As I have written elsewhere, translated Korean modern literature tends to cohere around a few themes, primarily those of colonialism, civil war, and separation. While this is completely justifiable from the perspective of the last 100 years of Korean history, it can also render Korean literature, from the outsiders’ perspective, a bit monochromatic. In order…
Earlier, I posted (after prompting!) a mention of the fact that I had read one story of Yun Ch’oe called The Last of Ha’nako. I really hadn’t liked it that much, as it hinged on a pretty obvious plot twist, although one that might have not been quite so obvious in Korea, at the time…
Jeong-Hyun Shin’s The Trap of History should have been a contender. Instead it’s underlying reactionary politics render it worthwhile to read, but better to distrust. The first issue is Shin’s palpable dislike of Korea, in the present and as a recent historical concept: During the nineteenth century, however, the Korean people failed to transmute their…