THE TRIAL OF PAK TAL AND OTHER STORIES(KOREAN DIASPORA LITERATURE)

The so-called Zainichi Korean diaspora in Japan is a large and diverse community with a long and painful history that began with the Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-1945). One of the most prolific and influential Zainichi Korean writers in Japan, Kim Tal-su (1920-1997) left behind a wide body of work depicting the many social and psychological dilemmas that Zainichi Koreans face, such as passing and outing, racism and discrimination, and ethnic identity and political affiliation. This collection, which contains some of Kim’s most important shorter works, showcases his vitality and versatility as a writer. Together, these stories offer new perspectives on Zainichi Korean identity and agency and new horizons for rethinking Japanese and Korean history beyond the borders of the nation-state.

Beginning with “Kindred Spirits,” a lively look at Koreans passing as Japanese and trespassing as bootleggers in wartime Japan, this collection includes the critically acclaimed novella “The Trial of Pak Tal,” a political satire about the Korean War (and the war within the Zainichi Korean self) through the eyes of a farmhand-turned-freedom fighter named Pak Tal and an equally sly and subversive narrator, and the historical travelogue “All the Way to Tsushima,” which follows Kim and his compatriots to the island of Tsushima, located between Japan and Korea, on a sentimental search for their lost homeland. The collection ends with two of Kim’s earliest works, “One’s Place” and “Memories of My Grandmother,” which explore the place of Zainichi Koreans in Japanese society and their lingering sense of loss and displacement.

Sensitively and skillfully translated from the Japanese by Christopher D. Scott, with a detailed introduction to Kim’s life and literary career, “The Trial of Pak Tal and Other Stories” is a revolutionary work of Zainichi Korean literature and a landmark of Korean diasporic literature. Bridging the histories of Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and the United States-much like Min Jin Lee’s 2017 bestselling novel Pachinko-this collection brings long overdue recognition to a community that, as Lee writes at the opening of her novel, “history has failed.” As this translation shows, however, history has not failed Kim; it has redeemed him. Like Pak Tal in “The Trial of Pak Tal,” Kim has come back, albeit in English this time. And he has some unforgettable stories to tell.