in herlife she underwent a radical spiritual and ideological transformation. As a femi-nist intellectual, she devoted herself to gender issues and the fight to change theposition of women in Korean society. As an influential Buddhist nun, she stud-ied religious teachings and sought to interpret the existence of modern man andwoman through a religious worldview. The article is devoted to two seeminglycompletely different phases of the life of Kim Wŏnju – a radical feminist writerand a pious Buddhist nun, searching for self-awakening and authentic personalfreedom.
Journal: Politeja - Pismo Wydziału Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
- Issue Year: XXII/2025
- Issue No: 95
- Page Range: 293-310
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English
