Here’s a piece on Indian SF, via, er, I’ve lost the source among my millions of windows. (Sorry!) Apparently, it’s a much bigger market in various regional languages, but some SF authors also see developing an English-language readership as a key to a bigger audience. And here’s a recent piece on SF in China. Interestingly, SF entered China in 1902 in the same form it did South Korea (or, well, the Korean language, at least) in 1907 — that is, in the form of a translation of a novel by Verne. (In China, the respected literati Lu Xun translated Verne’s …
Tag: KOREA
I’m Sorry, and Who Are You Again?
Apologies for any typos you see: I’m still adjusting to the itty bitty keyboard on my Asus Eee and, well, you know… Someone I know recently told me how she has learned to take pleasure in refusing requests that make no sense. There will always be some people who will ask you to do something — often some work for them often unpaid. It’s all in how they ask, though. Sometimes I’m willing to do a favour for a friend, sometimes I’m glad to pitch in on a project for a good cause. When someone who is neither a friend …
When Governments Are Quarrelling…
When governments are quarreling, The little folk get caught between: They say, “But wait! There is a way!” But none by bureaucrats is seen. “Fill this form out in triplicate, But no, not with that sort of pen. And this one was due yesterday, So now, you must submit again.” Submit, submit, papers and soul, Upon the desk the papers pile, And standing in the queue, souls wait, Submitting to the foul and vile. Like lice, they invade everywhere, And cling, and suck the living blood From institutions. We need them? Why? What official added to the common good? No, …
How to Mess Up Your Kid, or, Is There a Korean Kids Help Phone?
“How was your dinner?” the shop lady asked me. I sputtered, in Korean, “The food was good, but this crazy… crazy… this crazy b-i-t-c-h messed up my whole evening. You know, if this were Canada, I’d call the cops. And the cops would come, and it wouldn’t be easy for her. She would have a problem.” Because, obviously, the woman did have a problem. I hate the B-word. I use it very rarely. (And even less so in Korean, though I don’t know a good insulting but less-extreme word I could have used instead.) To understand why I went ahead …
“Soybean Paste Girls” as a Barometer of, or Catalyst of, Consumerization of Korean Society?
I have a cold, so I’m keeping this relatively brief; hopefully it will also be relatively coherent. I was thinking in EMart the other day. (E-Mart, for those who aren’t in Korea, is the big grocery chain here.) Lime and I had just been in a restaurant, and the food had some to the table, well, er, unacceptably cold. I complained, and the server’s first reaction was to tell me, “No, it’s supposed to be a little cold.” To which I responded, “Uh, no, it’s not.” With an implied, Yes, it’s Western food, and yes, I do know what the …