The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost
Kindle Edition
Columbia University Press · Ebook · September 29, 2010
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- Who it’s for
- Mandogi's story brings Cheju-do's 1948 Four-Three Incident into focus through myth.
- Genres
- Literary Fiction, Asian American Fiction, Japanese Literary Collections
- Published
- Columbia University Press, September 29, 2010
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Start with this bookAbout this book
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.
Continue reading
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.
Cheju-do in 1948
Mandogi's story brings Cheju-do's 1948 Four-Three Incident into focus through myth.
Come here for
- Korean folk tales
- Ghost stories and myth
Expect
- A young priest caught up in the 1948 uprising
- The lasting imprint of the incident on Japanese and Korean memory
Where it sits
| Japanese Literary Collections | 83% |
|---|---|
| Asian American Fiction | 48% |
| Literary Fiction | 48% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Literary Fiction
- Asian Literary Collections
- Asian Lit Crit
- Authors
- Sok-pom Kim, Cindi Textor, Kim Sok-pom
- Publisher
- Columbia University Press
- Published
- September 29, 2010
- Format
- Ebook
- Reading lane
- Literary Fiction