Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton are the translators of numerous volumes of modern Korean fiction, including the award-winning women’s anthology, Words of Farewell: Stories by Korean Women Writers (Seal Press, 1989), and with Marshall R. Pihl, Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction, rev. and exp. ed. (M.E. Sharpe, 2007).
Bruce Fulton, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | Korean Literature and Literary Translation
The Future of Silence: Fiction by Korean Women
In the earliest of the stories, Pak Wan-so, considered the elder stateswoman of contemporary Korean fiction, opens the door into two “Identical Apartments” where sisters-in-law, bound as much by competition as love, struggle to live with their noisy, extended families. O Chong-hui, who has been compared to Joyce Carol Oates and Alice Munro, examines a day in the life of a woman after she is released from a mental institution, while younger writers, such as Kim Sagwa, Han Yujoo and Ch’on Un-yong explore violence, biracial childhood, and literary experimentation. These stories will sometimes disturb and sometimes delight, as they illuminate complex issues in Korean life and literature.
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The Human Jungle
Against a backdrop of rapidly morphing urban landscapes, readers meet migrant workers, Korean manufacturers out to save a few bucks, high-flying venture capitalists, street thugs, and shakedown artists. The picture of China that emerges is at turns unsettling, awe-inspiring, and heart-breaking. Chongnae deftly portrays a giant awakening to its own raw, volatile, and often uncontrollable power.
