Fifty five years passed before Lee Ok-Sun returned to her homeland, Korea, after being deceived, kidnapped and sent to China as a teenager to sexually serve the Japanese Army during World War II.
This is the story in which "Grass" unfolds, a graphic novel that has nothing fictional about it, as it is the real testimony that the writer Keum Suk Gendry-Kim collects in the conversations she has with the protagonist in the house of sharing, a shelter for victims of sexual slavery, located in the city of Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do province, Republic of Korea.
Originally published in Korean in 2017 and translated into more than ten languages, including English and Spanish, this work has received important international recognition such as being chosen one of the best comics of 2019 by The New York Time and one of the best graphic novels (2019) by The Guardian.
With jumps in time and black and white drawings, readers can learn about the different stages of Ok-Sun's life, especially the experiences she suffered at the "comfort stations," where she was raped and forced to sexually serve Japanese soldiers, as happened with other women who were deceived or kidnapped to carry out such acts.
In addition, you can learn about the difficulties that the populations of the occupied lands faced after the expansionist advance of the Empire of Japan and the difficult times that the Koreans experienced, who were forced to erase their identity, either by prohibiting them from speaking in their mother tongue or by forcing them to adopt Japanese names.
With the surrender of Japan in 1945, many of the women victims of this violence, who are euphemistically called "comfort women", gained their freedom, but their lives were forever marked.
With wrinkles on his face, Ok-Sun sets off on a return journey to reunite with her family. Fifty five years later, nothing was the same.
In this way, throughout its sixteen chapters, "Grass" brings readers closer to important moments in Korean and world history that have marked generations of Koreans, something that also happens with "The Waiting", another of the works of Keum Suk, where the pain of families separated by the Korean War is captured. In fact, both novels are part of a trilogy that is in development.
Sexism, discrimination and violence in general are some of the issues present in "Grass", and which are depicted in a subtle way to avoid re-victimization, as the author has pointed out to international media.
Issues that continue to be social problems that many people complain about today. Of course, with particular characteristics and in a context different from that in which Ok-Sun lived, but that, regardless of gender, cause pain in the victims.
Therefore, this novel allows us to reflect and realize that despite the years, violence against women and wars are very present in our societies.
Many of the survivors of the "comfort stations" have died without being able to receive a sincere apology. Despite this, the battle to find justice still persists. And it is precisely works like "Grass", which transcend time and space, that allow this fight to continue.
You can find the English and Spanish editions of "Grass" at: https://lti.overdrive.com/search?query=Keum+Suk+Gendry-Kim+
To read the Spanish review of "Grass", go to: https://spanish.korea.net/NewsFocus/HonoraryReporters/view?articleId=231591
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