The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy

  • 3

    Kim Da-mi, Jeon So-nee team up for coming-of-age film 'Soulmate'

  • 5

    Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone

  • 7

    Teens feel peer pressure to buy luxury goods endorsed by K-pop stars

  • 9

    INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene

  • 11

    Itaewon tragedy's bereaved families harassed by far-right protesters

  • 13

    Girl group NewJeans sweeps top 3 spots on Melon's monthly chart for Jan.

  • 15

    INTERVIEW'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'

  • 17

    Korea to root out 'jeonse scam,' support victims

  • 19

    Seoul, US hold combined air drills, involving B-1B bomber, F-22, F-35 stealth fighters

  • 2

    Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers

  • 4

    ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views

  • 6

    Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea

  • 8

    Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people

  • 10

    Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth'

  • 12

    Korean iPhone users lose 'batterygate' lawsuit

  • 14

    Woman in mysterious child death case given suspended prison term by appeals court

  • 16

    Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons

  • 18

    INTERVIEWUS-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society

  • 20

    INTERVIEWIMF expects no recession for Korean economy

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Sun, February 5, 2023 | 00:03
Short story anthology explores magical realism in Seoul's alleys
Posted : 2020-05-06 14:58
Updated : 2020-05-07 14:41
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
                                                                                                 The cover of 'Guisin-dong and Other Seoul Villages' by Stephane Mot
The cover of "Guisin-dong and Other Seoul Villages" by Stephane Mot

By Jon Dunbar


If you find yourself in Guisin-dong, a nomadic, shape-shifting neighborhood of Seoul, you may never escape. That's one of the revelations in "
Guisin-dong and other Seoul Villages," a recently released ebook by Stephane Mot, a Seoulite originally from France.

"We all live in Guisin-dong," Mot told The Korea Times. "If Guisin-dong doesn't exist, it's somehow a microcosm of life, and of Seoul's diverse villages, a social satire and a tribute to this shapeshifter of a city. Too many people roam Seoul without feeling anything for her."

He presents 12 short stories, or "dragedies," which is his word for his short stories based on a portmanteau of the French candies dragees which come in small bundles, and tragedy.

"Dragees are candies you offer in small bundles to celebrate, and somehow exorcise festive events ― generally a wedding or a birth... they can be treacherous for the teeth," he said. "My dragedies are short fictions basically exorcising death, so each small bite can be sweet or sour, sad or funny."

Alongside "Guisin-dong," which translates to "Ghost Neighborhood," his dragedies are full of surrealism and magical realism. In "de Vermis Seoul" he follows an alcoholic who studies the invisible worms that infest Seoul, subsisting on concrete dust and rats. In "Black Snow," a woman finds a man lying comfortably in the snow in sub-zero weather and brings this mysterious person into her home. In "Seoul Metamorphosis," a man wakes up to find himself transformed into a cockroach, but unlike Kafka's original short story, this Samsa finds the lighter side of his new form as he scurries out to make the world a better place. The last few stories involve Kim Mudangnim, a shaman who goes renegade, prowling the alleys like a comic book superhero after the police declare her a public threat.

The magical realism in his stories carries a clear inspiration from Korean shamanism, an indigenous belief system that sees spirits everywhere and is practiced mainly in hidden corners of the city.

"Like it or not, shamanism is as much as Confucianism part of Korea's DNA, a more repressed dimension of its rich culture. I let it naturally permeate through my fiction now and then. Sometimes as a narrative testing device, since shamans have good antennae. I met a few, and I know people who'd be terrific shamans. Not because they believe, but because they know how humans tick."

He's been writing short stories about Seoul for years, and some of the ones in this collection were released in French originally years ago.

The collection is a series of love letters to Seoul and its many alleyways.

"I enjoy walking across cities without a purpose, letting my mind wander as well. We're all drifters, and I see cities as more or less beautiful scars we humans leave on Earth. I have a special dialogue with Seoul, where as you well know whole neighborhoods can disappear," Mot told The Korea Times.

"I've walked through each and every Seoul neighborhood, and all my memories are now fictions."


Mot has been running his blog
Seoul Village since 2007, focusing on the city's texture and developments, often taking a satirical tone. It's evident his fiction takes inspiration from his wanderings, and characters even visit real locations of change, such as Cheonggye Stream while it was being "daylighted" in the early 2000s, and a moon village (post-war refugee village built on a hillside) in the later stages of demolition. Through his stories he speaks with disdain of redevelopment, new construction and the flattening of Seoul and straightening of its pathways.

"If you walked only along wide avenues, what would be the fun?" he asked. "You're reading the script ahead; you know what and whom you'll see in the near future. Alleyway thinking slows down your pace, keeps you alert, adds twists and turns. And lovely dead ends."


Visit
seoulvillage.blogspot.com or dragedies.blogspot.com to download the ebook for free.
Emailjdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1Teens feel peer pressure to buy luxury goods endorsed by K-pop stars Teens feel peer pressure to buy luxury goods endorsed by K-pop stars
2Itaewon tragedy's bereaved families harassed by far-right protesters Itaewon tragedy's bereaved families harassed by far-right protesters
3Too many emergency text alerts? Gov't to halt daily COVID-19 notifications Too many emergency text alerts? Gov't to halt daily COVID-19 notifications
4Plan to construct new memorial center for ex-president faces backlash Plan to construct new memorial center for ex-president faces backlash
5First lady expands presence in domestic politics First lady expands presence in domestic politics
6Discussions on raising age for free subway rides gain momentum Discussions on raising age for free subway rides gain momentum
7Able C&C sale attracts dozens of potential buyers Able C&C sale attracts dozens of potential buyers
8FSC OKs Apple Pay to be available in Korea FSC OKs Apple Pay to be available in Korea
9Naver to roll out conversational AI service Naver to roll out conversational AI service
10SEMICON Korea defies chip industry downturn SEMICON Korea defies chip industry downturn
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Kim Da-mi, Jeon So-nee team up for coming-of-age film 'Soulmate' Kim Da-mi, Jeon So-nee team up for coming-of-age film 'Soulmate'
2Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth' Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth'
3'Ant-Man 3' promises bigger, better action with same family dynamic: cast 'Ant-Man 3' promises bigger, better action with same family dynamic: cast
4[INTERVIEW] Disney+ 'Big Bet' director on portraying greed and desire INTERVIEWDisney+ 'Big Bet' director on portraying greed and desire
5TXT, Le Sserafim top Oricon album and singles chart TXT, Le Sserafim top Oricon album and singles chart
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group