The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost
The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost incorporates Korean folk tales, ghost stories, and myth into a phenomenal depiction of epic tragedy. Written by a zainichi, a permanent resident of Japan who is not of Japanese ancestry, the novel tells the story of Mandogi, a young priest living on the island of Cheju-do. Mandogi becomes unwittingly involved in the Four-Three Incident of 1948, in which the South Korean government brutally suppressed an armed peasant uprising and purged Cheju-do of communist sympathizers. Although Mandogi is sentenced to death for his part in the riot, he survives (in a sense) to take revenge on his enemies and fully commit himself to the resistance.

Mandogi's indeterminate, shapeshifting character is emblematic of Japanese colonialism's outsized impact on both ruler and ruled. A central work of postwar Japanese fiction, The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost relates the trauma of a long-forgotten history and its indelible imprint on Japanese and Korean memory.
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The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost
The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost incorporates Korean folk tales, ghost stories, and myth into a phenomenal depiction of epic tragedy. Written by a zainichi, a permanent resident of Japan who is not of Japanese ancestry, the novel tells the story of Mandogi, a young priest living on the island of Cheju-do. Mandogi becomes unwittingly involved in the Four-Three Incident of 1948, in which the South Korean government brutally suppressed an armed peasant uprising and purged Cheju-do of communist sympathizers. Although Mandogi is sentenced to death for his part in the riot, he survives (in a sense) to take revenge on his enemies and fully commit himself to the resistance.

Mandogi's indeterminate, shapeshifting character is emblematic of Japanese colonialism's outsized impact on both ruler and ruled. A central work of postwar Japanese fiction, The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost relates the trauma of a long-forgotten history and its indelible imprint on Japanese and Korean memory.
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The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost

The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost

The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost

The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost

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Overview

The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost incorporates Korean folk tales, ghost stories, and myth into a phenomenal depiction of epic tragedy. Written by a zainichi, a permanent resident of Japan who is not of Japanese ancestry, the novel tells the story of Mandogi, a young priest living on the island of Cheju-do. Mandogi becomes unwittingly involved in the Four-Three Incident of 1948, in which the South Korean government brutally suppressed an armed peasant uprising and purged Cheju-do of communist sympathizers. Although Mandogi is sentenced to death for his part in the riot, he survives (in a sense) to take revenge on his enemies and fully commit himself to the resistance.

Mandogi's indeterminate, shapeshifting character is emblematic of Japanese colonialism's outsized impact on both ruler and ruled. A central work of postwar Japanese fiction, The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost relates the trauma of a long-forgotten history and its indelible imprint on Japanese and Korean memory.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780231153119
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication date: 09/29/2010
Series: Weatherhead Books on Asia
Pages: 144
Sales rank: 224,459
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Kim Sok-pom (b. 1925) was born in Osaka, Japan, to Korean parents who emigrated from the island of Cheju-do. He is best known for his seven-volume fictional work, Kazanto (Volcano Island), which centers on the Cheju Uprising of 1948.

Cindi Textor is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington–Seattle.

What People are Saying About This

Christopher D. Scott

The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost is much more than a 'ghost story' or a 'tall tale.' This masterpiece of postwar Japanese literature is a sophisticated rumination of the power of words and narratives to create cultural identities and to challenge historical truths.

Christopher D. Scott, Macalester College

Haruo Shirane

An inventive, startling novel that casts light on a suppressed moment in history. Kim Sok-pom, one of the foremost zainichi (Japanese resident) Korean writers of the postwar period, explores the troubled boundaries between south and north Korea, colonialism and postcolonialism, history and its haunted memories.

Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, editor of The Demon at Agi Bridge and Other Japanese Tales

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