Does this book belong to historical fiction or political satire?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2021 Book of the month, "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley
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Sushan Ekanayake
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Re: Does this book belong to historical fiction or political satire?

Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Mvictoria wrote: 06 Jan 2021, 10:57 I didn't feel as though this was intended as political satire, but reading some of these responses has made me rethink my reading of the book. I do feel like the king was intended to be a satirical character, but later, after Embon talks to his father, it is clear that the king did a lot for his country. I think the king tried to save Korea, but was dealt a rather rough hand. Embon expounds on this after his meeting with his father and I think this made me believe the book was intended as historical fiction and not a political satire. I found the book to be very somber and sobering.
I don't think that a satire always has to make you laugh. Political ironies are pointed out to the people by the authors to subject them to the sarcasm of the reader. The details regarding the Korean King, the impractical aspects of the old Korean culture are such points that the author highlights in this book in such intent. That is why I say that this has a satirical part as well
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Post by Gabby S14 »

There is a lot of political commentary in this book (mostly explanations for the audience), but I don't think I would call it a satire. While I can imagine some forms of allegory used in the book, like Embon personifying the Korean spirit, I don't think there is enough to claim the entire book is worked into a political play. I enjoy the book for what it is, what it offers the reader in terms of historical understanding, albeit in a dramatic, fictitious story.
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Post by Josephe-Anne »

I didn't find any satirical content in this book at all. To me, the author was simply portraying that era from a Korean perspective. Apart from the Japanese occupation, the Americans and Russians had a huge impact on Korean society, as evidenced by their eventual split into North and South Korea.
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Post by JB3 »

I think that it is closer to historical fiction than to satire, the author is writing a fictional story about historical events.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Kirsi_78 wrote: 12 Jan 2021, 02:27 I think this book was not intended to be satire. However, it definitely has some ingredients that could be interpreted as such. I am not familiar with the authors background, but I think in some cultures describing political and/or historical events often appears to outsiders as it was satire even if it is not. I don’t really know if this is the case. However, I would categorize this book under historical fiction and I think the author has done a good job with that. As far as I can say, the historical events seem accurately written.
Well, that is quite correct. We don't know the author's actual intent. Maybe she never wanted to feel this as a satire. But it is up to the readers to interpret what we see in the book.

The political aspects of the book are mainly ironical, and in my opinion, those things carry a bit humour underneath as well. Due to the historical facts that are portrayed, this is definitely a historical fiction, but in my opinion, it is a historical satire too
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

AtienoMagero wrote: 12 Jan 2021, 08:35 I don't think the book falls into the political satire category. I'd say it's more of historical fiction because it's centered around actual historical events but the story and characters are fictitious.
Satire don't have to be fictional always. We can see humour in the real world incidents as well as historical events. Politics is a filed which I find most of the humour in the real world.

This historical fiction contains several political affairs in the ancient world (not too ancient). The few of the traditional cultural things mentioned, the behaviour of the King makes gives this book some quality as a satire as well. (With all due respect to the Koreans, please don't feel offended)
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Excel 2021 wrote: 12 Jan 2021, 12:44 This book contains a lot of political stuffs but not satirical in my opinion. But it does have a lot of history to be tagged a historical fiction.
Well, it is a historical fiction. So it actually cannot contain a lot of historical details as a non fiction book. I think it has enough historical facts to be categorized as historical fiction.

In addition, it has many political stuff as well. Actually the main theme of the book is about Japanese imperialism, which is a political thing
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Lunastella wrote: 13 Jan 2021, 19:49 Satire usually implies humor of exaggeration, and I don't think this is the case. The book is, if something, sociopolitical fiction. But not satire.
Maybe you are correct. There is no exaggeration of facts that to be satirical. Yet, there is enough socio-political facts in the story to make it not only a historical fiction but also a political story too. What I feel is there is irony in those cultural and political stuff. As for an example, though the traditional Koreans try to protect their culture, the younger generations are more keen to see a change in their culture, and that was what exactly happened by the Japanese invasion
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

Sushan wrote: 30 Jan 2021, 02:40
Lunastella wrote: 13 Jan 2021, 19:49 Satire usually implies humor of exaggeration, and I don't think this is the case. The book is, if something, sociopolitical fiction. But not satire.
Maybe you are correct. There is no exaggeration of facts that to be satirical. Yet, there is enough socio-political facts in the story to make it not only a historical fiction but also a political story too. What I feel is there is irony in those cultural and political stuff. As for an example, though the traditional Koreans try to protect their culture, the younger generations are more keen to see a change in their culture, and that was what exactly happened by the Japanese invasion
Of course, the book has heavy political content, but I don't think irony is intended. Maybe the new generations are prone to take their traditions more lightly, but we must not forget the time the novel is set on. I think it was, maybe, a time when things started changing but hadn't quite changed.
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Post by Damian Keyes »

I would say that this book is more historical fiction then political satire. The story revolves around the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910 and the fallout from that vote. This book takes the reader into a time where their were undercover Koreans that started this revolution to win back the independence of Korea's society. I couldn't really pinpont any political satire that directly stood out.
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Post by monicamu »

I would classify it as mainly historical fiction but with some definite sociopolitical elements, such as the scene where a young man is arrested for protesting when he's really just trying to go skiing. He just happens to fit the social profile of those the authorities are after. I wouldn't call it political satire though.
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Post by mmm17 »

I think it's intended to be historical fiction. At least that seems to be the author's intention.
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Post by kperm »

I always regarded this book as historical fiction. The thought of it being a political satire never crossed my mind. Now that I think of it, I can see why someone would consider it a political satire. However, I still think that the book belongs to historical fiction.
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Post by kperm »

cristinaro wrote: 02 Jan 2021, 08:04 I think the book is both a piece of historical fiction and a form of political satire. There are many instances when the author alludes to the absurd and ridiculous nature of certain scenes or characters. For example, I can think of King Gojong's behavior during his private birthday party, Embon's accidental arrest with the revolutionaries when he was actually planning to go skiing and then returning home, the dilapidated nature of the buildings of the provisional Korean government set in Shanghai, etc.

I find your opinion very interesting. I always regarded the book as historical fiction. However, I can see why you would consider it to be both historical fiction and political satire.
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Post by Intuitive Catalyst »

This is historical fiction. Some tongue-in-cheek is obvious in the narrative where the yangban prefer to starve rather than work and a young wife is described as eating the skin cut off of her kneecap because her husband is too much of an elite to earn money to feed her. That is such an absurdity!
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