In recent years there has been a growing interest in contemporary South Korean fiction which constantly seeks new means of expression. A number of Korean novels have been published in Polish translation. Walking Practice was translated into Polish by Łukasz Janik and is remarkably successful at reproducing the style and form of the original Korean version.

      Dolki Min is the pen name of an essayist and writer who is considered one of the greatest enigmas in the contemporary South Korean literary scene. His identity is shrouded in a veil of mystery, which is the result of his deliberate efforts to create a mysterious atmosphere around him. His biographical note has never been made public. What’s more, Dolki Min has never revealed his face and wears a mask during media appearances. As he insists, the author’s persona should not carry much significance for the reception of his work.

      Dolki Min’s debut novel, Walking Practice, is a paranormal sci-fi thriller with an explicit queer message. This short novel is about Mumu, an extraterrestrial from outer space who landed on Earth fifteen years earlier due to an invasion of his home planet. Of indeterminate gender, Mumu finds themself trapped in an unfamiliar refuge and is strongly affected by Earth’s gravity. In order to survive in a new, hostile environment, the alien shifts into a human form, taking on bodily shape (male or female) as is most advantageous at a given moment in order to capture human prey. They hate walking on two legs, as their original alien form has three legs and one arm, and climbing up the stairs is torture. Another distressing moment for Mumu is having to travel on crowded public transportation with a big backpack stuffed with tools they use to murder their victims. 

      Mumu feeds themself on human flesh and by taking advantage of the hook-up culture that pervades today’s fast-paced world, Mumu meets their unsuspecting victims using dating apps. After a casual sexual encounter, Mumu kills and devours them on the spot or takes leftovers to their crashed spacecraft they use as house, nestled somewhere in a dense forest. Mumu loathes humans, although feeling lonely and isolated they cherish an inner longing for brief moments of intimacy. Their goal is to blend in with human society without getting caught, but at the same time, to survive by eating humans. 

      The author of this queer novel employs the science fiction genre in order to criticize gender role models and the exclusion of disadvantaged groups in modern societies, including South Korea, through the lens of an alien. The reader is not spared appalling descriptions and blunt language, moments that verge on vulgarity and obscenity. This intriguing and at times disturbing novel contains interesting (though not necessarily easy to understand) formal experiments: when Mumu’s body is deformed, the text does the same; it becomes slightly distorted, expands and contracts according to the first-person narrator’s mental state. The author uses clichés and templates from science fiction, erotica, horror, thriller, gore, confession, and chat records. He also uses emoticons, highlighted words and graphic signs. 

      We may perceive Walking Practice literally as a fantasy thriller story about a murderous and paranoid alien among defenceless earthlings, or metaphorically as a subversive queer story about social gender fluidity, bisexuality, exclusion, phobias, humiliation, rejection, and lack of acceptance. The attentive reader will certainly notice the hidden social commentary on gender identities, otherness, and contemporary human relationships. The novel’s genre may be classified as sci-fi horror with a queer and transgender message and a penetrating critique of the obsolete social structures and anachronistic mental attitudes that exclude those who are queer and resist conformity.

      In challenging conventional narratives, Dolki Min’s novel transcends the boundaries of genre fiction, offering a raw critique of societal norms surrounding gender and identity. His bold, unconventional approach has established him as a voice for marginalized communities, further enriching the dialogue on queer representation in global literature.

Anna Diniejko-Wąs

Literary Translator

Assistant Professor, University of Warsaw, Poland