VOL.74/2024.09

 

Writer Min Ji Hyoung

Going beyond gender issues: the story of women’s love and life

 

2024.08.05

 

They say that fiction is a mirror of the times. It reflects and captures various aspects of contemporary times. Writer Min Ji Hyoung, who writes about feminism in a broad range of stories, drew attention with her first novel, My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend (Nabi Club), which raised the topical issue of “equal love” in our time. Since then, she has made her presence clear with a distinct identity, releasing My Perfect Boyfriend and His Lover (Wisdom House) and A Blessing to the Forgetful (Safehouse), sharply pointing out the painful realities of our society through entertaining fiction. With her ability to weave minor and sensitive stories into a poignant yet hilarious novel, she is making another genre in Korean fiction.

 

 

It is an honor to have you with us on K-Book Trends. Please say hello to our readers along with a brief introduction of yourself.

 

Hello, everyone. I’m writer Min Ji Hyoung. It’s a pleasure to be meeting international readers through the webzine K-Book Trends.

 

Your book, My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend, has been translated and published in many countries, and is gaining popularity with positive feedback from readers. How do you feel? Could you please introduce us to the book?

 

Since its release in Korea in 2019, my first novel, My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend, has been published in Taiwan, Japan, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Russia for the past 5 years. It’s such a pleasure and an honor to have my book published in many countries, let alone Korea. But at the same time, it was heartbreaking to see that while the novel is about the concerns of a feminist woman in a relationship, the social atmosphere in other countries was so similar that they could relate to it. The novel My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend is a romance novel, told from the first-person male protagonist’s point of view, telling the story of a man reuniting with the woman he loved, with a black comedic twist.

 

We heard that you were inspired to study feminism and write My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend after being shocked by the Gangnam Station murder in 2016, including your own experiences with how it affects our relationships and love. The topic is still a hot issue in our society. What was the message you wanted to convey through the novel?

 

The late 2010s was a period when feminism was a hot topic in Korean society. The publishing industry also featured a lot of books that dealt with feminism, such as Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (Minumsa Publishing), which focused on the struggles of married women, or new trends such as “non-marriage” and “non-relationships.” While I strongly resonated with this trend, I noticed that there was no channel for feminists who were in relationships to talk about their conflicts and struggles. I wanted to convey the message that men who blame feminism for “being so difficult to find a relationship these days” need to change themselves, because women who have awakened to gender inequality cannot go back to the past. However, I felt quite disappointed that the message did not reach men enough, as most of the book’s readers in Korea were women, who felt that it was a story about their ex-boyfriends. The important thing is that the topic is still relevant in Korean society five years after it was written.

 

 

Your works sharply criticize and question the conventional view of love and marriage in Korean society, as well as gender conflicts and dating violence. What is the conventional view of love and marriage that you wanted to say through My Perfect Boyfriend and His Lover, which is described as a “new paradigm of romance”?

 

At a book talk for My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend, I was asked how they, as feminists, should deal with heterosexual relationships in the future. While the novel certainly highlights the problems of real-life relationships, it doesn’t offer any alternatives, which got me really thinking: Is there an alternative to not being in a relationship with a man? As I mulled this over, I came across the term “open relationship” through one of my favorite podcasts, which refers to a kind of polyamory - the idea of having an open, non-possessive, free relationship. What struck me more than being able to have multiple lovers was the idea of not owning each other, but rather DIY-ing their own relationship through conversations and consent, without owning each other, and respecting each other’s freedom. I thought this could be the answer. Because in our society, the romantic relationship that is considered the norm right now is focused on “owning the other person exclusively.” This is often a huge oppression and burden, especially for women, and even leads to crimes such as dating violence and partner homicide. I started to think that if we could apply the concepts of mutual respect and non-possessive love in an open relationship, we might have a hint for building an equal and fairer heterosexual relationship. I wrote My Perfect Boyfriend and His Lover with the hope of presenting such a new vision of a relationship.

 

 

I hope to continue writing books about the things
I want to talk about and the things I need to talk about.

 

 

A Blessing to the Forgetful is based on the theme of “memory.” In the author’s note, you said, “I wonder about your memories that came to mind as you read this story.” How do you hope your novel will be remembered by readers?

 

It’s a tricky question. Actually, there’s only one answer that comes to mind right off the top of my head - I hope it’s remembered as a really fun novel. I’m the type of writer who starts writing because I have something to say to the world, a message I want to deliver, but at the same time, it’s much more important and much more of a priority to me to write something entertaining. It’s challenging, too, but if it’s fun to read, and if it can even give you a new perspective or something to think about, that’s all I can ask for.

 

 

You presented the story The Cinderella Project in the book Modern Tale (Safehouse). The point that it is a modern adaptation of various fairy tales and classic novels from both home and abroad caught people’s attention. You chose Cinderella as the subject, among many others - was there a reason for this? Also, how was this a collaborative work with other authors, and what was it like to work in this format?

 

When I heard the anthology’s concept of “modern interpretations of old tales,” I thought of Cinderella, one of the most famous stories in the world, and one that has always been stuck in my throat. I was also disturbed by how “Cinderella,” as an idiom, has become a stereotype of a passive female character and a clichéd love story. I think the “Cinderella” story has had a lot of negative effects on women’s lives over the long years, so I wanted to twist it and subvert it in a new way, and it was a cathartic experience for me personally. It wasn’t something I had previewed or discussed the works of the other writers in advance, but when I saw the finished anthology, I thought it really highlighted the strengths of an anthology with so many different characters. It was a fun project, and I’m looking forward to working on more short stories like this when I get the chance.

 

 

You work in multiple media as a writer of fiction and drama. What do you think are the attributes, strengths, and weaknesses of each medium, and what appeals to you about writing in each?

 

It’s just my personal opinion, but the advantage of novels is that you can start and finish them on your own, and you can quickly introduce them to readers. It’s also a great format that allows you to tackle and talk about any topic, even if it’s considered controversial or minor. For example, My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend, which is about a feminist relationship, might not have been as successful and quick if I had planned it as a drama or movie from the beginning. There is a lot of anti-feminist sentiment in Korea, so I might have been worried about the backlash from some men if it was a big-budget movie. Novels are the type of media I want to continue writing because I can focus more on the stories I want to tell.
Dramas are aimed at a much larger audience than novels and have a larger budget and decision-makers. So, it’s sometimes a little harder to tackle unfamiliar or unconventional themes and topics, but when they do, they have a huge impact, which is why they are so appealing. I think it’s also great to be able to discuss with directors, producers, and other people to make something better together. I hope to continue working on both mediums in the future.

 

My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend is set to be adapted into a drama and a filmd. Please tell us about its progress and your thoughts on it.

 

The adaptations for My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend is currently in production, and are shaping up well, thanks to the popularity of the novel. I was a little worried that if we didn’t handle it delicately, it might distort the intention or message of the original work. However, the production team had a great understanding of the work and shared the progress with me, so we are working in a safe way. I’m very grateful and happy for that. I think the message of the novel is still as valid today as it was five years ago, and I hope that the release of the adaptations will spark many conversations in our society once again.

 

My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend topped the romance category on Amazon Japan. Why do you think your books are gaining traction overseas, and what message would you like to share with international readers?

 

I think there are many reasons for this - for one, I think many people enjoyed it because it was written in the familiar format of a “romance novel” about the global issue of “feminism.” Also, while feminist novels have been mainly written by female narrators, I think it was refreshing to see a male first-person narrator looking at his feminist girlfriend. I think it was also a plus that it was less weighty, with black comedic elements. In addition, I believe that the popularity of Korean fiction, especially Korean feminist fiction, has increased significantly overseas thanks to Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982.
In Japan, I talked a lot with readers through book talks, and I was told that it’s a “bold title that a Japanese author would never be able to use.” You know, sometimes writers from other countries scratch the itches that aren’t easily recognized or talked about in the country. I think my book may have played a role in that, because Japan is also a country with severe gender inequality.
I would like to thank our international readers for enjoying and relating to the book. Novels on women’s voices, especially those dealing with feminism, are often treated as “too minor” and only read by a few people, and sometimes are even ridiculously misunderstood. Particularly in Korea, there are still many misconceptions about feminism, so the fact that this novel has been widely read overseas has been a great support and encouragement for me to keep writing about the stories I want to tell.

 

 

Novels are the type of media I want to continue to work in,
because I can focus more on the stories I want to tell.

 

 

Since you write about topics that are closely related to social phenomena, you must be studying and thinking a lot about social issues and the psychology of people linked to them. What books do you usually read to expand your experience?

 

I read novels the most. Well, it’s because novels are my favorite. It might sound so obvious, but I learn so many things from novels. I read novels all the time because I can touch on new lives, new cultures, new experiences, and new ideas, and even learn how to write a good novel, as well as get hints and motivations, all of which are particularly good for me as a writer. Other than novels, I also like reading essays related to authors or topics I’m interested in. For non-literary works, I tend to read about topics that I take an interest in at that time – I think I get to mainly read social sciences books or history books related to feminism and gender. Since I started writing SF in earnest with A Blessing to the Forgetful, I am also trying to read more science books.

 

 

Your previous books have been very thematically specific. What do you hope to write about in the future, and what are your future plans and goals?

 

I have a lot of ideas in the pipeline, but the first thing I would like to try is writing a new feminist novel, maybe a sequel to My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend. It has been already 5 years since My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend was published, and I think the meaning and position of feminism in Korean society have changed a lot. There have been many changes in the lives of feminists, including me. Some people say, “Isn’t feminism a bygone issue?” or “Aren’t there more people who are uncomfortable and unwilling to talk about it?”, but I don’t think our society has changed too much, and I think we need to talk about it more in times like this. It might not be an easy work, but for the time being, I’m thinking of focusing on conceiving and thinking about that work. I would like to continue to write books that tell the stories I want to share and the stories that need to be told from a woman’s perspective.

 

 

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