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Sung Han

 K210

 My Heart 

1. Please read the synopsis of “My Heart.”

Sixteen year old Soonie is married to the ten-year old son of the local Korean medicine doctor. Married to a

child, Soonie is subjected to the hard life of the traditional daughter-in-law. Ten tears pass and her husband,

who has gone away to study, returns with a stylish modern woman dressed in !estern clothes. !hen Soonie

finds out that the woman is carrying her husbands child, she "uietly pac#s her bag and lea$es. %ears later,

Soonie is li$ing in a small $illage as a widow. &u#-soon, the $illage potter, ta#es her to his home, confessing

his lo$e for her. Soonie accepts his pure and sincere lo$e, and the two of 

them li$e in happiness and growing affection. Then one day, &u#-soon is

#illed in an accident... 'gain the years pass and one winter Soonie, alone

and struggle to sur$i$e, ta#es in a woman and child on the run from an

abusi$e husband. !hen the woman is forced to gi$e up the child, Soonie

ta#es him in and de$otes herself to the child with all her heart.1

2. Write your own synopsis of the film in 200 words.

Se$enteen-year old Soonie is married to the ten-year old sonof the local Korean medecine doctor. Married to a child,

Soonie is subjected to the hard life of the traditional

daughter-in-law. Ten years pass and her husband, who hasgone away to study, returns with a stylish modern woman

dressed in !estern clothes. !hen Soonie finds out that the woman is carrying her husbands

child, she "uietly pac#s her bag and lea$es. The film is di$ided into fi$e episodes, following

her life.

3. The title of the movie “chông ” [정 情 is translated as “My Heart.” !omment on 

thetranslation.

( do not necessarily agree with the translation of the title as “chông ” means more than

)heart). &ictionary defines the word as *feeling, lo$e, sentiment, passion, human nature,sympathy, heart.+ 'lthough it is complicated to introduce a clear definition of “chông ”, it

seems to include all of the abo$e as well as more basic feelings, such as attachment, bond,

affection, or e$en bondage.( belie$e the main definition of “chông ” is unselfish gi$ing. nselfish in that you

are gi$ing without expecting anything in return. The point of “chông ” is that its not

rational. (n that sense, its related to the notion of altruism. !hen you spend a lot of time

with someone, we say 정 들었다 they are bound with “chông ”/. This is when two people

feel special affiliation with one another simply for the sheer amount of time spent together.'ctually what is considered a long time depends. 0ne can feel sad that you are lea$ing after 

staying with him or her for one day, especially if you spent time in the same space together.eong seems located not only inside of our hearts but also outside. (n other words,

the location of jeong is between indi$iduals. (t can be difficult to understand an emotion as

 being seated outside an indi$iduals heart, yet it may be related to the idea of collecti$eemotion. ltimately, ( would translate the title of the mo$ie as )nconditonal 2o$e).

". #elson$s arti%le& “'s (orean$ an )phemeral *uality+ ,nthropolo-i%al Perspe%tives

1  http344www.#mdb.or.#r4eng4$od4$od5basic.asp6nation7K8p5dataid79:;;;

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on (orean o%ial and !ultural /ynamism” %ites chông as one of the %andidates of somethin- uniuely (orean& as shown in the followin- passa-e. /o you thin1 the

movie is su%%essful in demonstratin- this point(n an attempt to capture the ineffable feeling of Korean life, contemporary South Koreans

sometimes mention certain emotions, such as chông and han, as characteristically Korean.

Chông might be described as the feeling of empathy, intimacy and trust that binds people

together, particularly as 

they share experiences of hardships and pleasures.  Han, on the

other hand, is described as a feeling of pain and injustice that cannot be resol$ed, a feeling

many say has de$eloped o$er centuries of Koreas experience of foreign domination, as

well as the oppression experienced by women and sla$es throughout Korean history.

South Koreans often claim that neither chông nor han can be translated into