A comprehensive collection of essays originally presented at the <second> hosted by the Daesan Foundation and the Arts Council Korea, held in May 2005. Essays aim to analyze the source of war and conflict in the world, to examine the role of literature in world peace, and to focus on the ideals of peace, the relationship between East and West, the reality of Western civilization versus the civilization of other countries, and the changing reality of literature. Participants include Nobel Prize-winning author Oe Kenzaburo, other Nobel Prize nominees, renowned U.S. and European scholars and writers, and prominent Korean literary scholars and authors Kim Uchang, Paik Nak-chung, Yu Jong-ho, and Hwang Seok-young, among others.