One of the most important and celebrated works of premodern Korean prose fiction, K?mo sinhwa (New Tales of the Golden Turtle) is a collection of five tales of the strange artfully written in literary Chinese by Kim Sis?p (1435-1493). Kim was a major intellectual and poet of the early Chos?n dynasty (1392-1897), and this book is widely recognized as marking the beginning of classical fiction in Korea.The present volume features an extensive study of Kim and the K?mo sinhwa, followed by a copiously annotated, complete English translation of the tales from the oldest extant edition. The translation captures the vivaciousness of the original, while the annotations reveal the work's complexity, unraveling the deep and diverse intertextual connections between the K?mo sinhwa and preceding works of Chinese and Korean literature and philosophy. The K?mo sinhwa can thus be read and appreciated as a hybrid work that is both distinctly Korean and Sino-centric East Asian. A translator's introduction discusses this hybridity in detail, as well as the unusual life and tumultuous times of Kim Sis?p; the K?mo sinhwa's creation and its translation and transformation in early modern Japan and twentieth-century (especially North) Korea and beyond; and its characteristics as a work of dissent. Tales of the Strange by a Korean Confucian Monk will be welcomed by Korean and East Asian studies scholars and students, yet the body of the work-stories of strange affairs, fantastic realms, seductive ghosts, and majestic but eerie beings from the netherworld-will be enjoyed by academics and non-specialist readers alike.
| ISBN: | 9780824882594 |
| Publication date: | 30th May 2020 |
| Author: | Dennis Wuerthner |
| Publisher: | University of Hawai'i Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 402 pages |
| Series: | Korean Classics Library: Historical Materials |
| Genres: |
Asian history Literary studies: general Modern and Contemporary Fiction Poetry Literary studies: poetry and poets Literary companions, book reviews and guides |