Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: European) [Hardcover]

Marshall R. Pihl (Editor), Ju-Chan Fulton (Editor), Bruce Fulton (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Korean

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: M.E. Sharpe (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563241943
• ISBN-13: 978-1563241949
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,724,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perspectives on Korean history, April 7, 2010

By 

D. Kauck - See all my reviews

This review is from: Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction (East Gate Books) (Paperback)

I like this book because of the personal perspectives it offers the reader on many aspects of Korean history and culture. All of the stories are more or less directly related to the theme of 'exile'. Many are about people who were uprooted by the war and had to leave their homes permanently. Indeed, the majority of the stories is about the legacy of the war in one way or another. Other themes in the stories include gender issues (especially 'The Last of Hanak'o), stigmatisation and discrimination faced by families of 'defectors' to North Korea ('Scarlet Fingernails') etc. Some of the newer stories are not related to the war or major historical events and are about exile in a less direct way: a mentally ill person going on a vacation to recover in 'Conviction' or the secret desire for a healthy young woman of a middle-aged man whose wife is gradually succumbing to cancer in 'From powder to powder'.

I think that one of the best stories is 'Land of Exile': The protagonist is involved in very different ways in three periods of Korean history: as a common peasant in the pre-war period, a People's Committee official during the brief occupation by the Korean People's Army and later a construction worker unable to return home for fear of being punished (killed) for his involvement in purges of a local landlord family. 'Kapitan Ri' is an intriguing depiction of a typical collaborator, willing to sacrifice his compatriots and even his own children and ally himself to every external power (Japanese, Russians, Americans) for his own benefit. 'The Last of Hanak'o's story of an awkward relation between a female designer and her university friends shows persisting stereotypes of the "unobtrusive and comforting female" and violence against women.

Given the general theme of 'exile', there is a relatively strong focus on dramatic events such as the war, violently suppressed student demonstrations and escape from hostile regimes. Less dramatic or more gradual, constant themes in Korea are often dealt with less explicitly, but they are there, too: poverty, urbanization ('A Dream of Good Fortune'), gender issues (see above), harsh working conditions and low wages during the economic miracle ('Land of Exile').

I found some of the stories a bit difficult to understand. But with the information provided in the introduction and at the beginning of each story I think I was able to get them.

This book was very useful for me as a complement for history books and also because of its insights into Korean culture.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stark but Worthwhile, March 14, 2010

By 

Reader in Tokyo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction (East Gate Books) (Paperback)

These comments refer to the first edition, published in 1993, not the revised edition published in 2007 with four additional newer works.

The 1993 edition contained 12 short stories by as many writers, ranging from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. The oldest writers in it were Ch'ae Manshik (1902-50), Kim Tongni (1913-95), who was described as the voice of humanistic nationalism, and Hwang Sunwon (1915-2000), who was called a lyrical humanist and the consummate Korean short-story writer of the 20th century. The youngest writers were Ch'oe Inho (1945-), O Chonghui (1947-), called one of the best female authors of the 1970s, and Im Ch'oru (1954-).

Others included Chon Kwangyong (1919-88), Pak Wanso (1931-) -- another memorable female author from the 1970s -- Kim Sungok (1941-), Yun Heunggil (1942-) -- described as one of the writers best known abroad, Cho Chongnae (1943-) and Hwang Sogyong (1943-), called a major representative of the 1970s generation.

So far as this reader is aware, these authors have lived mainly in South Korea, although some were born in the north, Manchuria or Japan. One, Hwang Sogyong, lived in the United States ca. 1989-93 after visiting North Korea, before returning to the south and enduring jail for several years.

According to the brief introduction, modern Korean literature initially was modeled to a large degree on Western forms. In fiction the main influences were French and Russian realism, and realism maintained its predominance during the period the book covered. In the 20th century, writers frequently portrayed the country's harsh historical realities -- a rigid social and political structure, oppressive colonial rule by the Japanese, post-1945 chaos, and political tension and war resulting in division into north and south. Thereafter, as the north disappeared behind an iron curtain, in the south there was the imposition of military rule from the 1960s and accelerating industrialization, before democratization from the 1990s. Throughout these periods, major themes in the literature have been alienation, isolation and frustration -- forms of exile from the self, other people or society in general.

In the collection, the stories from all decades were concerned mainly with broken families, urban squatters, ex-cons, political dissidents, social parasites, childless couples and soldiers lost in the mountains. Some of the stories seemed merely dark and drab, while others impressed for their artistry.

Most distinctive for this reader was Chon's "Kapitan Ri" (1962), about a proud, xenophobic man who'd compromised with and survived all changes of government; despite the great personal and social cost, he was still going strong and plotting his next advance. Cho's "Land of Exile" (1981), on the other hand, was about a man whose entire life was blighted by circumstance -- the class system before the war, betrayal by a Communist soldier afterward, and poverty in the capitalist south. O's "The Bronze Mirror" (1982) showed first the individual problems of an aging husband, grief-stricken wife and nervous little girl, before bringing them all together in a beautifully described but bitter conclusion. Kim Tongni's story from the 1950s concerned a forest-dweller's revenge on bullying soldiers. Hwang Sogyong's piece from the 1970s showed the poor living like animals on wasteland that was soon to be destroyed by urban growth.

Many of the other stories seemed slight in comparison -- a man returned to his struggling wife, then left -- or contained too many twists and improbabilities -- a long-lost sister and father recognized because of a mole. Or they contained characters and situations I just wasn't able to sympathize with.

Other recent collections of Korean fiction include Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology (2005), Modern Korean Literature: An Anthology (1990), A Ready-Made Life: Early Masters of Modern Korean Fiction (1998), Wayfarer: New Fiction by Korean Women (1997) and Words of Farewell: Stories by Korean Women Writers (1989). For tales from the north, there's Korean Short Stories: A Collection from North Korea (2003).