TheHeroine of This Korean Best Seller Is Extremely Ordinary. That's the Point. "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982," a surprise hit when it was published, ignited what Cho Nam-Joo called "a public Acase history of a South Korean Everywoman driven to the brink by misogyny. Cho Nam-joo's feminist debut novel, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, strikes a deep chord with me, and not only because I'm female. Every woman who reads this strange, extraordinary, and infuriating document (and every woman should read it) will find glimpses of her own life. ANew York Times Editors Choice Selection A global sensation, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 "has becomea touchstone for a conversation around feminism and gender" (Sarah Shin, Guardian). One of the most notable novels of the year, hailed by both critics and K-pop stars alike, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman's psychic deterioration in the face of rampant misogyny. KimJiyoung, Born 1982 is less of a character study than an extrapolation of the lived experiences of a generation of women in South Korea. An understanding of Cho Nam-Joo's intentions and the context of the setting is essential to appreciating the novel. It is plotless and straightforward in a way that could be perceived as artless, or curiously devoid of emotion. KimJiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo My rating: 4 of 5 stars We are introduced to Kim Jiyoung as a young mother who spontaneously channels other women's thoughts. This would be an interesting premise, and one I wish was developed a bit more but most of the book is a life sketch of Jiyoung, with particular emphasis put on all the ways a typical South Korean girl has to struggle for equality KimJi Young: Born 1982 adalah film yang saya tonton awal tahun 2020 ini. Sudah cukup lama memang, tapi vibesnya masih terasa hingga kini. Film ini diangkat dari novel yang disusun oleh Cho Nam-Ju dengan judul serupa. Tulisannya didasarkan pada budaya yang ada di Korea tentang bagaimana seorang perempuan yang sudah menikah diperlakukan. nadirairdiana17 May 2020. 'Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982' is based on a fiction novel by Cho Nam-joo that was published in October 2016. Cho only took two months to write the novel as the character's life relates to her own life. She mentioned that "Kim Ji-young's life isn't much different from the one I have lived. Thefilm adaptation of KIM JI-YOUNG, BORN 1982 (82년생 김지영) arrives in a timely fashion as the global #MeToo movement shares similar true tales of everyday discrimination. Most descriptions will tell you that the titular Kim Ji-Young (Jung Yu-Mi) is an ordinary woman in her 30s who starts experiencing signs of being someone else. bQQEw. A review of Cho Nam-joo’s Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 I’ve had this book for over a year, but I finally got the chance to sit down and finally read it. I’d heard a lot about it, because there was a movie starring the ever-so-famous Gong Yoo, and because it stirred an entire feminist debate in the country, one that exposed the misogyny rooted in Korean history. As I read it, I had many different thoughts about what was going on, and I was honestly kind of conflicted about the hype around this book. I see why it’s an important novel in the grand scheme of things, but I also wanted more from it. Purchase a copy of the book break this down by category. Book BlurbIn a small, tidy apartment on the outskirts of the frenzied metropolis of Seoul lives Kim Jiyoung. A thirtysomething-year-old “millennial everywoman,” she has recently left her white-collar desk job—in order to care for her newborn daughter full-time—as so many Korean women are expected to do. But she quickly begins to exhibit strange symptoms that alarm her husband, parents, and in-laws Jiyoung impersonates the voices of other women—alive and even dead, both known and unknown to her. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her discomfited husband sends her to a male a chilling, eerily truncated third-person voice, Jiyoung’s entire life is recounted to the psychiatrist—a narrative infused with disparate elements of frustration, perseverance, and submission. Born in 1982 and given the most common name for Korean baby girls, Jiyoung quickly becomes the unfavored sister to her princeling little brother. Always, her behavior is policed by the male figures around her—from the elementary school teachers who enforce strict uniforms for girls, to the coworkers who install a hidden camera in the women’s restroom and post their photos online. In her father’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s fault that men harass her late at night; in her husband’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s duty to forsake her career to take care of him and their child—to put them painfully common life is juxtaposed against a backdrop of an advancing Korea, as it abandons “family planning” birth control policies and passes new legislation against gender discrimination. But can her doctor flawlessly, completely cure her, or even discover what truly ails her?Content/PlotKim Ji-young is the main character of this novel, and we follow her throughout how she got to be the way she is in the modern era. She was born in an uneventful household, but there was blatant favoritism in the house towards the youngest son. We follow Ji-young from the eras of her life, from childhood, her being bullied in middle school, to college, then to her job at a small marketing firm, then her married life where she quits her job to be a stay-at-home mom. We’re clearly meant to sympathize with Ji-young, because we start out with her being a depressed mother who is embodying the spirits of the women in her past. She is sassing her in-laws in Busan, but she is also has just given up towards her situation. It’s really sad, and if you don’t get it, you don’t get it. This is the situation of women not only in Korea, but throughout the world. We follow her throughout her life. That’s basically the novel. She is a kid bullied by the boy who likes her, she goes to college to study marketing, struggles to break into the workforce because of her gender. We have a bunch of statistics and studies cited in classic Chicago style at the bottom of the pages, giving us as readers a glimpse into the reality of the situation. This isn’t just fiction. This is the story of many women throughout Korea. Characters Kim Ji-young, in my opinion, is quite a universal character, despite the novel’s Korean context. She is a depressed mother who has quit her job in order to care for her newborn daughter, and, suddenly, she finds that her life lacks a purpose upon quitting her job. We get such a hyper focus on Ji-young, one that made me a bit sad and frustrated at times. I was really interested in her sister because she gave up on her dreams of broadcast journalism in order to become a teacher, which is what her mother had pushed her towards. Ji-young and her mother, in the novel, claim that this is because this is truly what her sister wanted. But is it really? We don’t hear much of her siblings outside of the childhood arc, and I wanted to know more about them. I also wished we saw more of Jung Dae-hyun, Ji-young’s husband. Story-wise, we jump from her dating several different men, then we randomly are placed into a scenario where she is engaged to Dae-hyun. Dae-hyun, too, is clearly an important part of her life, but we don’t get to see their meeting, and he obviously cares somewhat, as he took her to a psychiatrist. Writing Style As for overall structure, this is set up in the basic three-arc structure, and it is previous obvious from the way the novel itself is formatted. We start the beginning of the novel from the current era, as Ji-young seems to embody the women from her past and lash out against the patriarchal figures in her life. This is in third-person omniscient narrator, which is why we get such a focus on Ji-young as a character. We are tracking her throughout her life, and we get a small glimpse into her head, but, as a character, we only really get to see her fleshed out as an individual. That really got to me, because while I do love how we get a little bit about the female office manager or the friend she had in college, I wanted it to go deeper. We get one woman’s life, but there are so many other stories she herself is shielded from. Like what if Ji-young had more meaningful dialogue about all of this? Speaking of dialogue, there was very little of it throughout the novel. I found that super interesting as a writer, because often we are told that dialogue is a necessity to continue. Something I also found really interesting was the incorporation of actual statistics and studies from academic studies about the status of women in Korea. As a researcher myself, I appreciate it, but if I were a casual reader, I’m not too sure if that would’ve made sense in the placement of the novel. It’s something we’re not used to as readers, I feel like. I also was confused at the ending—we switch to the psychiatrist’s POV in first person. That really confused the heck out of me, and it was a struggle to get through it, because, for the first time, we get a man’s thoughts. Overall Thoughts This was a pretty short read. I’m a fast reader, so by sitting down and actually focusing on it, I managed to finish the entire book by the end of a single night. It’s a good, and very important story to tell, but I wanted so much more from the novel, just like I said before. It’s a bit short for a novel, and I don’t know how exactly I feel about that. I totally get that this is supposed to be representative of so many women’s experiences, but Ji-young just kinda comes across as a bit naive. And, perhaps, that’s the irony in all of this, that she noticed and saw that so many women weren’t getting to live the lives they truly deserved, but also continued to go down this path of a society built for men. It’s super depressing, just like life, to see her fall to the system at the end of the day without a fight. She does say she fought her husband against this, but I honestly would’ve preferred to see her keep fighting until the end. It’s an interesting and decent read, but I wouldn’t classify it as a really good one. It will, however, be a good case study novel for gender studies and history students. As a casual reader, I wouldn’t be like “hell yeah” to this novel, but instead I found the academic part of me more interested in the novel as a case study. Rating Follow me on Instagram or Goodreads below for more updates! Based off the controversial autobiographical novel of the same name, “Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982” is a heart-wrenching uncovering of what it means to be a woman in a conservative patriarchal society. The movie stars veteran actors Gong Yoo Dae Hyun and Jung Yu-Mi Kim Ji-Young as leads, who have formerly worked together on the award-winning film “Train to Busan”. Following the protagonist Kim Ji-Young in the 80’s, the general storyline revolves around her troubled mental health that causes her to have lapses where she speaks as if she were her deceased grandmother or friend. Given the fame the feminist novel has garnered before the release of this film, it is expected that what matters more is not the storyline, but how the details of the story are presented through the female lens. With a focus on mother figures, the film’s narration forces us to critically examine stereotypical notions of a woman’s duties in the domestic sphere by highlighting its occurrence in daily life. For instance, we constantly see a favouritism towards men displayed by both male and female characters, especially from Dae Hyun’s mother who expects Ji-Young to work tirelessly throughout dinner preparations while her son sits idly. It is likely that many will identify with or have seen similar experiences, making the film’s impact all the more significant without having to explicitly state sexist tendencies of a conservative society. Aside from highlighting prominence of sexism in the everyday, the movie also expertly portrays how society’s patriarchy has progressed through the years. Through interactions between three generations of characters, we get to understand the motivations behind their actions, and the grievances as a result of sexist ideas. The use of Ji-Young’s condition to provide a voice for oppressed women was a well-done narration that gives greater insight into the conservative Korean society. What the film does particularly well is their use of male characters — while it is undeniable that Dae Hyun and Ji-Young’s father care for Ji-Young greatly, they are still susceptible to sexist tendencies that they may not have even been conscious of. This brings into focus that inequality may not always be born from hatred, but from the lack of awareness. The film also has skillful cinematography that leans towards an arthouse style, with jarring transitions that creates tension and draws audiences into the tortured minds of the characters. The only gripe would be that the time skips can cause some confusion in terms of characters; it becomes hard to name who’s who after various characters are introduced in a short time. Aside from that, the film was overall a thought-provoking watch that, while controversial, presents an empathetic depiction of women in Asian society that is not often highlighted. You can expect to become emotional throughout various points of the film, and reflective after. Although not necessarily an exciting movie for mass audiences, it is definitely a gripping watch, especially if feminist topics and societal issues are within your field of interest! Running Time 120 minutesThe Seoul Story’s Ratings “Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982” will be shown in selected cinemas mentioned in the poster above, from November 14th onwards. We would like to extend our huge thanks to Purple Plan for the invite! Written by CheyennePicture Credit Purple Plan — PATRONISE US TWEET US LIKE’ US WATCH US “What do you want from us? The dumb girls are too dumb, the smart girls are too smart, and the average girls are too unexceptional?” These are lines in Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo, the Korean novel hailed by The Guardian as a “South Korean MeToo bestseller.” With the recent release of the English translation by Jamie Chang, the groundbreaking feminist novel is now available to readers who seek to understand how society has designed the struggles of the modern Korean woman. The book focuses on the silent and subtle injustices experienced by a woman named Kim Jiyoung, whose name is implied to represent the Korean “Everywoman.” Cho’s narrative tracks the progression from childhood to adulthood, with inequality as the central aspect of Jiyoung’s life. These stories, which read more like third-person anecdotes, are interspersed with commentary and statistics that problematize how gender inequality manifests in South Korea. To that effect, Cho’s reportage emphasizes the broader contexts of sexist practices and institutions, while Jiyoung herself serves as the individual microcosm where daily sexism becomes apparent. The almost “hybrid” nature of the book is instrumental in illustrating the dynamics of womanhood. It is here that Kim Jiyoung evolves beyond a specific literary character and is given greater depth as the representation for a societal issue. As a child, Jiyoung is forced to endure a classmate’s daily harassment under the justification of “boys will be boys.” As a young adult, she cannot get hired because she is a woman; when she does get a job, she cannot get promoted. When she is married, she is forced to sacrifice her job to be a wife, which is implied to be the “only” job that she needs. When she is pregnant, she is told she is entitled for arriving to work late. When she becomes a housewife, her domestic labor is demeaned. At its core, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 expresses a woman’s struggles with what has become mundane and mediocre, products of a society that relegates women to inferior positions. These instances of sexism express the book’s central idea that not only is it difficult to be a woman, but also that cultural values have influenced a woman’s identity. As such, these values have become embedded into the very fabric of South Korean society. They have come to determine how women are allowed to live. There are so many poignant moments in the novel that it is difficult to only talk about one. Rather, it is necessary to examine the entirety of these moments as a composite whole. Within Jiyoung’s experience, both the mundane and the mediocre stem from the denial of equal opportunity and upward mobility for a woman. Yet they are also reflections of how for the Korean woman, mediocrity becomes normalized. Jiyoung experiences the imposition of gender constructs through both microaggressions and blatant attacks. Her subliminal acts of rebellion against these constructs involve her assuming the role of different women she has known throughout her life, including her mother. She is suspected to have postnatal depression, but it is psychosis that she has been driven to by a patriarchal society. What Cho does superbly well is create an atmosphere of suffocation and frustration. She evokes this all-consuming sense of helplessness within the emptiness of Jiyoung’s life; there is a constant idea that for Jiyoung, there is no way of dismantling the patriarchy other than losing the identity that she has created within it. The disintegration of Kim Jiyoung’s identity becomes a kind of rebellion, and the chronological structure of the book adds to its power. The reader does not just witness Jiyoung’s sadness as a housewife, but the quiet anger throughout her life as a woman. The English translation of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is admittedly not without shortcomings. There are parts where the language becomes so stiff that the book is difficult to truly comprehend. At times, the dialogue is awkwardly stilted, one of the issues that comes with translation as a process. But Chang handles Cho’s simplicity with skill, rendering the same ideas that were so powerful in the original. With Cho’s sensitive and forceful writing, Jiyoung becomes more than the profile of a Korean woman. She becomes universal, an expression of not only the “Everywoman” of injustices, but the “Everywoman” of human experience. “What do you want from us?” Jiyoung asks. Cho never gives an answer.