A Century of Queer Korean Fiction
- Editor: Samuel Perry
- Translator: Samuel Perry
- Pages: 316
- Published: 2023
- ISBN: 9781603296274 (Paperback)
Following decades of LGBTQ+ activism, South Korea has seen a flowering of queer literature, film, and Internet culture. Many openly gay, lesbian, transgender, and other queer Korean writers find themselves in the national and international spotlight. But the rich variety of queer representation also extends into the Korean past, as this volume illustrates.
Beginning with contemporary works of fiction by Kim Bi, Sang Young Park, and Yi Seoyoung and reaching back through the last century, this collection includes works by the canonical authors Yi Kwangsu, Yi Kiyŏng, Ch’oe Chŏnghŭi, and O Chŏnghŭi as well as stories by Yu Sŭngjin and Kim Sunyŏng that have been recovered from archives. The introduction places these representations of queerness in their historical and cultural context, explores the sometimes problematic norms found in the stories, and considers the potential these texts hold for destabilizing binaries of sex and gender.
Sang Young Park
Yi Seoyoung
Kim Bi
O Chŏnghŭi
Yu Sŭngjin
Ch’oe Chŏnghŭi
Yi Kiyŏng
Kim Sunyŏng
Yi Kwangsu
Acknowledgments (vii)
Note on Romanization (xi)
Introduction (xiii)
Bibliography of Original Works (lxxv)
Further Reading in English (lxxvii)
Note on the Translations (lxxxv)
Sang Young Park, “Yundo Is Back” (3)
Yi Seoyoung, “My Queer Year of Junior High” (26)
Kim Bi, “Saltwater Baths” (58)
O Chŏnghŭi, “Traditional Solo” (101)
Yu Sŭngjin, “Struggling amid This Despair” (128)
Ch’oe Chŏnghŭi, “Spring” (137)
Yi Kiyŏng, Selections from Spring (161)
Kim Sunyŏng, “Dear Sister, I’m Off to the Moon” (186)
Yi Kwangsu, “Yun Kwangho” (191)
