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Printed/Published Work Korean(한국어)

난장이가 쏘아올린 작은 공

About the Original Works

난장이가 쏘아올린 작은 공
Original Title
난장이가 쏘아올린 작은 공
Title Romanization
Nanjangiga ssoaollin jageun gong
English Title(Printed)
Dwarf launches a little ball
Classification

KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 20th century > Short Story

Author
Cho Se-hee
Co-Author
-
Published Year
1978
Publisher
文學과 知性社
ISBN
-
Main Characters
Dwarf, dwarf’s wife, narrator (Yeong-ho), older brother, Yeong-hui
Subject/Theme
Korean society in the 1970s, urban laborers, alienated laborers, life of the impoverished

About the Author

Writer default image
  • Cho Se-hee
  • Birth : 1942 ~ -
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : Sehee
  • Family Name : Cho
  • Korean Name : 조세희
  • ISNI : 000000007978395X
  • Works : 26
Plot

The city’s demolition order, which is implemented ahead of the construction of  apartment buildings, turns the last few days in Haengbok-dong, Nagwon-gu, into hell. The narrator’s father, a dwarf, works as a laborer; his mother works in a printing shop; and the narrator and his siblings also work to death. But one day, after his younger sister Yeong-hui leaves home, the narrator fears that he may not be able to leave this neighborhood and that his family may be scattered.

Descriptions(Languages 2)
  • English(English)
  • Korean(한국어)

This is a short story by Cho Se-hee, published in the winter issue of Munhakgwa sahoe (Literature and Society) in 1976. Afterward, Cho published 12 more related short stories by 1978. At the time of its publication, the book had a huge social impact that it was even called a kind of sociological report on the alienation of the working class.

1976년 <문학과 지성>겨울호에 발표한 조세희의 단편이다. 이후 1978년까지 12편의 연작을 발표, 완결했다. 작품 발표 당시, 노동자 계급의 소외를 다룬 일종의 사회학 보고서라 불리울 정도로 사회적 파장이 컸다.

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