Pachinko and Print Culture

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a modern novel published in 2017. Though it was published in the United States, it follows a Korean family through multiple generations, beginning in the early 1900s and ending with its last chapter in 1989. It revolves around the character Sunja and expands to follow her entire extended family as they move from Korea to Japan. The novel progresses through the events of World War II, and we are taken through their experiences of discrimination, struggle, and sacrifice. It has strong themes of identity, resilience, and familial love. 

After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, Koreans lives experienced a complete shift, with a war on Korean culture. Speaking Korean was prohibited in schools, and being Korean was seen as something to be ashamed of. Throughout the novel, as the Korean characters live in Japan, they experience extreme discrimination, always having to live up to the idea of a "good Korean," as people held the belief that the majority of Koreans were bad people simply due to them being Korean. The children are bullied not only by other children but even by their teachers too. Due to the censorship, Korean literature experienced a significant decline during this period, with writers having to take creative measures to express their views and culture. 

There is still a strong culture around literature in the novel, though only a few characters can read and write, all of whom are male. This restricts the female characters' ability to communicate with others when there is a distance involved and restricts their opportunities overall. 

Today, South Koreans can publish their writing without fear of censorship, though North Korea still faces issues with control and censorship in writing and expression. As a whole, Asia's printing process has evolved significantly along with the rest of the world, developing from handwriting and woodblock printing to advanced digital and offset printing techniques that allow for extremely efficient book printing.