Science Fiction in Korea: Between History, Genre, and Politics Main Menu Colonial Modernity and Science Fiction Sunyoung Park A Brief History of South Korean SF Magazines Sang Joon Park Surrealistic Science Fiction in South Korean Film and Fiction Jaewuk Kim Science Fiction and Feminism in South Korea Seoyeon Lee Queer Science Fiction in South Korea Tee Jaehyung Park Original and Adapted Movies References Contributors

Introduction

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Science Fiction in Korea: Between History, Genre, and Politics highlights the USC libraries’ unique collection of Korean printed science fiction and fantasy, which includes about five hundred (and growing) items of books, magazines, pamphlets, and other materials. USC’s Korean Heritage Library began to build this collection in 2014, at a time when many of the materials were still being published by minor presses specializing in genre fiction and thus required a deliberate effort to identify and acquire. Through the years, the collection was augmented and developed thanks to the active support of Joy Kim, Curator of the USC Korean Heritage Library. In 2022, the collection added an extra layer of historical depth through the acquisition of a trove of rare books, magazines, fanzines, and other fandom materials, thanks to the generous donation of Sang Joon Park, the founding president of the Korean Science Fiction Association and one of the contributors to the exhibition. The addition of the Sang Joon Park collection, most of which are not available at any North American library nor markets in the world, significantly enhances the value of the USC’s KSFF collection.

In addition to highlighting a unique and fast-growing library collection, this exhibition looks at genre and popular culture in Korea as conduits for debates about history, politics, social justice, and current affairs. Science fiction in particular has been an important medium through which Koreans have advanced their hopes and anxieties for technoindustrial modernity, and along with fantasy, the genre has also allowed a greater freedom of expression to its practitioners through the cloak of its speculative imagination. Planned as a modular and open-ended project, the exhibition showcases the curatorial contributions of researchers, young scholars, and writers, who have a stake in the history as well as the future of science fiction as a newly thriving genre in South Korea. Except where otherwise noted, all texts and images presented in the exhibition’s five sections are part of the USC Libraries’ collections. Written independently of each other, these sections offer a range of entry points into the study of science fiction in South Korea from both historical and thematic points of view.

Throughout the exhibition, Korean names and titles are romanized according to the McCune-Reischauer system except for those that are already well known in alternate spellings. Korean titles are as a rule translated, except for a few Korean magazines that were originally published under English titles. Whenever available, the English translations of stories discussed in our sections are included along with the original Korean titles in the Reference section for readers’ information.

Many thanks are owed to William Deverell, Director of the USC Libraries’ Collection Convergence Initiative, Rebecca Corbett, Co-Acting Head of the East Asian Library, and Daniel O’Brien, Digital Imaging Specialist of the USC Digital Library. Also to be thanked are Korean artists, librarians, and publishers who licensed the use of illustrations and stills included in this exhibition. Curtis Fletcher and his colleagues at the Ahmanson Lab have done wonders in  transforming the print materials into a virtual exhibit. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of Sunyoung Park as the project director and editor, and any inquiries should be addressed to sunyounp@usc.edu.

This page has paths:

  1. Science Fiction in Korea:
    Between History, Genre, and Politics         Curtis Fletcher

Contents of this path:

  1. Colonial Modernity and Science Fiction
  2. A Brief History of South Korean SF Magazines
  3. Surrealistic Science Fiction in South Korean Film and Fiction
  4. Science Fiction and Feminism in South Korea
  5. Queer Science Fiction in South Korea
  6. References
  7. Contributors