Modern Korean Literature, Peter H. Lee

Translations of contemporary (up to 1990) Korean writings include poetry, fiction, essays, and drama, predominantly focus on the difficult, tragic and resilient history of Korea during the  twentieth-century. 

YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American, by Vickie Nam

An anthology of stories, poems, essays and letters by young (ages 15-22) Asian-American women who write about coming of age, identity, sexuality, stereotypes, school, culture, isolation and interracial dating.

Echoing Song: Contemporary Korean Women Poets, by Peter H. Lee

Scholar and translator Peter Lee anthologizes contemporary Korean women poets whose work received acclaim in the latter part of the 20th century. A good representation of each poet’s work is included, showing the range and development of their voices.

Unspoken Voices: Selected Short Stories by Korean Women Writers, by Jin-Young Choi

An important anthology of stories (in translation) by twelve women writers, divided by those who lived through the Japanese Occupation and those who experienced the Korean War. Includes writers who are award-winners in Korean literature.

Early Korean Literature, by David McCann

This anthology, published by Columbia University Press, is reviewed by Robert Fouser on the Korean Studies Internet Discussion List.

Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction, by Marshall R. Pihl

An anthology of 12 post-1945 Korean fiction, in translation, includes brief biographies of each author. Expanded in 2007.

Surfacing Sadness: A Centennial of Korean-American Literature 1903-2003, by Yearn Hong Choi PhD

Poems, essays and stories of Korean American immigrants in the period noted. In translation.

Wayfarer: New Fiction by Korean Women, edited and translated by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton

A collection of postwar short stories ranging from the 50s to now. All deal with the isolation and stultified domestic place within which South Korean women still struggle for identity, enrichment and meaning. The introduction puts much of this writing in context, and informs about certain classifications of Korean modern literature, including pundan munhak, a body of work that deals with the territorial division of Korea and divided families, the anti-Communist campaigns for which the "sins of the father" ruined the careers and hopes of two generations. Out of this theme came one of the two strongest stories in this collection (which may seem strong due to this Westernized reader): Kim Min-suk's "Scarlet Fingernails," about a daughter who visits her father given a day's furlough to celebrate his hwang-ap from a life prison sentence--a man whom she never met who refuses to recant his visit to the north. What's fascinating is that the story turns out to be less concerned with the daughter than with the mother, his wife, who though she doesn't visit him, prepares special soup and then has her own private party at home with the old ladies in the complex. The other compelling tale was a NYC immigrant story by Kim Chi-won, "Almaden," about a liquor store owner, the disaffected wife of a cold husband, who fantasizes about a man who buys the same wine every day for years. This collection speaks to the internal lives of modern Korean women and how they struggle for dignity in a culture that sees women best as martyrs, wives and mothers.

Century of the Tiger: One Hundred Years of Korean Culture in America 1903-2003, by Jenny Ryun Foster et al

This issue of the Manoa Journal is a centennial celebration of literature of Korean Americans. Included are excerpts of books by early immigrants including Younghill Kang, Mary Paik Lee, Kim Ronyoung; and pieces by later generations such as Richard E. Kim, Connie Kang, and Heinz Insu Fenkl; and more recent immigrants like Chris McKinney and Don Lee. A poignant memoir piece by Chang Rae Lee is a fresh addition to the collection, as are pieces by less familiar authors. The wide format book is llustrated profusely with photos of art and images of Korea, food, details from Korean objets, art and clothing, and as a whole, speaks to the strong and ongoing cultural unity and pride of Koreans in America.

Postwar Korean Short Stories: An Anthology, edited and translated by Chong-un Kim

This collection of 17 short stories by Korean writers covers the nihilism, inhumanity and hopelessness that marked the decade during and after the divisive Korean War. It is a remarkable collection (in translation) that clearly shows the darkness covering the soul of the people and the alienating effects of the war on culture, society, identity and family. Some stories are stronger than others; one is by the famed author Hahn Musuk [sic]; and most end without a definitive conclusion. The stories are less plot-driven than are snapshots of a moment in hardship, yearning, dismay, failure in relationships, death and sacrifice. Beneath it all lies the Korean concept of HAN, the sorrow of the soul that permeates Korean culture. Speaking with the voice of the times, this book is a rare window into the literary output of a difficult and complex time in Korea.

Women and Confucian Cultures by Dorothy Ko, Jahyun Kim Haboush, Joan R. Piggott

This fascinating collection of writings examines the role and culture of women in the Confucian-regulated eras of China, Korea and Japan, and as such, presents a nonconventional view of Confucianism that is broader than the typically oppressive male tradition, and allows for the power and richness of the female experience within the social and cultural circumstances of Confucian era life.

Echoes Upon Echoes: New Korean American Writings, edited by Elaine H. Kim and Laura Kang

A broad collection organized by age/awareness, focused on identity, family, and the meaning of home and country.

I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children, Sara Dorow

Heartwrenching real letters full of the Korean han the inner passion, especially pain and longing that is so deeply felt and most often expressed as rivers of tears. Because of the subject and the nature of the compilation, the melodrama is inherent. The book includes “explanatory” introductory notes to sections, which felt somewhat redundant at times.

Kori: The Beacon Anthology of Korean American Fiction, by Fenkl and Lew

16 excerpts of Korean American writing, from Younghill Kang and Kim Ronyoung to Chang-Rae Lee and Susan Choi. Edited by two “early” Korean-American writers (whose work is included) and targeted to Korean American studies programs. An adequate starting point for further reading.