Pen/Insular_Notes

The rather popular and interesting Cambridge economist, Ha-joon Chang, whom I’ve written about here before has apparently been banned by the South Korean Air Force. The Korean translation of Chang’s recent book, Bad Samaritans, which is a Keynesian attack on neo-liberalism and free trade, has been categorised as a subversive book liable to corrupt the minds of those brave Koreans defending the homeland:

In the instructions, the Air Force states that “seditious books” can hinder soldiers’ concentration and suggested a list of 23 books to be banned in three categories: pro-Pyongyang, anti-government and anti-U.S., and anti-capitalism.

So I guess that Chang’s Keynesianism must fall under the category of ‘anti-capitalism’. The ironies in this are just too many to point out, but we could perhaps start with the fact that South Korea’s military probably wouldn’t exist at all without a long history of the sort of protectionist and interventionist economic policies that Chang is advocating. The biggest irony though, must surely be that far from being anti-capitalist these same Keynesian/statist policies probably did the most to save capitalism from self-destruction during the 20th century.

Fascinating also that being ‘anti-government’ and ‘anti-US’ are considered to be part of the same category of sedition here…

Woohoo! I made the news. Or rather I should say that Vladimir Tikhonov and I have made the news with our new translation of the writings of Han Yongun. Available in all good bookshops etc etc.

Not sure about the accuracy of this bit though:

이번 번역은 박노자 오슬로 국립대학 한국학 교수와 영국 런던대 산하 동양ㆍ아프리카학대학(SOAS)에서 박사과정 중인 오웬 밀러씨의 공동 작업으로 진행됐다.

:(

Check out the review of David Peace’s Tokyo Year Zero at No Ordinary Sunshine… and then get the book. I haven’t read it yet myself, but I certainly will do now.

My copy of A Corpse in the Koryo finally arrived from Amazon yesterday. I hope to start reading it when the thesis is out of the way and will be sure to write something here about it if it turns out to be as good/interesting as all the reviewers seem to say it is.

There are now a couple of very worthwhile reviews out of the book ‘Reinterpreting Korea’s Liberation History’ (해방전후사의 재인식) which I have discussed here and at Frog in a Well already (parts one and two). Both are by historians on the left whom I admire - unfortunately both are in Korean and are likely to remain that way until I have some time to translate one or both of them (I will get around to it at some point). Anyway, for any readers of Korean who are interested here they are:

Han Kyuhan’s review in Ta Hamkke, part one and part two.

Pak Noja’s review for Inmul kwa sasang journal. (When I downloaded the word file I had to rename it for some reason to get it to open).

I think on reflection that I’ll avoid forking out the required 60,000 won for the two volumes and wait until it arrives at SOAS library before having a browse through the actual book.

My review of the English translation of Hwang Sŏk-yŏng’s The Guest (손님) appears in the latest issue of ISJ. I didn’t comment on the translation, but it generally seems good to me. You can judge for yourself; here is the passage that I open my review with:

The moment he uttered Ch’ansaemgol, Yosŏp realised that some 40 years had passed since he’d last mentioned the name of his hometown. Ch’ansaemgol. The word started out with the scent of a mountain berry, lingering at the tip of one’s tongue—but then the fragrance suddenly turned into the stench of rotting fish. It was as if a blob of black paint had been dumped on a watercolour filled with tender, pale-green leaves, the darkness slowly seeping outward towards the edges.

Very sad to hear that Stanislaw Lem, one of my favourite writers, has died. I say ‘favourite’ but to be honest that might be a bit of nostalgia for my teenage years because I don’t think I’ve read anything by him since then. But on the other hand if a writer’s works and ideas can stay so firmly fixed in your mind as his have done, then perhaps favourite is not such a bad word. I think, if I remember correctly, I was introduced to his books by finding an old copy of Memoirs of a Space Traveller in the Sci-Fi section of my local library (where I probably spent too much time as a 13-year-old). It was full of excellent, mind-bending speculative fiction of a similar sort to Borges, Ballard and Priest. I remember [or probably misremember] one story in particular about a man who invents a time machine and transports himself into the future. Nothing is heard of him until years later when his dead, old body turns up in the room from which he transported himself.

Funnily enough I’ve never seen either of the film versions of Solaris.

This is probably the first modern textbook produced in Korea. Entitled An Elementary Reader for Citizens (國民小學讀本), it was first published by the education ministry of the country that was then known as Tae Chosŏn’guk (‘Great Chosŏn Nation’) in 1895, or year 504 of the dynasty, if you use the short-lived dating system that was current at the time.

A facsimile edition was published in the 80s which still seems to be available at secondhand bookshops. It is certainly a book that I’d like to get around to looking at in greater detail. The first attempt at creating some sort of general, state-led educational material in Korea must have echoes that can be seen and felt even today, 111 years later. It is also fascinating to see what these early educationalists thought was important for the citizens of Chosŏn to know about. And some of the language used, even in the chapter headings, is interesting too, like the use of the word Chinaguk (支那國) for China instead of Chungguk (中國).

The title page and first page of contents.

The book contains 41 lessons/readings in all, covering everything from the American War of Independence to camels. Here are the titles of the first 12 lessons:

Lesson 1: Great Chosŏn (大朝鮮國)
Lesson 2: General Knowledge (廣智識)
Lesson 3: Hanyang [Seoul] (漢陽)
Lesson 4: Our Family (我家)
Lesson 5: The Reign of King Sejong (世宗大王紀事)
Lesson 6: Commerce and Trade (商事及交易)
Lesson 7: The Transformation [evolution?] of Plants (植物變化)
Lesson 8: Books (書籍)
Lesson 9: Getting Revenge through Kindness (以德報怨)
Lesson 10: Clocks (時計)
Lesson 11: The Camel (駱駝)
Lesson 12: The Treaty Powers (條約國)

I think some of my translations probably leave something to be desired, so any suggestions or corrections would be welcome. Or perhaps you might like to translate some of the rest of the lesson titles. Here are the rest of the contents:

[Crossposted at Frog in a Well Korea]

And for people in London:

SOAS Centre of Korean Studies in association with the Daesan Foundation

Literary Event with Korean Novelist Hwang Sok-yong

4.30-7.00pm
Wednesday, 14 December 2005
Khalili Lecture Theatre
SOAS, University of London

“Hwang Sok-yong is arguably Korea’s most recognized and renowned author. Drawing artistic inspiration from his own experiences as a vagabond day laborer, student activist, Vietnam War veteran, advocate for coal miners and garment workers, and political dissident, he is embraced as a writer and champion of the people. His historical novel, Chang Kilsan, an extensive parable about a bandit that described the contemporary dictatorship, was serialized in a daily paper from 1974 to 1984 and sold an estimated million copies in North and South Korea. In 1993 there was international outcry when Hwang was sentenced to seven years in prison for an unauthorized trip to the North to promote exchange between artists in North and South Korea. In 1998, he was granted special pardon by the new South Korean president. The recipient of Korea’s highest literary prizes and shortlisted for the Prix Fémina Étranger, Hwang has seen his novels and shorts stories published in North and South Korea, Japan, China, France, Germany, and the U.S. Hwang was born in 1943 in Xinjing, Manchuria (now Changchun, China).”

‘About the Author’ in Hwang Sok-yong’s The Guest published by Seven Stories Press (2005)

The SOAS Centre of Korean Studies has been honoured to host Mr Hwang Sok-yong’s stay in London (as associate member of the Centre) over the past two years. The Centre is pleased to host this event in honour of the celebrated novelist, who was shortlisted for this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, as he leaves London and SOAS for Paris where he will be affiliated with the University of Paris over the next two years.

Mr Hwang will discuss his works and read from his novel, The Guest (손님), the English translation of which has been recently published by Seven Stories Press. A book signing and drinks reception will follow.

This event is kindly supported by the Daesan Foundation.

For further information or queries, please contact Grace Koh (gk5@soas.ac.uk)

ALL ARE WELCOME

Just before the month of November comes to an end, I wanted to flag up the fact that Words without Borders (’The Online Magazine for International Literature’) has a special edition this month dedicated to Korean writers. It includes fiction and non-fiction, writing old and new and has pieces by both Ko Un and Hwang Sôg-yông, who regular readers will know have been featured here fairly recently. Now I must find the time to read some of these things myself.

On a not-really-related topic I feel I should link to the Global Voices Online metablog (I think that’s what it should be called anyway), largely because they’ve been linking to me quite a bit recently and it seems like an interesting and admirable project seeking to aid the diversification of the blogworld. I see from a quick google that the site has even had a write-up on the BBC news site. Perhaps it’s slightly ironic that they’re linking me as a voice from Korea when I live in London, where I was born and brought up. And I have no Korean ancestry (as far as I know). Anyway, more power to their elbows, especially when they post such excellent blog round-ups, like this one today from Palestine.