By Kim Ji-myung
When Barbara Zitwer asked me the statistics on Korean thrillers and their translated English versions last week, I could not find answers through searching. Why? Because Korea's literary classification system does not have "thriller" as an independent category.
Barbara heads a New York-based agency for literature and films. She has helped create many of the recent success stories for translated Korean novels in the global market.
The astonishing news that "The Plotters" by novelist Kim Un-su was recently sold to Doubleday for a six-figure sum may signal the new discovery of Korean thrillers abroad. "The Plotters" set a new record at an enthusiastic global auction in the U.S.
A European publisher at the auction called Kim "the Korean Henning Mankell," after the legendary Swedish crime writer. Mankell (1948-2015) was best known for his Kurt Wallander mysteries, which are global bestsellers.
A more interesting story followed. Since December last year, Kim has been on a long-term research trip for his next novel ― an eight-month deep-sea fishing trip in the Pacific. Of course, the news has yet to reach the author. He will continue to be unreachable for a few months to come. Therefore, his agent Barbara will fly to Fiji to meet him and reveal the news when his boat enters a port.
The translation of Korean literary works has been quite systematically pushed forward both by the public and private sector. There are websites where titles and authors of both the original Korean and English translation by year and by genre are well documented.
However, the "thriller" has not been regarded as an independent section according to Korean literary tradition. In fact, a thriller has not been considered as a part of serious mainstream literature in Korea.
On the other hand, there are considerable differences in classification, which make it impossible to compare statistics between countries. For example, the "thriller" in Korea belongs to "horror/thriller" stories at large book dealers, which is separate from science/SF, fantasy and mystery novels. The term, "novel" ― soseol in Korean ? includes all creative stories. By the length of the story, novels can be divided into a short story, long story, and a "conte."
Things have changed over the past few decades. Thrillers, crime and horror stories, science fiction, gigantic disaster stories, and the like attract audiences especially when they are adapted and re-created as movies.
Does this mean the time has come for the K-thrillers to emerge as a new powerful locomotive to drive the Korean cultural wave on the world market?
If "the world is finally embracing Korean thrillers" and the Korean writers are "invigorating and pumping new life into the genre" as Barbara claims, it will mean another big leap forward for Korea's aspiration to present its literature worldwide.
What makes Korean stories powerful and unique? To take some random examples, popular writer Kim Young-ha's bestselling thriller "Memoir of a Murderer" tells the story of the main character in a unique way ― in the form of a journal written in the first person. A 70-year old man had killed people for 30 years, but quit 25 years ago. The serial killer did not get caught and avoided any punishment, but now suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
"Ghosts" by Kang Hee-jin and "The Bleaching" by Chang Kang-myong include murder/suicide incidents. "A" by Ha Seong-ran and "Ash and Red" by Pyeon Hye-young demonstrated the flexible narrative structure of a thriller.
Lee Jung-myung's "The Investigation" explores the Korean experience of the Japanese occupation (1910-45) and impact of war with nuance and compassion. The book tells of Korea's past, but is relevant today. It's emotionally affecting, but not overly sentimental, earning its impact through character development.
Many of the best commercial books are the result of collaboration between the writer and his or her agent, translator, editor, publisher, publicist, sales representative, bookseller, cover designer and all the other people who support and help a project be fully realized.
Barbara has been involved with many Korean books that have seen international success. Of all these related elements, Korea's weakest link may be the agent, who plays the most multiple roles as Barbara defined: a good literary agent is like a writer's guide in the dark; a friend, an editor, a therapist, a mother, a business partner, a teacher, a soldier, a tinker and a spy.
The writer (heritagekorea21@gmail. com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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Barbara heads a New York-based agency for literature and films. She has helped create many of the recent success stories for translated Korean novels in the global market.
The astonishing news that "The Plotters" by novelist Kim Un-su was recently sold to Doubleday for a six-figure sum may signal the new discovery of Korean thrillers abroad. "The Plotters" set a new record at an enthusiastic global auction in the U.S.
A European publisher at the auction called Kim "the Korean Henning Mankell," after the legendary Swedish crime writer. Mankell (1948-2015) was best known for his Kurt Wallander mysteries, which are global bestsellers.
A more interesting story followed. Since December last year, Kim has been on a long-term research trip for his next novel ― an eight-month deep-sea fishing trip in the Pacific. Of course, the news has yet to reach the author. He will continue to be unreachable for a few months to come. Therefore, his agent Barbara will fly to Fiji to meet him and reveal the news when his boat enters a port.
The translation of Korean literary works has been quite systematically pushed forward both by the public and private sector. There are websites where titles and authors of both the original Korean and English translation by year and by genre are well documented.
However, the "thriller" has not been regarded as an independent section according to Korean literary tradition. In fact, a thriller has not been considered as a part of serious mainstream literature in Korea.
On the other hand, there are considerable differences in classification, which make it impossible to compare statistics between countries. For example, the "thriller" in Korea belongs to "horror/thriller" stories at large book dealers, which is separate from science/SF, fantasy and mystery novels. The term, "novel" ― soseol in Korean ? includes all creative stories. By the length of the story, novels can be divided into a short story, long story, and a "conte."
Things have changed over the past few decades. Thrillers, crime and horror stories, science fiction, gigantic disaster stories, and the like attract audiences especially when they are adapted and re-created as movies.
Does this mean the time has come for the K-thrillers to emerge as a new powerful locomotive to drive the Korean cultural wave on the world market?
If "the world is finally embracing Korean thrillers" and the Korean writers are "invigorating and pumping new life into the genre" as Barbara claims, it will mean another big leap forward for Korea's aspiration to present its literature worldwide.
What makes Korean stories powerful and unique? To take some random examples, popular writer Kim Young-ha's bestselling thriller "Memoir of a Murderer" tells the story of the main character in a unique way ― in the form of a journal written in the first person. A 70-year old man had killed people for 30 years, but quit 25 years ago. The serial killer did not get caught and avoided any punishment, but now suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
"Ghosts" by Kang Hee-jin and "The Bleaching" by Chang Kang-myong include murder/suicide incidents. "A" by Ha Seong-ran and "Ash and Red" by Pyeon Hye-young demonstrated the flexible narrative structure of a thriller.
Lee Jung-myung's "The Investigation" explores the Korean experience of the Japanese occupation (1910-45) and impact of war with nuance and compassion. The book tells of Korea's past, but is relevant today. It's emotionally affecting, but not overly sentimental, earning its impact through character development.
Many of the best commercial books are the result of collaboration between the writer and his or her agent, translator, editor, publisher, publicist, sales representative, bookseller, cover designer and all the other people who support and help a project be fully realized.
Barbara has been involved with many Korean books that have seen international success. Of all these related elements, Korea's weakest link may be the agent, who plays the most multiple roles as Barbara defined: a good literary agent is like a writer's guide in the dark; a friend, an editor, a therapist, a mother, a business partner, a teacher, a soldier, a tinker and a spy.
The writer (heritagekorea21@gmail. com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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