The RAS Korean Literature Club discussion

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A comprehensive list of books read and discussed by the RAS Korean Literature Club during the year:

2013.

(For earlier and later years, see this folder.)

Included is such information as: Author, translator, publisher, year; original titles in Hangul and author names and info in Hangul; notes on where online to find some of the hard-to-find or otherwise-unpublished material (when applicable); discussion leaders; and, where applicable, other notes (such as author presences or other special events).

Add a comment for corrections or additions, as with technical information, anything missing or incorrect.

For general discussion on the literary value, etc., of the books, go to the (General forum).



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. . . . . . . [2013] . . . . . . .
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[January 2013]
Book: ?
- Discussion leader(s): Robert Fouser

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[February 2013]
Book: ?
- Discussion leader(s): Robert Fouser

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[March 2013]
Book: ?
- Discussion leader(s): Robert Fouser


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*** Leadership Change ***
Robert Fouser, the RAS-KLC's founding leader, stepped down in early 2013. On March 27, 2013, a new leader-coordinator was announced: Patrick Bourgo.

Robert Fouser had led the club for more than one year, from its formation in the winter of 2011-12 until March 2013. At about this time, Fouser entered his final teaching semester at Seoul National University, where he had taught Korean language pedagogy in the Korean language education department for several years. He left Korea in 2014.

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*** New Location ***
The club-gathering venue changed when Patrick Bourgo took over to the Jongno District Office "little library."

In the club's first year-plus, the meeting-place had been a room in the Inje University building near Myeongdong, Seoul. (The building no longer exists, demolished.) In spring 2013, the venue changed to the Jongno District Office's Little Library" [작은도서관] assembly-lounge area. The new site -- near the U.S. embassy -- was walking distance from Somerset Palace, the RAS lecture-venue of the 2000s and 2010s.

The Jongno District Office site would be used for almost five years, between spring 2013 and early 2018.

In early 2018, the venue changed again, to the North Terrace Building near Anguk/Jongno-3ga. The North Terrace venue (2018-) is located in the highly auspicious space between the overlapping corners of Ch'angdokgung and Chongmyo (창덕궁 and 종묘).

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[May 2013] [April 29, 2013]
- Book: A BALE OF SALT
- Author: Ku Hyo-sŏ
- Translator(s): Brother Anthony of Taize
- Publisher: Koreana magazine
- Year of publication: Winter 2008-09 (Vol. 22, No. 4)
- Original story info: Story title, "Sogŭm Kamani" [소금 가마니]; author, Ku Hyo-sŏ (구효서, b.1958); originally published in the Spring 2005 issue of the literary magazine Ch'angjak-kwa Pip'yŏng (창작과비평, known as "창비" for short).
- GR entry: n/a
- Translated version available online? YES, at https://tinyurl.com/bdf9wr4t (8100 words)
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note: In August 2005, "A Bale of Salt" was awarded the Yi Sang Literary Prize for best short story.

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[June 3, 2013]
- Book: THE GENERAL'S BEARD: TWO NOVELLAS
- Author: Lee Oyoung
- Translator(s): Brother Anthony of Taize
- Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books (New Jersey) (independent, focused on "fine books on Asia")
- Year of publication: Aug. 2002
- Original story info: Story title, "Changgun-ŭi Suyŏm" [장군의 수염]; author, Yi Ŏ-ryŏng [Lee Oyoung] (이어령, b.1933-2022); originally published in March 1966 in the literary magazine Sedae (세대, existed 1963-1979).
- GR entry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
- Translated version available online? no
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note 1: Publication of The General's Beard was funded by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (KLTI).

- Note 2: A movie released in South Korea in Sept. 1968 was based on General's Beard.

- Note 3: Lee Oyoung in Dec. 1989 was appointed South Korea's first "Minister of Culture" (문화부장관). He had been a close collaborator with Roh Tae-woo in planning the 1988 Seoul Olympics. When Roh Tae-woo introduced a new Culture Ministry in late 1989, he appointed Lee Oyoung, who was by then a veteran literary figure (mainly known as a critic; also long a professor at leading universities).

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[July 1, 2013]
- Book: KOREAN STANDARDS
- Author: Min-Gyu Park
- Translator(s): Brother Anthony of Taize
- Publisher: Koreana magazine
- Year of publication: Spring 2008 (Vol. 22, No.1)
- Original story info: Story title, "K'oriŏn Sŭt'endŏjŭ" [코리언 스텐더즈]; author, Pak Min-kyu (Min-gyu Park) (박민규, b.1968); originally published in the Spring 2005 issue of literary magazine Munhak-Such'ŏp (문학수첩); published in book form in June 2005 in the short-story collection titled Castella, published by Munhak-Dongnae Publishing (문학동네).
- GR entry: (Spanish) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... (Korean) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
- Translated version available online? YES, at https://tinyurl.com/y6m89bxa (8500 words)
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note: For its October 2021 session, the KLC read another story by Min-gyu Park (which, like "Korean Standards," came originally from Park's Castella volume of 2005).

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[August 5, 2013]
- Book: THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SHADOW
- Author: Kim Young-ha
- Translator(s): Dafna Zur
- Publisher: Words Without Borders (?)
- Year of publication: Jan. 2006
- Original story info: Story title, "Kŭrimja-rŭl P'an Sanai" [그림자를 판 사나이]; author, Kim Yŏng-ha [Kim Young-ha] (김영하, b.1968); originally published in the Spring 2003 issue of the literary magazine Munhak-Dongnae; then published in book form in March 2004 in a short-story collection by the author volume (titled: "오빠가 돌아왔다"), published by Changbi Publishing (창비).
- GR entry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
- Translated version available online? YES, at https://tinyurl.com/54r7phsx (8300 words)
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note: For its Dec 2023 gathering, the KLC read another work by Kim Young-ha (Black Flower).

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[September 2, 2013]
- Book: CROWS
- Author: Yi Tae-jun
- Translator(s): Bruce Fulton & Ju-chan Fulton
- Publisher: Korean National Commission for UNESCO (?), in Reunion So Far Away: A Collection of Contemporary Korean Fiction
- Year of publication: 1994
- Original story info: Story title, "Kkamagwi" [까마귀]; author, Yi T'ae-chun [Yi Tae-jun] (이태준, 1904-1978?); originally published in 1937 in Seoul (Hanyang).
- GR entry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
- Translated version available online? no
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note: Yi Tae-jun was active in the Seoul literary scene between the late 1920s and mid-1940s. He became a Leftist and defected to North Korea in 1946. He was active in Pyongyang as a pro-regime writer until his "purge" in 1954 after which nothing published in Yi Tae-jun's name again. His date of death in North Korea is unknown; death-dates between the early 1960s and late 1970s have been claimed.

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[October 2013] [September 30, 2013]
- Book: FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW
- Author: Yi Chong-jun
- Translator(s): Bruce Fulton
- Publisher: Columbia University Press (in Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology)
- Year of publication: Aug. 2005
- Original story info: Story title, "Nun'gil" [눈길]; author, Yi Ch'ŏng-chun [Yi Chong-jun] (이청준, b.1939-2008); originally published in 1977 in the literary magazine Munye-Chungang (문예중앙, existed 1977-?).
- GR entry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
- Translated version available online? no
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note 1: Another translation of "Footprints in the Snow" was published earlier, translated by Hyun-Jae Yee Sallee (2005, Hollym). See: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

- Note 2: In 2008, the author Yi Chong-jun was awarded he top decoration awarded by the Republic of Korea for cultural achievements, the "Order of Cultural Merit, First Class" (금관문화훈장). (In the same year, 2008, translator Brother Anthony of Taize, later RASKB president, was one of those awarded the "Order of Cultural Merit, Fourth Class" for his literary work over the preceding 20+ years.)

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[November 4, 2013]
- Book: BALLAD
- Author: Ch’oe Illam
- Translator(s): Bruce Fulton
- Publisher: Columbia University Press (in Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology)
- Year of publication: Aug. 2005
- Original story info: Story title, "T'aryŏng" [타령]; author, Ch'oe Il-nam [Choe Illam] (최일남, 1932-2023); originally published in early 1977 by Mineumsa Publishing (민음사).
- GR entry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
- Translated version available online? no
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note: In 1986, Ch'oe Illam was awarded the Yi Sang Literary Award (이상문학상); in 2001, he received the "Order of Cultural Merit, Second Class" (은관문화훈장).

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[December 2, 2013]
- Book: GARUDA (a.k.a. "The Golden Phoenix")
- Author: Yi Mun-yol
- Translator(s): Brother Anthony of Taize
- Publisher: Literature Translation Institute of Korea (KLTI). Among the places "Garuda" has appeared in English is KLTI's "Korean Literature Now" quarterly-magazine (No.22, Winter 2013-14 issue). Only half the story was published there; the full version is available on Brother Anthony's website (see below).
- Year of publication: 2013?
- Original book info: Title, "Kŭmshijo" (금시조); author, Yi Munyŏl (이문열, b.1948); published in 1983[?] by Dongsuh Publishers (동서문화사).
- GR entry: n/a
- Translated version available online: YES, at https://tinyurl.com/2reccysy (the full, 20,000-word translation)
- Discussion leader(s): Patrick Bourgo

- Note 1: The Club would later read "Garuda" again for its July 2024 session.

- Note 2: Another translation of "Garuda," by Suh Ji-moon (?), was published in 1998. See: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

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The above is for books read and discussed in 2013 only. For earlier years, see:

LIST OF ALL BOOKS READ BY THE CLUB

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