TY - CHAP

T1 - Kim Sisǔp – the Ghost Story Teller

T2 - From Obscurity to the Screen

AU - Wall, Barbara

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Kŭmo sinhwa (New Tales of the Golden Turtle) is generally considered to be the earliest classical fiction in Korea. Nevertheless, popular adaptations of Kŭmo sinhwa cannot easily be found today. Scholars in adaptation or translation studies like Julie Sanders or Linda Hutcheon have argued that adaptations can play an important role in activating the canonical status of a classic. The near absence of adaptations of Kŭmo sinhwa might raise the suspicion that Kŭmo sinhwa might only be considered classic because of its alleged historical significance and not owing to its popularity. I argue that one of the reasons for the relatively few adaptations of Kŭmo sinhwa lies in the genre of the ghost story. With the help of Tim Tangherlini’s actant-relationship model, I will compare the romantic ghost stories in Kŭmo sinhwa to other romantic ghost stories, including Chinese, Japanese, American and Korean short stories, films, and TV series, and investigate to what degree the narrative framework of these stories converge. At the same time, locating divergences among these stories might suggest how bold or creative adaptations of the ghost stories in Kŭmo sinhwa could be possible.

AB - Kŭmo sinhwa (New Tales of the Golden Turtle) is generally considered to be the earliest classical fiction in Korea. Nevertheless, popular adaptations of Kŭmo sinhwa cannot easily be found today. Scholars in adaptation or translation studies like Julie Sanders or Linda Hutcheon have argued that adaptations can play an important role in activating the canonical status of a classic. The near absence of adaptations of Kŭmo sinhwa might raise the suspicion that Kŭmo sinhwa might only be considered classic because of its alleged historical significance and not owing to its popularity. I argue that one of the reasons for the relatively few adaptations of Kŭmo sinhwa lies in the genre of the ghost story. With the help of Tim Tangherlini’s actant-relationship model, I will compare the romantic ghost stories in Kŭmo sinhwa to other romantic ghost stories, including Chinese, Japanese, American and Korean short stories, films, and TV series, and investigate to what degree the narrative framework of these stories converge. At the same time, locating divergences among these stories might suggest how bold or creative adaptations of the ghost stories in Kŭmo sinhwa could be possible.

U2 - 10.1163/9789004519084_006

DO - 10.1163/9789004519084_006

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9789004519077

T3 - Brill's Korean Studies Library

SP - 88

EP - 118

BT - The Lives and Legacy of Kim Sisŭp (1435–1493)

A2 - Glomb, Vladimir

A2 - Löwensteinová , Miriam

PB - Brill

ER -