When it’s time to go home, they each need an umbrella.

From ‘Didi’s umbrella’ (??? ??) from the 2012 collection Pa ssi’s Beginnings.

There is nothing that needs to be said,
There is nothing that has to be taught.
So full of sorrow and thus beautiful,
The dark and intimate animal soul.

1909 poem by Osip Mandelstam translated by Alex Cigale

dd's Umbrella (2024) is e. yaewon's (???) translation of ??? ?? (2019) by ??? (Hwang Jungeun), and published by Tilted Axis, the fourth of the author's works I've read in translation.

The work consists of twin novellas, 'd' and 'There is Nothing That Needs to be Said' ('???? ?? ??? ??'), both set in the years around and after 16 February 2014, a date seared into Korean national memory as the ??? ?? ?? (Sewol ferry disaster). Each concerns queer working-class lives against a background of political protest and a growing economy that leaves many behind.

The first, 'd', is narrated from the perspective of d, non-binary and of working-class background, now in their 30s. Their partner, dd, has recently been killed in a bus accident.

In dd, d had found their sacred object. dd was the words that must continue, the body that must remain intact. It was through encountering dd that d learned how sacred their own labour could be. How a person who has love could be beautiful, how one could, simply by finding an object of beauty, experience sadness and joy. The noise that filled the world and occasionally troubled d no longer irked. I want to be happy, d decided. I want to be happier. The life d and dd shared was shoddy, exhausting, and lacking in many ways, but they had their private jokes, their shared laughter and sorrow, their clasped hands. Thumbs tracing knuckles, fingertips caressing napes and knotted shoulders; holding each other's perfectly small and ordinary ears, kissing each other's necks, helping with coat sleeves when the days turned chilly. I'll be happy, d thought. I'll be happy alongside dd's happiness.

The two first met as children at school. Each remembers a particular incident where lightning struck the floor of their classroom in front of their eyes: in dd's memory they and d were their together and walked home, sharing an umbrella, but d has no real memory of dd's presence. And sharing an umbrella was how they re-met many years later and became partners so its symbolism was important to their relationship, and d feels guilt that they can not reproduce the memory that dd wanted to share with them:

d remembers the day, remembers seeing the bolt of lightning strike in front of their eyes. It was an extraordinary thing to witness, unprecedented and as yet unmatched. d remembers the exact shape of the mark, how it resembled a small mouth with an upturned corner. They had assumed the pressure of their fingers would gradually rub it out, but it hadn't. d had looked and looked, completely entranced. Had there been someone else in the room? Possibly. But this is the extent of what d remembers. Apparently the two of them had chatted as they headed home under the same umbrella, but d has no memory of this either. They are gripped with remorse, feeling somehow at fault for misplacing the memory. d has recurring dreams about the day even now.

Another childhood memory for d is the defection of the North Korean figther pilot Lee Woong-pyung, in his fighter jet, to the south in February 1983, one which caused a brief scare that the plane enroaching into the South's airspace was the start of an attack. And key events in modern Korean history are woven through the text of both novels.

I understand this novella draws on two short stories, not included in this text - one also called '??? ??' from 2010, and included in a 2012 collection, which introduced d and dd and the shared umbrella, and '?? ??' ('The Man Who Laughs') from 2014, which told of dd's death. But the novella presented here is self-contained.

Post dd's death, d is isolated - even objects feel hot to the touch as they are so cold inside. But, they find a job in the Sewoon electronics market (????). The market, or one it, was also central to ?? ??? (One Hundred Shadows in Jung Yewon's translation)



dd' s Umbrella is a more realist take that the more dream One Hundred Shadows, but equally powerful in its portrayal of the poorer-side of the booming Korean economy, and indeed the twin threats of decay and modernisation to the once-booming market. But here the focus in particularly on the strong sense of community for those who remain, and which starts to allow d to belong.

d is also caught up, more by accident, in the mass demonstrations (and the aggressive police kettling thereof) for the first anniversary of the Sewol disaster, which was also attended by the narrator of the 2nd section, Kim Soyoung.

The 2nd section takes it's title from (in English Alex Cigale's translation) of an Osip Mandelstam poem. Kim Soyoung is a writer and this novella is narrated in the first person. As a result Kim Soyoung's preferred pronouns are not explicit, but I will use 'she' as Kim Soyoung refers to her partner, Seo Sookyoung, who she has lived with for 20 years, that way and gives no indication otherwise. Kim Soyoung and Seo Sookyoung also live closely with Soyoung's sister Kim Sora and her 5 year old son Jung Jinwon, the three adults resisting the binary confines of gender roles to which Jinwon's teachers subject them.

A connection to the first part is that Soyoung's father owned one of the stores in the electronics market, but here there is a greater focus on both political activism, but also on literature.

Kim Soyoung has eleven manuscripts that have yet to become short stories and one manuscript that have yet to become a novel, all unfinished, largely due to her inability to find a story that doesn't end in tragedy.

Osip Mandelstam was sent to a labour camp in May 1938, during Stalin's Great Purge, after which he vanished without a trace. There are no records to tell us when or how he died. The poetry he wrote had been banned, seized, set aflame, but escaped sinking into complete oblivion thanks to the tireless efforts of his wife, Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam, who continued to recite and transcribe his poetry from memory Nadezhda Mandelstam did need words. As do I.

I would to finish one story in which no one dies. What if, were I to eventually get around to doing so, I titled it 'There Is Nothing that Needs to Be Said'? As the story itself will eventually have to die. As it falls out of use and becomes a story that needs no further telling. Is this possible?

Many works of world literature are referred in her story - and I was delighted to see all referenced by their Korean translator as well as the original author, as well as in the English translator's afterword, with the English translation used. This includes a case in the novel where Kim Soyoung questions a Korean translation choice (how to render Hannah Arendt's "banality"), and one in the notes where e. yaewon finds the English and Korean translators have chosen a completely different word for Antoine St Expury's original text ("miserly" vs "fiery" in English). Alongside Arendt and St Expury other key texts, in their respective English and Korean translations, include Olav H. Hauge's poetry, various works by Barthes, Nietzche, Primo Levi, Zweig and Jin-Sung Chun. This a passage on how our narrator purges their ever-growing library within their cramped accommodation:

To decide what to keep and what to throw out, I'll ask myself one question: would I reread it? A simple question but answering it can be a complicated process. Sarah Waters's Fingersmith in Choi Yongjoon's translation and Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace in Lee Eunseon's translation were both wonderful reads for me, but whereas I was content with a single reading of the first book, two readings still weren't enough for the second. Why is this? Why or rather how is it that a book that makes it through this nebulous, unpredictable ritual one year can be cast aside without regret the following year? Kawabata Yasunari held on for several consecutive years until last year when every one of his books were packed up; John Williams and Kim Seung-wook's Stoner barely made the cut last year and wasn't as lucky this time round. What will happen to Sakaguchi Ango next year? Every year there's the added nuisance of books printed on paper so thin the text on the verso and even the next leaf show through, rendering these books illegible regardless of whether I want to read them or not, and of books weighed down with introductions and forewords and blurbs I've no interest in reading. With the latter I have no choice but to tear off the back covers, though this makes them even more unsightly and exasperates me no end, and eventually I'll have to give them up, unless of course I want to hold on to them for a reread, in which case... But enough of that.

But much of the novel concerns the political activism which is key to Kim Soyoung and Seo Sookyoung's life - and the way in which the swell of protest that eventually leads, in the novel's closing pages, to the day the revolution is said to have arrived, 10 March 2017 and the impeachment of the President ??? (Park Geun-Hye), is also exclusionary with the misogynistic language used by many protestors. That the 2022 Presidential elections would see the winning candidate run on an explicitly anti-feminist ticket is an outcome that would not, I'm sure, have been a shock to the narrator of the novel.

A very impressive book - and a late contender for the International Booker.2024 korean-literature17 s Caitlin Holloway205 1 follower

I really admired the way that this book approached the topics of grief and ambition on both a personal and national scale. As this was the first fictional book that I have read that directly addressed the Sewol Ferry Disaster and the societal unease that followed, this book was SO interesting to read. I also loved the way that queerness as a topic in this was normalised and generally not an entirely defining feature of the plot. 3 s Haeri39

<??? ??>? ? ?? ?? ?? d? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??. ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ?????. ?? ???? ?? "?? ???"?? ???? ??? ? ??? ?? ???. 1 Chris294 5

First and foremost, this is a very politically charged book that highlights and emphasizes various real atrocities where in which police brutality, demonstrations, genocide, and moments of political unrest are remembered, not just in Korea but also in Europe. I wouldn't recommend this book highly unless a political deep dive is what you are looking for, and knowing the city of Seoul would also be beneficial to reading this, as there are many long descriptions of streets and squares and rivers in the city.

dd's Umbrella is comprised of two novellas, where gentrification plays a bigger role in the first one, but also highlights grief, loss, purpose, and mourning. The second novella, the clear standout in this book, takes a more non-fiction approach to its prose, but weaves in some dazzling reflections on misogyny, homophobia, workplace harassment, and disability.

The main reason the first novella worked less for me is because I thought it had too far many meandering descriptions of buildings and passageways and shops, alongside their contents. If I hadn't read One Hundred Shadows by the same author, I probably wouldn't have cared as much, but the themes between both books, at least regarding gentrification and the damning effects on small businesses in the ever-expanding Seoul, were handled better in her debut novel.

The second novella just included much more of a personal touch that resonated with me, even while it expounds on real political attacks with references to news articles and books. It's intellectual and artsy fartsy at times, but it was a wonderful experience. Hwang Jungeun is a great writer, and you can tell a lot of her personal experiences went into this book. Not for everyone, but a good book.asian queer Taina603 16

Korealainen yhteiskunta on yhä varsin perinteinen ainakin Suomeen verrattuna ja esimerkiksi seksuaali- ja sukupuolivähemmistöjen oikeudet ovat heikot. Myös vanhempien ihmisten köyhyys on suurinta OECD-maista juuri Koreassa yhteiskunnan tuen vähäisyyden takia. Hwang Jungeun on käsitellyt romaaneissaan yhteiskunnan muutosten vaikutusta huonompiosaisiin sekä vähemmistöihin ja tässä kaksi laajaa novellia sisältävässä teoksessa ollaan samojen teemojen äärellä. Novelleja sitoo toisiinsa vuonna 2014 tapahtunut Sewol-lautan tragedia, jossa kuoli yli 300 ihmistä, pääosin kouluikäisiä lapsia.

d on muunsukupuolinen, työväenluokkainen aikuinen, joka on parisuhteessa dd:n kanssa. Kun dd yllättäen kuolee liikenneonnettomuudessa, d putoaa tyhjän päälle. Kuka kuuntelee ja kannattelee ulkopuolista yksinäistä? Teemoina myös entisaikojen yhteisöjen rapautuminen, köyhyys, musiikki.

Toisessa novellissa päähenkilö kirjoittaa kirjaa, joka ei välttämättä tule koskaan valmiiksi. Kuvatuksi tulee häneen ja hänen naisystäväänsä kohdistuvia ennakkoluuloja, siskonlapsensa vimmaista sukupuoliroolittamista päiväkodissa, sukupolvien välistä kuilua, köyhässä perheessä kasvamista ja mielenosoittamista tärkeiden asioiden puolesta.

Arvostan kirjallisuutta, jossa nostetaan esille niitä tahoja, jotka eivät nykymedian menestyspainotuksissa pääse esille. Oli sitten kyseessä romaani, novelli tai tietokirja, kaikki laajentavat käsitystä siitä monimutkaisesta maailmasta, jossa elämme. Siksi voin suositella kaikkia Hwang Jungeunin kirjoja, sillä näin korealaisen "soft powerin" aikana tällaiset tarinat usein jäävät kertomatta.feminismi korea novellit ...more Elena Varg507 5

(3,5 stars)

There’s two novellas inside this collection: I’d give ’dd’s Umbrella’ 3 stars and ’There Is Nothing that Needs to Be Said’ 4 stars…so the whole collection is the average of that.

I was more interested in ’dd’s Umbrella’, but unexpectadly I actually d it less than the other novella. The story felt very disjointed and even though d was supposedly the protagonist, the story concentrated a lot on people around them. I don’t even mean dd (from the story’s title), but other people connecting with d, who is struggling with loneliness and grief. The story ends very abrubtly and I didn’t feel it had a complete arch.

’There Is Nothing that Needs to Be Said’ was a real suprise, though! I didn’t have sny expectations for it, which is probably why it failed to disappoint me. The story felt extremely real and it made me wonder, if it is actually autofiction. I reminded me so much of ’Fair Play’ by Tove Jansson: it was full of snapshots of a sapphic couple (where the POV character is an author) living their life together, figthing against the norms of society in the smallest ways possible.

The second novella is also about resistance and protesting, even when everything is or feels futile. There is a mention of Palestine and the atrocities of the state of Israel, but it’s mostly about the student activism and the Sewol ferry disaster protest. The story ends in the most stomach dropping way, even though I know Korean history enough to know what happens after.asian-authors owned Alisha Mondal6

DD's Umbrella tells a story about an individual korean's life that has already been affected and continues to be affected by collective grief. It presents twin novellas from the perspective of two distinct narrators. The novellas communicate how today could be easily forgotten or come to be immensely meaningful, but will be lived either way. Plainqoma673 14

everything mcm random ehy tiber but i love the issues mostly. relatable to local more regarding their country. tapi love betul writing ehy cerita pasal common sense berpage-page pun sedap je aku baca. cuma part their/they i is confused skit lps tu okay dah.
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