Suicide of erotic scholar triggers popularity of forbidden novel

By Lim Chang-won Posted : September 11, 2017, 15:21 Updated : September 11, 2017, 15:21

[Yonhap News Photo]


"Happy Sara", a forbidden novel written by Ma Kwang-soo, an ill-started literary scholar who hanged himself this month, has been highly sought after, prompting publishers to consider reissuing it because the original version was removed from book shelves in 1992.

Jang Seok-Joo, a 62-year-poet and former publisher who was once jailed for alleged obscenity, said he was contacted by a number of publishers interested in re-issuing Ma's banned novel.

"I was contacted by some famous publishers about Happy Sara," the poet said. "There are many publishers who are interested in publishing the book because it is now sought after at bookstores, and a few people actually called me and asked about copyright issues."

Jang and Ma issued "Happy Sara" in 1991 after going through a cultural dark age and strict censorship under military dictatorship, but the novel was still unacceptable in a society overshadowed by Confucian and conservative ideologies. The novel was deemed pornography because it explicitly depicted free sex by a female college student that included relations with a professor and homosexuality.

Ma, who advocated eroticism in his works and classrooms, was found dead at his Seoul home on September 5. Police discovered his will and concluded he committed suicide, triggering high demand for his works, although "Happy Sara" was available only in second-hand book stores.

Ma, 66, had led a lonely life because his works and erotic imagination led to divorce, suffering from depression especially since he retired from Yonsei University last August. Because of his suspended sentence in 1992, Ma was kicked out of his school, but he was reinstated later and famous for openly using profanity in classes.
 
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