Author Jung Yi-hyun Reflects on Her Debut Novel, 'Romantic Love and Society,' 23 Years Later

Twenty-three years after its publication, Jung Yi-hyun's debut novel, "Romantic Love and Society," continues to captivate readers, a testament to its enduring relevance. Originally inspired by Jacqueline Salssby's "Romantic Love and Society," Jung's work delves into the societal construction of romantic love, analyzing it as an ideology shaped by economic and social contexts.

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The title of the lead work of my first book, 'Romantic Love and Society,' was borrowed from Jacqueline Salssby's book 'Romantic Love and Society.'

Jung's journey into writing began with a sociology paper. While conducting in-depth interviews with women in their twenties, she found herself drawn into the vibrant conversations, often sharing more of her own thoughts than intended. This immersive experience transformed her from a neutral researcher into a subjective participant, igniting a desire to create fictional narratives filled with emotion and nuance.

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I was captivated by the vibrancy of the conversation itself, to the point of forgetting my role as a researcher.

The novel itself adopts a seemingly conventional structure, yet it probes the complexities of individual identity within societal expectations. Jung explores the internal conflicts of women navigating societal pressures, their struggles with conformity, and their subtle acts of resistance. The characters, though inspired by real experiences, are reimagined as independent beings, revealing the raw, often unseen, undercurrents beneath a polished surface.

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I became seized by the desire to create new fictional sentences overflowing with exclamations, feelings, and ellipses, not as a neutral researcher but as a subjective participant.

Reflecting on her early work, Jung muses that she may have been using novel writing as an alternative methodology to social science, or perhaps venturing into the 'painful yet liberating territory' afforded by literature. The fact that readers born after its publication still connect with "Romantic Love and Society" highlights the profound impact of storytelling. It underscores how a work of art, once released, takes on a life of its own, continually reinventing itself within the present experiences of each new reader.

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If an individual who seems to live conventionally according to the forms set by the world is, in fact, faithfully 'acting' while wearing a mask suitable for that role, what would that be like?