The topic of my paper, “hwa-byung,” is a culture-bound mental illness that is specific to my home country, Korea. Initially, I didn’t intend to write about anything like hwa-byung (HB) for my research paper in “Representing Illness.” As a matter of fact, I had thought of HB as a “dead” mental illness that is only used metaphorically, much like hysteria. However, I soon found out HB is still very much “alive.” As a matter of fact, as a mental illness closely associated with the Korean culture, HB is more about the current Korean culture than its symptoms. Hence, I hope that this paper will help readers learn a fraction more about Korean culture.
WOOYOUNG CHO is a Korean sophomore in the College of Engineering who will be taking a leave of absence for the next two years. Staying less than five years in each, he has lived and studied in five different countries: United States, South Africa, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, and South Korea. He would like to thank Professor Madsen Hardy for her teachings about not just writing but also about illnesses and different paradigms for understanding illnesses. He would also like to thank his peers in “Representing Illness” for creating an amiable atmosphere in class and making the writing experience enjoyable.