kb-wolves

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/intersection-korea-mongolia-uncompromising-stories-jeon-sungtaes-wolves/"></div><p>In the past, Korean literature has had a strong tendency towards painful navel-gazing, being more or less defined by the traumas native to Korea at the time. At the turn of the 20th century, authors, naturalistic ones like Kim Tongin as well as more &#8220;visionary&#8221; ones such as Yi Kwangsu, rallied behind the flag of “modernism.” When Japan invaded and overtook Korea, the literature shifted toward concealed (and sometimes not so concealed) explorations of the effects of colonialism and national powerlessness. With the end of World War II and the brief interregnum of &#8220;liberation,&#8221; literature turned toward a Korean future, sometimes also exploring the meaning of the colonial and collaborative past. After the split of Korea and its Civil War came almost nothing but <em>pundan munhak</em>, or literature of separation. Similarly, when Park Chung-hee frogmarched Korea into the modern economic era, writers examined the political, social, and economic costs of this great leap forward. <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/intersection-korea-mongolia-uncompromising-stories-jeon-sungtaes-wolves/#more-5740" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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At the Intersection of Korea and Mongolia: the Uncompromising Stories of Jeon Sungtae&#8217;s <em>Wolves</em>

At the Intersection of Korea and Mongolia: the Uncompromising Stories of Jeon Sungtae&#8217;s Wolves

kb-yi-kwang-su

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/modern-korean-drama-began-heroism-villainy-idealism-yi-kwang-sus-soil/"></div><p>Yi Kwang-su (pictured above) has been mentioned here before for his theoretical contributions to modern Korean modern literature in the early 20th<span style="font-size: 12.000000953674316px;"> </span>century as well as for his wandering political eye. As a writer of some repute best known for the novels <em>Heartless </em>and <em>The Soil</em> (흙), the latter of which which is, to my mind, the spiritual progenitor of the modern Korean drama. Yi&#8217;s stories are laced with love triangles, betrayals, defeats, revenges, and <em>The Soil</em> brings in a spectacularly failed suicide attempt as well. Doomed lovers make promises they can’t keep, wealth differentials grind people into dirt, and “true” heart and dedication (according to Yi’s model) bring no tangible rewards. <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/modern-korean-drama-began-heroism-villainy-idealism-yi-kwang-sus-soil/#more-5467" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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Where Modern Korean Drama Began: the Heroism, Villainy, and Idealism of Yi Kwang Su&#8217;s <em>The Soil</em>

Where Modern Korean Drama Began: the Heroism, Villainy, and Idealism of Yi Kwang Su&#8217;s The Soil

kb-uncomfortably-happily

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/three-recent-books-including-funny-inventive-graphic-novel-means-korean/"></div><p>Time to take a break from the history of Korean literature and talk a little bit about three recently published works, each of which shines a light on a particular aspect of the Korean experience: one story and essay collection that shines a light on Korean literature under colonialism and just after; some “international” Korean fiction; and a lovely if voluminous <em>manwha</em> (or graphic novel) on man’s struggles with the city, the countryside, and himself. <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/three-recent-books-including-funny-inventive-graphic-novel-means-korean/#more-5287" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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Three Recent Books, Including a Funny and Inventive Graphic Novel, On What It Means to Be a Korean

kb-park-min-gyu

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-guide-korean-fiction-translation-fractured-postmodern-adventures-jung-young-moon-park-min-gyu-contemporary-writers/"></div><p><em>The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </em>The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation<em>, Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post.</em> <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-guide-korean-fiction-translation-fractured-postmodern-adventures-jung-young-moon-park-min-gyu-contemporary-writers/#more-5074" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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The Explorer&#8217;s Guide to Korean Fiction in Translation: The Fractured Postmodern Adventures of Jung Young Moon, Park Min-Gyu, and Other Contemporary Writers

kb-dictee

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-postmodern-freedom-postmodern-peril/"></div><p><em>The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </em>The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation<em>, Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post.</em> <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-postmodern-freedom-postmodern-peril/#more-4887" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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The Explorer&#8217;s History of Korean Fiction in Translation: Postmodern Freedom, Postmodern Peril

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<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-prehistory-postmodernism/"></div><p>By <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/charles-montgomery/">Charles Montgomery</a></p>
<p><strong> </strong><em>The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </em>The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation<em>, Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post.</em> <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-prehistory-postmodernism/#more-4762" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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The Explorer&#8217;s History of Korean Fiction in Translation: the Prehistory of Postmodernism

kb-the-red-room

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-soul-without-blame/"></div><p><b>B</b>y <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/charles-montgomery/">Charles Montgomery</a></p>
<p><em>The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </em>The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation, <em>Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post</em>. <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-soul-without-blame/#more-4566" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
<div class="at-below-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-soul-without-blame/"></div>

The Explorer&#8217;s History of Korean Fiction in Translation: Not a Soul Without Blame

kb-place-where-the-harmonium-was

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-alienation-politics-women/"></div><p><b></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">By </span><a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/charles-montgomery/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Charles Montgomery</span></a></p>
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span> <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-alienation-politics-women/#more-4430" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
<div class="at-below-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-alienation-politics-women/"></div>

The Explorer&#8217;s History of Korean Fiction in Translation: Alienation, Politics, and Women

kb-explorers-history-economic-miracle

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-social-tragedies-economic-miracle/"></div><p>By <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/charles-montgomery/">Charles Montgomery</a></p>
<p><em>The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </em>The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation, <em>Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post</em>. <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-social-tragedies-economic-miracle/#more-4178" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
<div class="at-below-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-social-tragedies-economic-miracle/"></div>

The Explorer&#8217;s History of Korean Fiction in Translation: The Social Tragedies of the “Economic Miracle”

kb-explorers-history-deepening-separation

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-deeper-wars-aftermath-deeper-sense-separation/"></div><p>By <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/charles-montgomery/">Charles Montgomery</a></p>
<p><em>The LARB Korea Blog is currently featuring selections from </em>The Explorer’s History of Korean Fiction in Translation, <em>Charles Montgomery’s book-in-progress that attempts to provide a concise history, and understanding, of Korean literature as represented in translation. You can find links to previous selections at the end of the post</em>.<span id="more-3894"></span></p>
<p>Two weeks ago, this chapter began on the Korea Blog with the conclusion of the Korean War, focusing on the moment of separation and its aftermath. This half focuses more on what one might call “second generation” separation literature, the writing that attempts to look at the separation from a generational remove, not examining national separation directly but the notion of separation in more personal and social settings. A good example of late-era separation literature, Kim Won-Il’s <em>Evening Glow</em>, tells the story of a businessman named Kim Kapsu returning to his countryside home for a funeral. There he reconnects with and re-assesses the complicated strands of his previous life, one lived in the turbulent period of Korean Civil War. <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog/explorers-history-korean-fiction-translation-deeper-wars-aftermath-deeper-sense-separation/#more-4040" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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The Explorer&#8217;s History of Korean Fiction in Translation: Deeper Into the War&#8217;s Aftermath, a Deeper Sense of Separation

Charles Montgomery is an ex-resident of Seoul where he lived for seven years teaching in the English, Literature, and Translation Department at Dongguk University. You can read more from Charles Montgomery on translated Korean literature <a href="http://www.ktlit.com/">here</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/ktlit">@ktlit</a>, or on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ccmontgom">Facebook</a>.