Britannica
Han is considered by many as a deep feeling of bitterness, grief, or melancholy. Although its meaning is hardly joyful, it represents a key element of Korean identity, since no translation perfectly transcribes what Han can mean. Han can be considered as a painful psychic state, the tumult of emotions experienced when one feels at the same time sorrow, distress, suffering, regret, affliction, melancholy, attachment, nostalgia, impatience, lack, despair, oppression, lamentation, frustration, and many other emotions of this register.
Let's have a deeper look at what Han truly is!
History
Even though this particular feeling is something that Korean people felt for a long time, it is during the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea (1910 and 1945), that the Han was at its paroxysm. At that time, strong repression of Korean culture and identity was operated, so much so that there was a policy of assimilation culture so that Koreans "become" Japanese. The Han thus finds its source in this loss of identity imposed during the war and the separation of Korea in two which resulted from it. Han can then be interpreted as the absence of hope to get out of a precarious situation, or the fee
Enjoy full access for just $1
Join over 10,000 active members!
🌟 Special Contents for Subscribers
