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Writing Actualizing Historical Death -Focusing on In hoon Choi's A Letter of the Sea

This study purposed to examine an aspect of In hoon Choi's theory of literature by putting his short story A Letter of the Sea published in 2003 at the center and exploring his novels A Leg of the Sky and Guwunmong, which are in an inter textual relation with A Letter of the Sea, and a number of his essays. A Letter of the Sea is a direct reflection of In hoon Choi's thought of history and literature. By summoning the forgotten past of the Korean War and 4ㆍ19 Revolution to the space of literature, it attempts to restore the memories and dreams of people who died in the times and spaces. This is why In hoon Choi called his literature 'archaeological writing.' To him, writing turns its face toward wounds in history, namely, deaths in the past, and it is a work of recalling their memories and dreams to the present. We are still faced with the division of the land and the task to attain true democracy. It is In-hoon Choi's message sent through A Letter of the Sea that the prospect of and search for solutions are not found in hopeful promises for the future but in the resumed thought of past memories and dreams.