Impossible Speech: The Politics of Representation in Contemporary Korean Literature and Film

In what ways can or should art engage with its social context? Authors, readers, and critics have been preoccupied with this question since the dawn of modern literature in Korea. Advocates of social engagement have typically focused on realist texts, seeing such works as best suited to represent injustices and inequalities by describing them as if they were before our very eyes.

Christopher P. Hanscom questions this understanding of political art by examining four figures central to recent ...