[Book Sip] Quarterly 'Ja-eumgwa Moeum' 2023 Spring Theme: 'Neck, Sound'

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

The theme of the 56th issue of the quarterly magazine Ja-eumgwa Moeum is ‘Neck, Voice.’ It explores the broad social conditions embedded in the voice?a physical phenomenon inseparable from the body and used in countless interactions?that have received little attention in terms of form despite their content (gender, generation, place of origin, class, disability, emotions, etc.). In the guest editor corner, concluding with this issue, novelist Dol Gi-min discusses ‘the voice as a physical phenomenon, how we sense others’ voices, and how we relate to voices.’ Additionally, writer Kim Gwaenjeo, Kim Da-eun who embodies three identities as a woman, mother, and planner, emotion sociology researcher Kim Shin-sik, Lee Da-ul who listens to cats’ meows all day, novelist Jeong Yong-jun, Bear Nest Project activist Choi Tae-gyu, and oral life history writer Choi Hyun-sook also contributed as authors.

What exactly is the voice? Why does it sometimes feel like it hinders me from fully revealing my existence and damages my dignity rather than firmly supporting me? Can a clear writer’s image be maintained with a whining voice? If I were Fryer, I would have borrowed the power of a machine and captivated my fellow doctors instantly with a reliable and delicious cave voice. In fact, everyone repeatedly controls and modifies their voice depending on time and place in daily life, so I wonder if there really is an original version of one’s own voice. I always get confused about how to properly use my vocal cords, but voice actors or actors might become Jangsanbeom after long practice of vocal techniques. - Guest Editor Dol Gi-min, from ‘Sound Comes from the Throat’

That is why I am trembling. My voice, which I am carefully speaking one word at a time, feels so unfamiliar. I suspect that I am speaking with an overly decorated voice because I am recording. My mind is an echo chamber. Like singers wearing in-ear monitors to check their own voice, I am now focusing all my attention on the voice I am speaking. The more I listen, the more this voice feels like it is not mine. It is definitely the voice I have had all my life, but it feels alien, as if I am borrowing cheap plastic vocal cords on sale to speak.

- Guest Editor Kim Gwaenjeo, from ‘Fear of Podcasting’

Looking back now, the days I lost my voice were not times of silence. Quite the opposite. I was in the very center of the voice. Like when an airplane ascends to a high altitude and pierces through clouds and wind, creating heavy and noisy silence. Like silence being inevitable when passing through water and wind. Autumn, winter, and spring when I was deeply submerged and did not need to measure depth, and when I was floating and did not need to gauge height. I mistook it for silence, but it was a vacuum state floating without gravity. The voice is witnessed and discovered, and sometimes leaks. It has sharp nails that penetrate deep into someone’s chest and head, and strong legs that cross high mountains and deep seas. It is the words one speaks oneself and the ear that listens even without sound.

- Guest Editor Jeong Yong-jun, from ‘My Voice That I Do Not Have’

Ja-eumgwa Moeum (Quarterly): 2023 Spring Issue | Ja-eumgwa Moeum | 332 pages | 18,000 KRW