Mapping the Literary Geography of Sonagi by Inhye Lee

Sonagi is a Korean word that means “rain shower”. It is also the title of a short story by the author Hwang Sun Won, one of the most accomplished writers of short fiction in modern Korea literature. The story which has a simple plot of “a boy in the countryside meets a girl from the city” is one of the most well-known short stories of Hwang and has also become an inspiration for animation, film, stage musicals and so on. Through these retold interpretations of Sonagi, the idyllic and natural setting that two young protagonists explore on foot has been visually recreated. This thesis project aims to identify the literary geography of Sonagi and construct a literary map of the story inthe standpoint of data collection and visualization. By doing so, this project provides a spatial and data-based way to explore the text of Sonagi, which may not be obvious when reading text only. Through this endeavor, the project poses and answers a few questions as well: How do readers picture a fictional space when reading literature?; Does uncertainty in text allow room for creative interpretation for the audience?; What role can visualization play in understanding literature? From the original text which is accompanied by English translation, expressions that indicate locations of action, locations recognized by the characters, or locations referred to in the story are collected and used to visualize the map of the fictional space in the story. Some examples of such can be Creek, Stepping Stones, Buckwheat Fields and Mountain.