"On my arrival in the United States, it was the religious atmosphere which first struck me," Alexis de Tocqueville writes in "Democracy in America."
Reading Tocqueville in Korea (Part Two)
The Korea Blog
Dispatches on the literature, cinema, current events, and daily life of Korea from the LARB’s man in Seoul Colin Marshall and others.
You can follow Colin Marshall at blog.colinmarshall.org, on Twitter @colinmarshall, or on Facebook @ColinMarshallEssayist.
Reading Tocqueville in Korea (Part One)
"Culture is not necessarily our destiny," wrote the high-profile Korean activist and later president of South Korea Kim Dae-jung in 1994. "Democracy is."
The Making of a Korean Monster: Kim Sagwa’s Bloody High-School Novel Mina
Colin Marshall on Kim Sagwa's novel "Mina (미나)," newly out in English translation by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton.
High School Student, New Bride, Working Girl: The Social Uniforms Project Gazes Straight at Modern Korean Femininity
Colin Marshall considers gender performance and androgyny, and the Korean Instagram account The Social Uniforms Project.
Revisiting 301, 302, Park Chul-soo’s Stylish Film About Food, Sex, and Other Horrors
Colin Marshall considers the grotesque sensory of experience of Park Chul-soo's film "301, 302."
Stuffed Animals, Dust Masks, Pet Food, and Sex Toys, All Side-By-Side in Korea’s “New Shopping Paradigm”
Colin Marshall on Pierrot Shopping, Korea's "new shopping paradigm."
An Existentialist Seoul Bookstore Owner’s Message to His Countrymen: Goof Off for Once
No matter how much of an effort I make to explore Seoul, every so often something reminds me how much …
Philosophy, Dystopia, Fountain Pens, and Other Preoccupations of a Twentysomething Korean Book Vlogging Star
Colin Marshall on the YouTube book vlogging channel Winter Bookstore.
A Python Goes to Pyongyang (and Well Beyond): Michael Palin in North Korea
Colin Marshall reflects on "Michael Palin in North Korea."
The Colors of Pyongyang, Seoul’s Shadow Self
Much of South Korea had some or all of last week off work, owing to the chuseok fall harvest festival. …
