A Century of Queer Korean Fiction

Selections from the past hundred years of queer Korean literature.

Following decades of activism for LGBTQ+ rights, South Korea has seen a flowering of queer literature, film, and Internet culture. Openly queer or transgender writers such as Kim Bi, Sang Young Park, and Yi Seoyoung are now receiving national and international attention. But the rich variety of queer Korean writing also extends into the past, as the nine stories in this volume show.

Beginning with contemporary works of fiction by Kim, Park, and Yi and reaching back through the last century, this collection places expressions of queerness in historical and cultural context. It explores the sometimes problematic norms found in the stories and also considers the potential these texts hold for destabilizing binaries of sex and gender. Featuring works by the canonical authors Yi Kwangsu, Yi Kiyŏng, Ch'oe Chŏnghŭi, and O Chŏnghŭi and works by Yu Sŭngjin and Kim Sunyŏng that have been recovered from archives, this collection reflects the diversity of modern Korean literature.

This volume contains the following works: "Yundo Is Back" (2017), "My Queer Year of Junior High" (2016), "Saltwater Baths" (2006), "Traditional Solo" (1970), "Struggling amid This Despair" (1965), "Spring" (1950), selections from the novel Spring (1940), "Dear Sister, I'm Off to the Moon" (1933), and "Yun Kwangho" (1918).