VOL.69/2024.04

More and More Chinese Readers Are Starting to
Pay Attention to Korean Literature

2024.03.11

First, let me introduce Xiron Books. Xiron Books is one of the representative brands of China’s mass book companies, and it is also one of the book brands widely loved by readers. Xiron Books always adheres to the value of “good book = social value + cultural value + commercial value” and is committed to providing “good copyright, good content, and good products.” Xiron’s first publication of Korean literature was Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (Minumsa), a Korean novel published in simplified Chinese in 2019, which portrays various issues women may encounter through the life of the protagonist Kim Ji-young. In the increasingly heated gender discourse, it quickly became a bestseller.
Starting with Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, in recent years, Xiron has established a Korean literature editing studio, publishing The Crucible (Changbi) in 2020, Please Look After Mom (Changbi) in 2021, internationally renowned Booker Prize winner Han Kang’s representative works Vegetarian (Changbi), The White Book (Munhakdongne), I Do Not Bid Farewell (Munhakdongne), Greek Lessons (Munhakdongne), as well as the stalwart force in Korean literature Kim Young-ha’s Diary of a Murderer (Bokbok Seoga), Kim Tak-hwan’s I Must Live (Booksfear), the new generation female writer Choi Eun-yung’s Bright Night (Munhakdongne), and the hugely successful healing novel The Uncanny Convenience Store 1 (Namu Bench)… introducing relatively unfamiliar Korean literature to Chinese readers.
My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend (Nabiclub) is a somewhat special work published in 2023. When it comes to Korean female literature, we have read many novels where women are usually in a more passive position as victims of “men,” such as Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, To My Big Sister, Jeya (Changbi), A Different Person (Hankyoreh Publishing Company). These works often feel very oppressive, filled with despair and a suffocating atmosphere.
However, My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend gives me a completely different feeling. So far, I believe that among the Korean works introduced in China, My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend stands out without any similar content in my opinion. It is a rare perspective of feminist literature introduced in China, written by a female author from a male perspective in a love story. Every word feels like a bomb, filled with combat power. Female readers who open it will observe ordinary male yet confident moments in a valuable observer posture, feeling very refreshing while also being full of unique lightness and humor. This surprised me. In the Chinese market, many readers share the same feelings as me. Besides the existing readers of feminist books, this book has attracted many new readers who are encountering feminism for the first time, and they enjoyed the book, willing to further understand feminism because of it. There are many interesting interactions among female readers, and even some male readers are actively participating in discussions about this book.
This has made all of us responsible for this book very happy and excited that more and more people are paying attention to these issues. Xiron hopes to continue attracting more diverse readers to participate in discussions and reflections on feminism. So far, this book has over 11,000 marked as read on the most authoritative film and book review community ‘Douban,’ with over ten thousand people clicking ‘Want to read it,’ over 8700+ reviews and comments, and has been on the Douban’s ‘Weekly Popular Books rank’ for 20 consecutive weeks. Its best rank was third on the Douban ‘Weekly Popular Books rank,’ and second on the ‘Weekly Popular Novels rank,’ and third on the ‘Weekly Popular Fiction Books rank’, achieving excellent results.
In terms of marketing, we collaborated with many influencers on mainstream SNS platforms in China for promotional activities, promoted the book through a campaign linked with the movie “Barbie,” published an exclusive interview with the author in ELLE CHINA’s November issue, featured author and editor interviews on the TOPYS official website with 3 million readers worldwide, discussing the author’s creative ideas and challenges for female creators in East Asian society, how female creators change the discourse system of female aversion in their expressions and works, and the public opinion generated by this book, etc.
Take My Crazy Feminist Girlfriend as an example—currently, the entire Chinese market is very focused on feminist topics, and in recent years, Korean female literary works have gradually received more attention in China. This is related to the similar cultural backgrounds of the two countries and the fresh writing materials and styles of Korean writers. Women in East Asian societies face common pressures, so their texts with high emotional intensity evoke empathy from Chinese readers, garnering more and more attention.
Therefore, such Korean literature continues to be introduced and published. In 2023, the writer Choi Eun-yung’s Bright Night, which we published, achieved second place in the annual book rank and first place in the foreign literature novel rank on the aforementioned Douban platform. After its release, not only did the editorial and marketing teams within the company highly praise this work, but colleagues from other companies and even some young domestic writers also had very positive feedback on this work. After winning the award on Douban, the sales of Bright Night also increased significantly, recently entering its fifth printing.

Furthermore, the work A Different Person we introduced ranked fifth on the foreign literature novel rank, and Greenhouse at the End of the Earth (Giant Books) which we also introduced achieved seventh place in the annual science fiction and fantasy book category, receiving good results.

More and more Chinese readers are starting to pay attention to Korean literature, so in our planned Korean literature product line for the future, we mainly focus on works that meet the following criteria; 1. Regarding the selection of authors, we prioritize works by established classic authors and new authors who have gained significant attention in Korea in recent years. 2. We consider the relevance of the work’s subject matter to the Chinese market. 3. Works by young authors describing contemporary urban life or the state of young people, or works that reflect current social phenomena or popular cultural themes in China (such as feminism) are given priority. 4. Market performance and potential for adaptation into film or television will also be important factors to consider. 5. We do not only publish fiction works; we will also consider introducing excellent non-fiction works (currently focusing on works related to Chinese social phenomena and psychological self-help). In 2024, we will be publishing many outstanding Korean works such as The Uncanny Convenience Store 2, On the Origin of Species and Other Stories (Arzaklivres, by Kim Bo-Young), A Thousand Blues (EAST-ASIA, by Cheon Seon-Ran), Strange Land (Munhakdongne by Hwang Suk-yeong), Dusk (Munhakdongne by Hwang Suk-yeong), Familiar Things (Munhakdongne by Hwang Suk-yeong), Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop (Clayhouse by Hwang Bo-reum), Whale (Munhakdongne by Cheon Myeong-kwan), etc. We are very excited about introducing more excellent Korean literature to Chinese readers.

Written by Li Xiang (Responsible for the right business of Korean Literature at Xiron Books)