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The word hanok refers to a traditional Korean architectural style. Hanoks in Gwangju were often L-shaped, with a central courtyard and a small annex. In the novel, Dong-ho’s family buys a hanok from the writer’s family, moving in and renting out the annex to Jeong-mi and Jeong-dae. Later in life, the writer laments that the peaceful stone hanok of her childhood has been torn down, replaced by more modern development.
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Hanok Term Timeline in Human Acts
The timeline below shows where the term Hanok appears in Human Acts. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Boy, 1980
Dong-ho gets up and goes to the annex of his hanok (a traditional style of Korean home), where Jeong-dae and Jeong-mi have been staying. He recalls...
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Chapter 6: The Boy’s Mother, 2010
...father came to Gwangju to look for them. He stayed in the annex of the hanok for a year, getting drunk and searching for his children even after it was clear...
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Epilogue: The Writer, 2013
The writer remembers her childhood home as a “typical, old-style hanok,” with its rooms arranged around a central, tiled courtyard, where roses and hollyhocks bloomed. The...
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...by how developed it has become, how unfamiliar all the streets feel. Even her old hanok has been torn down and replaced with a prefabricated new house. Fortunately, many of the...
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Eventually, the writer goes to the new house where her old hanok used to be. The new owner is warm at first, speaking in the classic Gwangju...
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