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Labor Day Reads: Will Tomorrow's Sun Shine Upon Us Too? scrap download

근로자의 날을 기념하며: 우리에게도 내일의 태양이 뜰까요?

#Workers'_Day #May_Day

The term “work-life balance,” which signifies the balance between work and life, is every worker’s dream. Who wouldn’t want a lifestyle where one can pursue work suited to their talents and skills, gain fulfillment and social recognition, lead a comfortable life fueled by the earned income, and have plenty of personal time for hobbies and personal growth? The reality, however, is often far from such ideals. Many workers find themselves stumbling through each day as the balance between work and life crumbles. Especially since the global rise of neoliberalism, which emphasizes labor flexibility, workers have grappled with constant employment insecurity, fierce competition, and the need to prioritize survival above all else.


Yet, labor inherently holds undeniable value and meaning that cannot be denied or suppressed. In spite of being pushed to work for income, even amidst its arduous and burdensome nature which strains both body and mind, workers discover vitality and hope for a better tomorrow within their work. And Korean poets and novelists have actively engaged in capturing and depicting both the light and shadow of such labor.



Reinvestigation by Chang Kangmyoung


Chang Kangmyoung, a member of the literary group known as “salary realism,” co-authored an anthology titled Thank You for Your Efforts (2023) with fellow authors, focusing on the theme of today’s labor. In Chang’s short story collection, The Living, he vividly portrays the multifaceted economic and social realities drawing from his journalist background. Meanwhile, in his full-length novel Reinvestigation, Chang brings to the forefront detectives pursuing the perpetrator of an unsolved murder case from 22 years ago. Given the author’s background as a journalist, the meticulously researched novel realistically depicts the working methods of homicide detectives. Similar to any other working individual, even in the face of demanding work and performance pressure, the characters in the story support each other as they strive toward their goals. Turning the pages, readers are immersed in the world of detectives, a realm otherwise foreign to most.


Duck Dive by Lee Hyeonseok


Lee Hyeonseok is a writer and practicing physician whose first short story collection, Even in Another World (2021) features works that reflect his medical background. Lee’s first full-length novel, Duck Dive, is set in a Korean surfing camp in Bali, with the main characters being women who formerly worked as nurses in Korea. One character is a victim of the harassment culture prevalent among nurses in Korea, known as taeum, which literally translates to “burn” and has recently emerged as a social issue. The other character is someone who, to some extent, condoned or even participated in such harassment. While the surface narrative revolves around surfing lessons, the novel critically examines and reflects on the abusive practices embodied by the taeum culture, and illustrates journey of the main characters as they navigate through these challenges and move forward together.


Kang Jeongmin The Juice Delivery Woman by Kim Hyeonjin


This novel was inspired by the author’s own experience of working as a juice delivery person for nearly two years. The protagonist, Kang Jeongmin, is not directly employed by the juice company she works for: she is a contracted salesperson receiving commission. As a female worker, she faces various forms of mistreatment such as bullying, sexual harassment, and humiliation from clients, on top of the unstable income due to her precarious status. While alcohol serves as her sole escape from troubles and frustrations, she clings to her dream of becoming a webtoon artist and finds strength in supportive friends, persevering through each day without succumbing to despair. Young readers of this era, leading lives not so different from Kang Jeongmin’s, will find themselves rooting for the character as they read, and in doing so, may also find strength and encouragement for their own lives.


Lee Nanyeong The Future Lawyer by Kwon Yusu


In 2077, as people increasingly favor android lawyers over their human counterparts, protagonist Lee Nanyeong boldly confronts AI lawyers. This novel delves into the tumultuous trials faced by the main character, whose rural twang and shabby office do little to bolster her credibility. While she battles an android lawyer in court on behalf of a client advocating against selective memory erasure surgery, as a mother, she grapples with intense conflict over her daughter Morae’s dream to upload her consciousness to the cloud to escape physical pain. Lee Nanyeong, self-proclaimed as a technophobe—and acknowledged as such by others—endeavors to explore the possibilities of infusing human “hearts” into androids, both in her professional and personal life.


Work Log by Lee Yonghun


This poetry collection serves as a field report on the instability of employment and labor in this era. Various labor scenes, reflecting the poet’s own experiences, such as demolition work for redevelopment, apartment construction, terminal cargo handling, sewage cleaning, care for patients in closed wards, and motel cleaning, appear somewhat distant from a sense of dignity or fulfillment. Instead, these sites are fraught with the risk of injury and death caused by accidents. These are the sites shunned by Koreans, and nowadays largely occupied by migrant workers—a reality faithfully portrayed in Work Log. Unlike the vociferous labor poems of the 1980s, this collection resonates deeply simply by presenting the unembellished truth of reality.


Written by Choi Jaebong


Choi worked as a literary journalist at the Hankyoreh newspaper from 1992 to 2022. He has written books such as Inquiry: How Writers Work, Stories Live Long, Writers of the Mirror World, and translated works such as Elegy for Earth, Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews, and Journey to the beginning (Egar Snow’s memoir). After retiring in 2022, he has been working as a freelance senior journalist, writing articles on literature and publishing.


Translated by Kim Soyoung


Soyoung is a translator specializing in literature and film. After a decade of corporate life in public relations, she now immerses in translating works that resonate with her.Her recent translations include stage plays Sunlight Shower and This is Home by Jang Woojae, and she is currently translating a novel for young adults.Soyoung majored in English interpretation and translation at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and studied business administration at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University. She completed a two-year government-funded literary translation course at the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).Soyoung won Grand Prize in the film category of the Media Translation Contest organized by LTI Korea in 2021.

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