You've been teaching about Renaissance and Western classics for a long time, and written a number of humanities books for the public. How did you come up with the new attempt of combining travel and humanities?
Every trip matures a person. If we go to a place where people have different thoughts, languages, and cultures from ours, we must act very carefully when interacting with the locals. Because it is not an environment familiar to us. We are not familiar with the geography there, and we may get lost. So we have to take a look around more carefully in a place where we are traveling. We have to quickly adjust to the time difference and be careful with what we eat (or else, you can get sick). We also have to try hard to understand the local people who do things differently. That is why traveling was used as a form of education. We learn from the differences. The "Grand Tour" was such an example of education through travel.
As part of the Grand tour, I recommend studying the humanities classics or arts related to the region you are traveling in. By reading the humanities classics related to the region, you can understand the depth of the authors’ thoughts. As we approach the differences that they have, we look back on ourselves, and this process and thoughts make us mature. The purpose of travel is to learn how to respect differences.
Your second book in the series has been published following the previous work, "My Romance, Rome." Why did you choose Venice as the city that you are going to explore next to Rome?
If "respecting differences" is the purpose of travel, then Venice would be the ideal destination for our trip. You see, Venice is also known as "alter mundi," which means “another world.” Nowhere on Earth has a landscape similar to that of Venice. People who have built their homes by driving stakes in the lagoon at the end of the Roman Empire are still living in the same way. Driving cars are now allowed. You have to walk or take a boat. You will encounter the Eastern Byzantine culture in narrow alleys intertwined like spider webs while discovering Nordic Gothic buildings and straight lines of Renaissance and curved lines of baroque coexisting together.
Venice is a place where all kinds of differences—different cultures, different religions and different ideas—are respected. Italy's most visited city is Venice, not Rome, not even Florence. But back in the days, we Koreans didn't know much about Venice. We thought that riding a gondola, wearing a mask and enjoying a carnival were all about Venice. However, Venice has hidden stories of people as colorful as their unusual living environment. I wanted to introduce the true charm of Venice through the stories of countless people who have walked through that narrow alley in hundreds of years.
In the book, it was mentioned that Dante, Goethe, Boccaccio, Montaigne, Mozart, Charles Dickens, Hemingway, and many other famous figures have achieved reflection and maturity in Venice. What do you think is so special and powerful about Venice that allowed this?
Venice had maintained its strong city-state system before being incorporated into the unified state of Italy. It boasted a strong national power with a strong pride, calling itself “the most peaceful republic in the world”. There was a time when Venice exerted strong dominance over the Mediterranean through maritime trade. And there was a period when it connected the Silk Road and Europe. With these, Venice accumulated tremendous wealth. The power of Venice was so strong that in the early 16th century, the Vatican, France, Germany, and Spain formed allied forces to wage a war against Venice. The adventures of Marco Polo, known as the traveler of the East, show us how far the Venetian merchants traveled for trade.
To add more about the city, Venice was a city of art. After the fall of Rome by Spain (1527), Venice became the center of the Renaissance. Genius artists flocked to the most peaceful republic in the world to escape the chaos of the time. This means a crowd of talented people gathered up in Venice. Venice was also the starting point for the Crusades. After the success of the First Crusade, the Crusaders in Venice headed for Palestine by boat across the Mediterranean Sea. It became the last port for Europeans who risked their death and left for the Holy Land. Also, Venice is a famous tourist attraction. Besides, it was the first destination introduced in the world's first tourist guidebook. So, with countless reasons they could make, a lot of people went to Venice. These people have contributed to enriching the culture of Venice, “another world”, even further. And I wanted to uncover the hidden stories of these different people in my book. I had engaged in "thoughts of thought" to reflect on what these people must have thought in Venice.
When people think of Venice, they often think of the gorgeous appearance of a floating city or a city of carnivals. But in your work of 《If Life Becomes a Festival》, it does not only introduce a much deeper history of Venice, but also share the artistic aspect of the city such as literature, painting, architecture, and music. Is there a work of art that remains deep in your heart?
I would like to introduce the Salute Cathedral, built by Baldassare Longhena, as one of the most outstanding works of Venetian art. Longhena was a native Venetian architect. Architects from earlier times, such as Sansovino and Palladio, were all from outside. However, Longhena was from Venice and had a deeper insight than anyone else about the artistic beauty of his hometown. Perhaps that is why the Salute Cathedral he built became the representative architecture in Venice.
First of all, this building is very excellent in terms of civil engineering. The foundation was made by inserting oak stakes in the mud flat, and the fact that such a massive structure can still stand firmly proves that his foundation in civil engineering was perfect. The circular building that resembles the crown worn by the Virgin Mary is also impressive. During this time, it was impossible to add decorations to the surroundings as it was located right next to the Canal Grande (Grand Canal). So he built a huge circular building that looks the same from any direction.
The spirit of the building was also noble. The building was built to commemorate the victims of Venice who were swept away by the Black Death, and to thank the providence of heaven for eradicating the plague. So, as the name implies, the Salute Cathedral of Longhena conveys both "gratitude" and "health." I can say that it is the most beautiful architecture in Venice.
Are there any other attractions in Venice not included in your book that you would like to share with the readers?
If there were more pages that I could use, I would have made a pilgrimage to nearby cities in Venice. It was a shame that I could not really do that because of the space limit. About 30 minutes away from Venice by train, there is a city called Padua. This is the city of the famous University of Padua, known as the cradle of humanities scholars in the Dante period. Even now, the city is home to some of the best universities in Italy. Casanova, from Venice, also studied law at the University of Padua. If you have a chance to visit Venice, I recommend visiting Padua.
In particular, be sure to check out the painted by Giotto, the father of the Renaissance. The splendid blue-gold sky is painted on the ceiling, and the artwork created by Giotto, who was praised as the first one to paint a true human figure, beautifully decorates the entire interior. It is a masterpiece that signals the birth of a new era.
You traveled to Rome and Venice with your readers through the "Humanities for Travelers" series. What city do you plan to go next?
The next series for the "Humanities for Travelers" is “A pilgrimage to small Italian cities that shine like a jewel”. I plan to tell the story around small Italian cities excluding the three major ones (Rome, Florence, and Venice). The theme of the series is “Travel, the way home.” That's right. A travel ends when we return home. So the final destination of your trip will be your home in your hometown. My final destination on the trip to Italy is Seoul. It means we are going on a trip to return to Seoul.
I will be first introducing a small Italian city that shines like a jewel, and then we will look at the ideas that the people who left for foreign countries brought back to their hometowns. For example, the 14th-century humanities scholar Petrarca left his hometown Arezzo and lived in France. So what did Petrarca think when he returned to his hometown, Arezzo? Boccaccio, the author of , was from Certaldo, but he went to Naples to spend his youth there. Then, what did Boccaccio think as he returned to his hometown, Certaldo?
For the cities that I am going to visit in the next trip, I am preparing to tell the stories of: Euripides, who left Syracuse; Emperor Hadrian, who returned to Capri; Dante, who eventually couldn't return home from Ravenna; Mantua, where Romeo went to escape from Verona; St. Francesco, who returned to Assisi after the war in Perugia; and Castiglione, who wrote in Urbino, and more.
This book tells us that, after we travel to Venice, we have to ask ourselves, "Can't we live a different life?” As an author, what different life do you want your readers to live after reading this book?
A life like a festival. Life is finite. We all have a finite life. Although humanity seems to have made great progress, we still are struggling to create a vaccine to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Money gives us convenience for a moment, but it does not provide lasting happiness. Even if we save money hard, we will eventually have to leave this world. When that happens, the tax office will rush to calculate the fortunes you and I have left. So please invest in this moment, in the present. How about immersing yourself in the happiness that allows you enjoy the moment in your life?
Nowadays, professors from Yonsei University who have lived for more than 100 years are touching our hearts. One of them said, “Do we really have to leave something behind before death? There is no such thing. There is something I realized after my life of about hundred years. We come empty and return empty. So live your life with a light heart!” Yes, indeed. We have come to this world with empty hands, and will leave this world with empty hands. This is a piece of advice from a person who have lived for over 100 years, so shouldn’t we keep this in mind?
I myself will try to live a life like a festival every day. The Venetians lived that way. That's why I wrote a book about the Venetians. Wouldn't it be great if you could live a festive life every day like the Venetians?
