Toward the Translation Zone of Solidarity and Hospitality Beyond Hate ：On the Reception of “K-Literature” in Japan

Abstract

The 2010s in Japan saw a boom in “hate books” inciting hatred toward Korea and China, along with the spread of hate speech against diverse minority groups and socially vulnerable people. Discrimination and oppression against women and minorities had emerged globally as a serious social issue during this period, as symbolized by the #MeToo movement and the BLM movement. This paper examines the meaning and potential of translation literature against this backdrop of an age of hatred. Since the Japanese translation of Cho Nam-ju’s novel Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 became a bestseller in 2019, there has been a surge in the translation of Korean literature in Japan, known as the “K-literature” boom. Feminism is an important keyword in the active reception of Korean literature, and translation has mediated women’s solidarity against misogyny. Recently, Japanese readers have gained a great familiarity through magazines and translations with contemporary Korean feminist science fiction, a prominent feature of which is its subversive imagination that seeks symbiotic relationships between women, minorities, and non-human beings. It remains to be seen whether translation literature can build solidarity and hospitality among diverse Others transcending hate. © 2023, Global Institute for Japanese Studies, Korea University. All rights reserved.