koreanlit1-8, Exercise 2: The Dwarf

Model answer:

Setting: 1970s Seoul, around the forced redevelopment of a district and its human costs.
Plot (from the article's summary): a dwarf and his family are evicted when their district is redeveloped. The dwarf dies by suicide in a factory smokestack. One son becomes a murderer. The daughter turns to semi-prostitution to try to win back the family's home, and her attempt fails.
Structure: a yeonjak soseol (linked novel): loosely connected stories first published in Korean magazines between 1975 and 1978, which can stand alone and move characters in and out in non-chronological order. Style: realism blended with a fantastic structure, a flat, direct tone.
Translators and adaptation: Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (University of Hawaii Press, 2006); bestseller in Korea; adapted as the 1980 film A Small Ball Shot by a Midget.

Hedged or tagged: a critic's claim that the novel is paternalistic towards labourers is tagged "citation needed"; the title-spelling point rests on an unclear source; the summary itself may not capture the novel's nuance.

Source: Wikipedia, The Dwarf.