Hwang defined the reality of Korea as a "national-wide state of homelessness," and has continuously explored the psychology of the people who have lost their "homes," symbolic or real. "Home," to Hwang Sok-yong, is not simply a place where you were born and raised but a community life rooted in the feeling of solidarity. This idea of home is also the basis for Hwang’s attempt to reveal social contradictions through peripheral or foreign people. Hwang’s literary tendencies are strongly linked to his personal experiences. "For the Little Brother’ (Aureul wihayeo, 1972), "The Light of Twilight" (Noeurui bit, 1973), and "Passionate Relationship" (Yeorae, 1988) are the stories of the author’s adolescence, which embraces issues such as rejections of one’s parents, hatred of competition, and the feeling of humanity and solidarity shared by the people at the periphery of the society.
Hwang’s work can be divided into three categories. The first deals with the loss of humanity and devastation of life due to modernization, war, and the military system; The second category expresses the desire to reclaim healthy life and rejuvenate damaged values, and; the third are in the category of the historical novel.
(Source: Wikipedia)
