Sunset: A Ch’ae Manshik Reader is the first English-language anthology of works in a variety of genres—novella, short fiction, conte, anecdotal essay, travel writing, children’s essay, one-act play, three-act play, and roundtable discussion—by an individual Korean writer. Ch’ae Manshik is one of the most accomplished writers of modern Korea yet is underrepresented in English translation because of the challenges posed by his distinctive voice and colloquial style.
This anthology moves beyond the usual “representative-works” reception of Korean authors, both in Korea and abroad. It draws on Manshik’s ten-volume Complete Works to offer a more well-rounded selection of writing by one of modern Korea’s most innovative and memorable voices. This edition also provides a comprehensive introduction outlining the limitations of existing approaches to Manshik. It contextualizes the anthology’s contents both in terms of the author’s career and the rich Korean tradition of intertextuality and intermediality that he reflects from the country’s earliest times to the new millennium.
