BWAHAHAHAHA 15 'An Astonishing Piece of Work'
A man poses for a photo sometime around 1900-1920. Courtesy of Robert Neff Collection
Editor’s note
“Bwahahahaha” is a weekly column that explores the roots of Korean humor through the joke book “Kkalkkal Useum,” originally published in 1916.
An unavoidable aspect of Korea’s modernization is that much of it happened in the context of its colonization which lasted from 1910-45. However, the text I'm looking at was published in 1916, and the situation it describes appears to precede colonization. It’s thus a window into the era between when Korea’s ports were opened to trade in 1876 — when foreign technology and influence began to enter the country — and the colonial era.
The joke describes a family learning about a new technology — photography. What’s most interesting is what’s associated with it. The biggest surprise is that the figure depicted as having the most knowledge and understanding of new technology is the father, while the younger generation is clueless. This is counterintuitive today, when it’s taken for granted that the younger generation are experts in new technology and older people are the clueless ones.
It is perhaps less surprising that the figure who’s knowledgeable about new technology is a man, and that the capital is depicted as the center of modern technology in contrast to the countryside. The final thing that stands out about this joke is how the holder of the new technology is automatically assumed to be a Westerner.
An Astonishing Piece of Work
A regional administrator from the country visited Seoul, and on the way there he had a photograph of himself taken. He posed dressed formally wearing a robe and hat and seated on a high chair, and planned to show it to everyone when he got back home.
When he got back he took the photo out, handed it to his wife and said, “Have you ever seen anything as astonishing as this? Look carefully. Who does that look like?”
She took it and looked closely, and it was her husband! She laughed and said, “Aigo! Look at that. It’s astonishing indeed. How did they make it? Now I have two husbands.”
She handed it to their son and said, “Hurry up and look at this.”
Their son held the photograph up and said, “This is astonishing. Who made it? Was it a Westerner?”
“Yes, a Westerner made it.”
“Oh! They did a good job. It’s as surprising as seeing a ghost mourning at its own funeral.”
Next, the man’s grandson examined the photograph. Finally, he said, “So, a Westerner made this. It is remarkable, but I’ve called out to Grandfather in there three times and he hasn’t answered, so the Westerner who made it must have made a mistake.”
The old man couldn’t contain himself, and he shouted, “Aigo! You bunch of ignorant fools!”
G.S. Hand is a graduate of the Translation Academy at LTI Korea, winner of the Fiction Grand Prize of the 53rd Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards and has a master’s degree in Modern Korean Literature from Korea University. He lives in Seoul.