[KS] Korea and Koreans as featured in literary works by non-Korean(ist) writers

[Afostercarter at aol.com]

Dear friends and colleagues,
 
A literary question, for the weekend:
 
How often do Korean characters, or Korea  itself,
feature in works not by Koreans or Korea  specialists?
 
Not a lot, I think. Three recent cases spring to  mind
- there may be many others, which I've overlooked  -
one of which has only just come to my attention:
 
1. Margaret Drabble's ambitious The Red Queen,  on which I have
posted previously: 
_http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/2005-July/004938.htm
l_ 
(http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/2005-July/004938.html) 
 
2. Eunice Park, in Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad Love  Story.
 
3. And now, someone is venturing into Inspector O  territory.
Adam Johnson's next novel, The Orphan Master's Son, 
is set in North Korea. An extract is  available here
 
(part of which I fear qualifies as an entry for  the
Literary Review's annual Bad Sex  award):

_http://electricliterature.com/blog/2010/09/03/excerpt-%E2%80%9Cfor-the-love
-of-juche%E2%80%9D-by-adam-johnson/_ 
(http://electricliterature.com/blog/2010/09/03/excerpt-“for-the-love-of-juche”-by-adam-johnson/) 
 
Subscribers to Granta can read a rather better  passage
in that magazine's latest issue (not available  online):
_http://www.granta.com/Magazine/Granta-116-Ten-Years-Later_ 
(http://www.granta.com/Magazine/Granta-116-Ten-Years-Later) 
 
No doubt we should wait for the complete work,
due out in January 2012. It already has a page at  Amazon:
_http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Masters-Son-Novel/dp/0307939693_ 
(http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Masters-Son-Novel/dp/0307939693) 
 
The author, who I gather teaches creative writing at  Stanford
- does he mingle with the Koreanists and Korea programs there?  -
- discusses his purposes here:
_http://electricliterature.com/blog/2010/09/10/interview-adam-johnson/_ 
(http://electricliterature.com/blog/2010/09/10/interview-adam-johnson/) 
 
Are there more such instances? I'm sure there must  be.
 
Kind regards
Aidan FC
 
 
Aidan  Foster-Carter 
Honorary Senior Research  Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds 
University, UK 
E: _afostercarter at aol.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at aol.com)      
_afostercarter at yahoo.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at yahoo.com)    W: _www.aidanfc.net_ 
(http://www.aidanfc.net/)      
W in Korea:  
_http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http://aidanfc.net/index.html_ 
(http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http:/aidanfc.net/index.html)  
Recent  articles, broadcasts and other activities on Korea  (mostly): 
15  October, 2011  Soft-soaping Samsung  The lead  letter in the Economist, 
criticising their kid-glove coverage of the big beast  recently   
_http://www.economist.com/node/21532241_ (http://www.economist.com/node/21532241)  
12  October, 2011     Oh no. Oh dear. An honest man bows out.   Farewell to 
Seoul’s former mayor,  Oh Se-hoon.    
_http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MJ12Dg01.html_ (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MJ12Dg01.html)  
3 October  2011   North Korea: The South changes  course.  My latest 
monthly update on the DPRK for  NewNations: 
_http://newnations.com/headlines/nk.php#new1_ (http://newnations.com/headlines/nk.php#new1)  
27  September 2011           To  catch a roach.    It’s surprising who you 
meet in luxury Swiss hotels – and great to be  back in the International 
Herald  Tribune, on a subject other than Korea just for once.  
_http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/opinion/27iht-edcarter27.html_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/opinion/27iht-edcarter27.html) 
 
 
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