About my daughter
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Description
Book Introduction
“Can you be a family? How can you be? “Can I get married? Can I have children?” “Don’t you think that people like your mother are stopping you from doing it?” Parents of a lesbian daughter As a caregiver who takes care of the elderly without relatives Facing a world of hatred and exclusion Mom's Coming-of-Age Novel Kim Hye-jin's full-length novel, "About My Daughter," was published by Minumsa in the "Today's Young Writers" series. "About My Daughter" is a story about women who are exposed to the violence of hatred and exclusion. The mother, 'I', my daughter, and my daughter's same-sex lover begin living together for economic reasons. A mother who is 'exposed' to her daughter's private life, which she desperately wants to ignore, and a daughter whose life is at odds with the world have become a daily routine. As their uncomfortable cohabitation continues, the mother's daily life takes an unexpected turn. Kim Hye-jin is a writer who has been recognized for her individuality, receiving praise for portraying the silent suffering of the powerless not with an objectifying external gaze, but with an internal gaze that faces it directly, and with a "language of blunt determination." 『Central Station』, which depicts the love of a homeless couple, expressed the hardships of life at the bottom with dry and minimal sentences, completing a new sense of 'poor song', and 『Eobi』, a collection of short stories that deals with the hopeless lives of marginalized youth, was nominated for the Kim Jun-seong Literary Award with favorable reviews for its "strong heart that faces the absurdity of society." The new work, “About My Daughter,” shares a worldview with previous works in that it shows the absurd aspects of Korean society. However, it presents a unique charm in that it vividly dissects the double standards within us by depicting the mechanisms of violence that target the weak links in our society, such as sexual minorities and the homeless, through sharp language and tense scenes. Meanwhile, through the process of a mother looking at her 'queer daughter' reaching the 'best understanding', the author shows how the limits and possibilities of understanding others develop through conflict. This can be said to be Kim Hye-jin's unique achievement in dealing with the gaze of others. |
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About my daughter
About my daughter
Author's Note
Commentary on the Work: Actually, About Mother / Kim Shin-hyeon-gyeong (Feminist Scholar)
About my daughter
Author's Note
Commentary on the Work: Actually, About Mother / Kim Shin-hyeon-gyeong (Feminist Scholar)
Into the book
About my daughter
“Maybe my daughter studied too much.
I think that while I was learning and learning, I ended up learning things that I didn't need to learn and things that I shouldn't have learned.
How to reject the world.
“How to be at odds with the world.” --- p.32
“These kids might be sophisticated and sophisticated gangsters.
In school, they might have taught you how to use something stronger than your fists instead of using your fists.
“That’s why there are victims like me who don’t know that they were robbed, don’t know that they were wronged, and think that there’s nothing they can do.” --- p.46
“I’ve already heard a lot of things you say that don’t even sound like what you’re saying.
I don't know how many times I'll say something to drive a nail into your heart.
I have rights too.
“You have the right to see your child, whom you raised with great difficulty, living an ordinary and humble life.” --- p.66
“And then I realized, painfully.
If I keep pulling on my daughter like this, eventually this tight and precarious string will break.
I'm going to lose my daughter like this.
But that doesn't mean understanding.
It doesn't even mean agreement.
I just loosened the strings I was holding.
I just gave in so my daughter could move a little further.
It's just a matter of stepping back, letting go of expectations, letting go of greed, and continuing to let go of something.
How difficult it was.
Does the daughter really not know?
Are you pretending not to know?
"Do you want to not know?" --- p.68
“Mom, look here.
Look at this.
These words are me.
Sexual minorities, homosexuals, lesbians.
These words are me.
This is just me.
People call me this, and it makes it so I can't do anything, be it family or work or anything.
"Is this my fault? Is it my fault?" --- p.107
“How can I explain why that woman, lying there with her hands and feet tied, not knowing where she will be sent, is thought to be me?
How can I express such a clear premonition?
Is it that woman's fault that she has no one to lean on or rely on?
Having come to think like this, I wonder if I have given up on expecting anything from my daughter.
Perhaps my daughter and I will be punished like that woman, waiting for death at the end of a long, long life.”
“Maybe my daughter studied too much.
I think that while I was learning and learning, I ended up learning things that I didn't need to learn and things that I shouldn't have learned.
How to reject the world.
“How to be at odds with the world.” --- p.32
“These kids might be sophisticated and sophisticated gangsters.
In school, they might have taught you how to use something stronger than your fists instead of using your fists.
“That’s why there are victims like me who don’t know that they were robbed, don’t know that they were wronged, and think that there’s nothing they can do.” --- p.46
“I’ve already heard a lot of things you say that don’t even sound like what you’re saying.
I don't know how many times I'll say something to drive a nail into your heart.
I have rights too.
“You have the right to see your child, whom you raised with great difficulty, living an ordinary and humble life.” --- p.66
“And then I realized, painfully.
If I keep pulling on my daughter like this, eventually this tight and precarious string will break.
I'm going to lose my daughter like this.
But that doesn't mean understanding.
It doesn't even mean agreement.
I just loosened the strings I was holding.
I just gave in so my daughter could move a little further.
It's just a matter of stepping back, letting go of expectations, letting go of greed, and continuing to let go of something.
How difficult it was.
Does the daughter really not know?
Are you pretending not to know?
"Do you want to not know?" --- p.68
“Mom, look here.
Look at this.
These words are me.
Sexual minorities, homosexuals, lesbians.
These words are me.
This is just me.
People call me this, and it makes it so I can't do anything, be it family or work or anything.
"Is this my fault? Is it my fault?" --- p.107
“How can I explain why that woman, lying there with her hands and feet tied, not knowing where she will be sent, is thought to be me?
How can I express such a clear premonition?
Is it that woman's fault that she has no one to lean on or rely on?
Having come to think like this, I wonder if I have given up on expecting anything from my daughter.
Perhaps my daughter and I will be punished like that woman, waiting for death at the end of a long, long life.”
--- p.129
Publisher's Review
About my daughter
Mom's story
“Why does my daughter like girls of all people?
Other parents throw out problems that they have no reason or need to think about in their entire lives.
“Why are you urging me and nagging me to overcome this?”
Former elementary school teacher.
Her husband died of an illness.
He works at a nursing home and lives with his daughter and her same-sex lover.
He quit his job as a teacher to take care of his daughter, and has lived a life of endless hardship, working in any job he can find, including painting, driving a kindergarten bus, selling insurance, and preparing food in the cafeteria.
I didn't expect my daughter to have such a successful life, but it's hard to accept something so unexpected.
Throughout the work, the mother continues to monologue about herself, her daughter, the future, and life.
Green and Rain's Story
“They say there are many different people in the world? They say each person has a different way of living?
You're saying that other things aren't bad? Isn't that what Mom said?
“Why is it that I am always the exception when it comes to such things?”
Green and Rain are the names the speaker's daughter and her lover call each other.
After dating for seven years, Green is currently a part-time lecturer at the university.
They are protesting against the university that unilaterally fired a fellow lecturer.
We live a life of struggle, accustomed to being at odds with the world and rejecting it, fighting against the unfair treatment of sexual minorities.
However, the world, trapped in preconceptions and biases, only hears what it wants to hear and sees what it wants to see, rarely listens to their stories.
Zen's Story
“How can I explain why that woman, lying there with her hands and feet tied, not knowing where she will be sent, is thought to be me?
Perhaps my daughter and I will be punished like that woman, waiting for death at the end of a long, long life.”
An elderly person whom the speaker cares for at a nursing home.
He studied abroad in his youth, worked for Korean adoptees, and upon returning to Korea, worked for migrant workers. Now, he has dementia and lives in a nursing home.
He “indiscriminately gave away” “the precious strength, sincerity, heart, and time of his youth” to strangers, and now he has paid enough money to enter a nursing home, but because he is an elderly person with dementia and has no family, he is not only not receiving fair treatment, but is also in a position where he will be kicked out to a cheap nursing home.
Zen's miserable old age, where she has dedicated her life to caring for the underprivileged, but no one cares for her.
And 'I' who often projects myself onto Zen.
This critically reveals the position that 'old women' can occupy in Korean society.
From the author's note
While I was writing the novel, I felt like it was impossible to understand someone else.
I also remember thinking that the word understanding always meant attempts that ended in failure.
Still, I couldn't help but think about the hearts that didn't give up and were heading towards someone other than myself.
Perhaps this novel was just one of many persistent efforts.
Mom's story
“Why does my daughter like girls of all people?
Other parents throw out problems that they have no reason or need to think about in their entire lives.
“Why are you urging me and nagging me to overcome this?”
Former elementary school teacher.
Her husband died of an illness.
He works at a nursing home and lives with his daughter and her same-sex lover.
He quit his job as a teacher to take care of his daughter, and has lived a life of endless hardship, working in any job he can find, including painting, driving a kindergarten bus, selling insurance, and preparing food in the cafeteria.
I didn't expect my daughter to have such a successful life, but it's hard to accept something so unexpected.
Throughout the work, the mother continues to monologue about herself, her daughter, the future, and life.
Green and Rain's Story
“They say there are many different people in the world? They say each person has a different way of living?
You're saying that other things aren't bad? Isn't that what Mom said?
“Why is it that I am always the exception when it comes to such things?”
Green and Rain are the names the speaker's daughter and her lover call each other.
After dating for seven years, Green is currently a part-time lecturer at the university.
They are protesting against the university that unilaterally fired a fellow lecturer.
We live a life of struggle, accustomed to being at odds with the world and rejecting it, fighting against the unfair treatment of sexual minorities.
However, the world, trapped in preconceptions and biases, only hears what it wants to hear and sees what it wants to see, rarely listens to their stories.
Zen's Story
“How can I explain why that woman, lying there with her hands and feet tied, not knowing where she will be sent, is thought to be me?
Perhaps my daughter and I will be punished like that woman, waiting for death at the end of a long, long life.”
An elderly person whom the speaker cares for at a nursing home.
He studied abroad in his youth, worked for Korean adoptees, and upon returning to Korea, worked for migrant workers. Now, he has dementia and lives in a nursing home.
He “indiscriminately gave away” “the precious strength, sincerity, heart, and time of his youth” to strangers, and now he has paid enough money to enter a nursing home, but because he is an elderly person with dementia and has no family, he is not only not receiving fair treatment, but is also in a position where he will be kicked out to a cheap nursing home.
Zen's miserable old age, where she has dedicated her life to caring for the underprivileged, but no one cares for her.
And 'I' who often projects myself onto Zen.
This critically reveals the position that 'old women' can occupy in Korean society.
From the author's note
While I was writing the novel, I felt like it was impossible to understand someone else.
I also remember thinking that the word understanding always meant attempts that ended in failure.
Still, I couldn't help but think about the hearts that didn't give up and were heading towards someone other than myself.
Perhaps this novel was just one of many persistent efforts.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of publication: September 15, 2017
- Format: Hardcover book binding method guide
- Page count, weight, size: 216 pages | 332g | 127*188*20mm
- ISBN13: 9788937473173
- ISBN10: 8937473178
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