For this period, my task was to explore "untranslatable" Korean emotional concepts that don't have a direct English equivalent. My specific goal was to move past dictionary definitions of Jeong (정) and understand how it is expressed in literature and daily conversation. I hoped to reach a point where I could describe a relationship using this concept accurately without falling back on the English word "love" or "attachment."
I read excerpts from the novel Please Look After Mom (엄마를 부탁해) by Kyung-sook Shin. I chose this because the narrative heavily relies on the unspoken bonds and "heavy" emotions between family members that define the Korean psyche. I brought specific passages to my language partner. Instead of asking "What does this word mean?", I asked, "Why is this character feeling Jeong here instead of just Sarang (love)?" We spent our session dissecting the differences between "active love" and the "lingering bond" of Jeong. My language partner and I set a goal: I would try to explain a Western concept like "privacy" or "personal space" in Korean, while they would explain the "sticky" nature of Jeong. It was a fascinating exchange of cultural values. The most enlightening part was discussing Mi-un-jeong (미운정), the affection one feels for someone they find annoying or even dislike. My partner explained that in Korea, a long-term connection, even a difficult one, creates a bond that is harder to break than a simple friendship. We practiced using descriptors like "Jeong-i deup-da" (정이 깊다 - the affection is deep) and "Jeong-i deul-da" (정이 들다 - to have affection enter/grow). My partner pushed me to use these in sentences about my own family to see if I could capture the right "weight." We focused on the vocabulary used to describe these "sticky" feelings, such as deup-da (to be thick/deep). Reading the novel was a successful experience because it provided a narrative anchor for an abstract concept. However, I struggled with the evaluation of my own speech; when trying to use these terms during our discussion, I felt like I was "performing" the culture rather than feeling it. I realized that while I understand the concept intellectually, my emotional vocabulary is still a bit stiff. The strategy of "reciprocal explanation" was the most effective part of the week because it highlighted the linguistic gaps in both our languages. This task brought up feelings of enthusiasm mixed with a bit of cultural "imposter syndrome." As I learned about how Jeong requires a certain level of self-sacrifice and communal thinking, I felt a deep connection to the Korean emphasis on "we" over "I." It made me reflect on my own interactions with the Korean community and whether I have been inadvertently acting too "individualistic" in my speech patterns.
I’ve learned that Korean emotions are often described with physical or tactile adjectives (thick, deep, sticky). I will now look for these "tactile" descriptions in my future reading to better understand how Koreans "feel" their language.
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