Professor Yang Byung-ho (Department of Korean Language & Literature, College of Humanities) has published a volume of lyric criticism, The Poetics of Mongsang (夢想) (Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Press), which addresses the major issues and debates in modern Korean poetry through the poetic worlds of leading contemporary poets.

The book examines modern Korean poetry using the methodology of cognitive poetics and the close reading approach.

Until now, modern poetry studies have tended to display a somewhat highbrow tendency, applying older structuralist and formalist approaches, psychoanalytic criticism, myth criticism, thematic criticism, and postmodernism. The author planned this book to address that situation.

Therefore, he applies the recently prominent cognitive poetics methodology to pursue a fresh way of reading poetry. Through close reading, he seeks rigorous analysis and creative interpretation of poems.

The book focuses on the objects and modes that contemporary Korean poets dream about, desire, and fantasize. Poets immerse themselves in the world of imagination to overcome realities of repression and constraint. Harsh realities function as mechanisms that more oppressively delimit the conditions of human life. Poets dream of escape from such realities, long for new worlds, and imagine a harmony between reality and ideal.

Poets are not realists. Poets are idealists. Poets strive to transform life and the world positively through imagination. The purest form of thought here is dreaming. Daydreaming is the contemplation that disregards practical values and rushes solely toward the ideal. This is why the book is titled The Poetics of Mongsang (夢想).

Professor Yang said, “The form of lyric criticism this book pursues overcomes the highbrow, professional, and pedantic tendencies of existing criticism and offers the pleasure of reading,” adding, “Lyric criticism of modern poetry will serve as an opportunity to approach learners, enthusiasts, and researchers on an emotional level rather than remaining a 'their‑own league' confined to a limited group of scholars.”

Professor Yang earned his Ph.D. in literature from the Department of Korean Language & Literature, College of Humanities, JBNU, and is currently serving as a professor. He has served as Director of the JBNU Archives and History Museum, Editor of the University Press & Broadcasting Service, Dean of the College of Humanities, Chair of the Association of Deans of Colleges of Humanities of National and Public Universities, and President of the Korean Language & Literature Association. He has also received the Si Munhak Award and the Jungsan Literary Award.

His publications include numerous titles such as A Cognitive Poetic Understanding of Modern Korean Poetry; The Solitude and Despair of Poetry; The Poetics of Dreaming and Wandering; The Poetics of Mongsang (夢想); Poetry, Let Us Fall in Love; Meetings on a Nostalgic Poetry Journey; The Complete Works of Kim Yeong-rang; Poetry and Cognition; Theory of Cognitive Stylistics; and Practical Criticism of Cognitive Poetics. His poetry collections include But Thus Spoke Zarathustra; The Open Space of Time; The Sky Once Truly Shone Clearly; Miss Stéphane; Memories of Trivial Love; and Gubong-seo and Bae Sam-ryong.