Sonagi by Hwang Sun Won
Sonagi (소나기) – a Korean word for a sudden, brief rain shower – is one of modern Korean literature’s most beloved short stories. Written by Hwang Sun Won (황순원) in the 1950s, this quintessential coming-of-age tale follows a countryside boy who meets a city girl, with their hint of romance unfolding as they explore an agricultural village until the girl’s unexpected death.
The story remains deeply embedded in Korean cultural memory and has been retold many times. Its idyllic settings—natural landmarks within a small village where characters explore on foot or ride a cow on a mountain—have become a familiar image through many adaptations. This simple, nostalgic, and vehicle-free space provides a self-contained universe readers can vividly imagine.
Readers’ Creative Interpretations of Space
This project, starting from my fascination with how Hwang Sun Won’s writing has allowed countless readers to imagine the story’s space over the years, presents two perspectives on Sonagi’s literary geography. Part I displays my visualization process where I examined the locational data in the text, along with findings and uncertainties I gathered from my exploration. Part II showcases artistic interpretations by readers. Curious about how people mentally picture space depicted in the story, I created a map based on my reading and invited others to share theirs. For the KCCDC exhibition, I collaborated with art teachers in Seoul, MinYoung and HeeSun, who ran workshops where participants created maps and interpretations of the story’s setting. The variety of works demonstrates the creative freedom the story inspires. English location names come from Samara, a young American poet/artist who translated the text while learning Korean, offering her unique interpretation.
Collaborators
English Translation Shown in Visualization – Samara Elán Huggins
Village Maps and Story-Based Interpretations on the Wall
From the Workshop of Hyun MinYoung & Cho HeeSun: Kang MinJeong | Kang HeeSoo | Kim NaYoung | Leah Kim | Kim MiYeon | Kim MinSeo | Kim Boram | Kim Suah | Kim Arin | Kim Jung-In | Kim JungJa | Kim JinYoung | Kim ChaeYoon | Kim HanGyeol | Park GyeongHyun | Byun Jane | Jiu Seo | Shin Soeon | Shin Soyul | Shin Soi | Shin HanByeol | Yang Seah | Yang JiHyun | Edward Eum | Won JooYoung | Yoo MiYeon | Lee DaYoung | Lee SeoYoon | Lee SoDam | Lee SooYoung | Lee WonJeong | Lee Ewan | Seunghyun Lim | Lim JaeMin | Lim JiYoung | Lim JeeHee | Lim ChanMi | Lim ChaeYeon | Jeon YooJin | Jung SeoJun | Jeong SooYeon | Q Cho | Joo KyeongHyun | Joo MinKyung | Choi Greem | Choi SooJin | Choi SeuRa | Choi EunSeo | Andrew Choi | Choi Hanul | Choi HyeAhn | Han Gunoo | Han Sevin | Han Sein | Hyun Yoojin | Hyun JinSung | Hong DaHyeong | Hong SungHo | Hwang HyeJin | One Anonymous
Others: Ryu | Jungin Seo | Moon | Samara
This project expands upon an earlier data visualization of the story Sonagi.