Nominated as the most celebrated literary virtuoso in Daesan Literary Awards in 2013 for his philosophical yet compact collection of prose, Professor Hwang decided to pursue a career in French literature due to the background and period in which he was born. During his youth, Korea’s economic, s o c i a l a n d pol i t i c a l situations were far from being democratic and advanced, placing many restrictions on every facet of people’s lives. Raised by a povertys tr i c ken family, he yearned to escape from the depressing reality of Korea and to seek true freedom. For him, literature was the only pill that gave him comfort and liberty. “In 1960s, France was considered one of the most developed countries in the world, especially when it comes to the literature. The truth-seeking and orderly nature of French books utterly grabbed my attention and through this, I wanted to redeem myself from the impoverished reality of Korea.”

 

Prior to becoming a literary critic and a writer, Professor Hwang taught university students in three universities, his last destination being KU. During the course of teaching, he received much inspirations and constructive pieces of advice from students. The most memorable advice was related to his course curriculum. Some students raised discontented voice about his lecture stating that it is too opinionated and prejudiced. To accommodate the viewpoints, Professor Hwang discussed with the students about how he can change his course.

 

He firmly believes that school must be a community of knowledge and practice where students learn not only academics but also ways of accomplishing ultimate happiness. He bemoaned the status quo of the hierarchical structure of Korean education where teachers are treated as superiors. In his years of teaching, he said he always treated students with equality and respect, encouraging students to criticize him whenever his ideas ran counter to theirs. Due to the free atmosphere, students gave constructive criticism and Professor Hwang took note of their points. “I still remember all the words stated by my students, and they were of great help in my latter years as a critic and a writer.”

 

Professor Hwang’s life as a literary critic and a writer was not smooth or tranquil in the beginning. It was in 2013 when he started to gain national fame for his book Night Is the Teacher, which was praised by many scholars f o r s u c c e s s f u l ly expressing unrelated concepts in a single book. “As a pacifist, liberalist, and democrat, I wanted to articulate as many of the thoughts I had in daily life as possible. Thus, my essay-type of writing persisted for 30 years and the quality was good enough to get published.”

 

The title of the book seems rather puzzling to the people, evoking curiosity as to why the author decided to choose the phrase “Night Is the Teacher”. The book’s title conveys Professor Hwang’s contemplations upon literature and life. He believes that night is the time of the day that best portrays the innate nature of humans and allows him to feel inspiration. The essence and the purpose of literature are to reveal the writers’ immanence and inner self. Professor Hwang hardly thinks of writing during the day as there are many distractions that hamper him from thinking creatively. Thus, he always starts writing at dawn to commune with his true self.

 

Another noticeable feature of his book is its cover picture painted by Tim Eitel, a German artist acclaimed for his realistic yet detached paintings. On a black background, an old man sketches something on a white piece of paper. The old man is facing away from the reader, allowing just a partial glimpse of his profile. “Before publishingthis book, I wrote a book called Hope without a Face. I think not being able to see some subject’s faces implies that some pivotal actions and changes are taking place. I purposely chose this picture to comply with the title as the background is completely dark and to simultaneously express my own opinions on this new book,” said Professor Hwang. 

 

In his youth, he dreamed of becoming a novelist who writes comforting yet inspirational stories. He said that he partially achieved his dream, becoming a writer, but not a novelist. Overall, he is content with his current life and has no regrets on not publishing novels in his career. He currently plans to delve deeper into criticizing photographs and publish his next book on this topic. 

 

Although he has been writing essays and columns for more than 40 years, he still faces some difficulties while writing. In fact, he believes that writing is a very painstaking task which requires logical thinking to candidly reveal and convey the author’s inner self to readers. “Some people argue that creativity and using flowery sentence structures and diction are the prerequisite for writing a good literature. However, I think the most important factor that determines good writing is the sincerity of the author.”

 

Hwang said he believes that if the author successfully delivers his inner emotions in his pieces, many readers will feel empathy for what he wrote while reading them. Although he has written for almost half a century, he still faces hardships in revealing his inner self to readers.

 

To relieve the stress accumulated in the process of writing, ProfessorHwang says he often watches movies. From them, he receives inspiration that is conducive to organizing his thoughts and ideas. “I receive inspiration from all types of films since every movie has its own intrinsic values. Whenever

I hear phrases that are thought-provoking, I pause for a moment to ponder upon the meaning behind the phrase.”

 

For KU students, Professor Hwang insisted that they must study not only for him or herself but for the betterment of society. “KU, known for being the first university ever established by Koreans, has always been responsible for promoting the well-being of our society by protesting the decisions of the government. It is very sad that such movements are drastically reduced in the 21st century and that individualism is stressed. We must bear in mind the nationalism KU used to have and contribute to our society by sharing positive ideas.”