"Privacy Invasion" vs "Creative Freedom": What Do You Think About the Autobiographical Novel 'Autofiction'?

Kim Bong-gon's Autobiographical Short Story Sparks Controversy Over Privacy Invasion of Acquaintances
'Autofiction' Combining Autobiography and Fiction
Novel Enhances Realism by Adding Imagination to Actual Events
Privacy Invasion Controversies Persist Overseas as Well

Writer Bonggon Kim / Photo by Munhakdongne·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy reporters Seunggon Han and intern Juhyung Lim] Amid the suspension of sales of all novels by writer Kim Bong-gon, who has been accused of quoting private conversations with acquaintances in his book without consent, controversy is also arising over the genre of Kim's novels, known as 'autofiction.'

Autofiction is a compound word of autobiography and fiction, referring to a novel style in which the author writes based on personal experiences combined with imaginative elements.

However, there is a sharp debate between criticisms that this novel style causes unnecessary harm such as invasion of privacy to people around the author and counterarguments that it should be tolerated as part of creative work.

On the 19th, the publisher 'Munhakdongne' decided to suspend sales of the collection of short stories including Kim's 'The 11th Young Writers Award Winning Works' and the short story 'Summer, Speed,' and to exchange 70,000 copies of the original edition, which did not correct the controversial parts, for revised editions. 'Changbi' also suspended sales of Kim's novel collection 'Seasons and Moods,' which includes the short story 'That Kind of Life.'

The issue first surfaced on the 10th when a woman who revealed herself as the real person appearing as 'C Nuna' in 'That Kind of Life' exposed on social networking services (SNS) that Kim had quoted her KakaoTalk messages without permission. She claimed that the novel blatantly exposed her private life and caused her psychological harm.

Then, on the 17th, a man who identified himself as 'Young-woo' appearing in 'Summer, Speed' also claimed that Kim quoted messages he sent without authorization.

Writer Kim's short story collection Summer, Speed. This story, which depicts a homosexual person reconnecting with a former lover, sparked controversy as it directly quoted messages that a real person had sent to writer Kim. / Photo by Munhakdongne

Kim, who came out as homosexual (publicly revealing his sexual identity), debuted in 2016 through the Dong-A Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest and gained attention from literary circles by writing novels on the theme of homosexuality. He was recognized as a representative figure of so-called 'queer literature' for realistically depicting the lives and feelings of homosexuals.

The characteristic of Kim's novels lies in mixing real experiences and fictional stories to maximize realism. Kim has referred to this novel style as autofiction.

The problem is that in pursuit of realism, actual events and people around the author are brought into the novel without filtering, raising concerns about invading the privacy of third parties.

A 28-year-old office worker A said, "If you write queer literature, isn't the most sensitive issue for homosexuals the forced outing of their sexual identity?" and added, "As a professional writer, he should have naturally considered and carefully cited such matters."

Another office worker B, 27, who actually purchased the author's 'Young Writers Award Winning Works' collection, said, "The basis of a novelist is creativity, but unauthorized replication of conversations means the basics were not met," and argued, "At the very least, there should have been sufficient discussion if other people's stories were to be used."

On the other hand, there were opinions that creative freedom should be respected. Literary critic Young-in Han wrote on her Facebook on the 19th, "While hurting someone personally can be a 'fault,' I don't think it can be sufficient evidence of 'literary unethicality' itself," and said, "Ethical apology from (Kim) is necessary, but closing the debate on (literary techniques) with that is a worse approach."

Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausg?rd. He received critical acclaim for his autofiction series "My Struggle," which meticulously depicts his childhood life, but he was also estranged from his family. / Photo by YouTube broadcast capture

Meanwhile, controversies over privacy invasion in autofiction have been ongoing since the past. Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausg?rd, whose autofiction gained popularity earlier than in Korea, was embroiled in controversy after publishing the novel series 'My Struggle.'

'My Struggle' is a six-volume autobiographical series published from 2009 to 2011, detailing the author's childhood and family stories. However, by exposing his father's alcoholism and other family members' private lives without filtering, he was sued by his family and eventually estranged from them.

Yumiri, a Korean-Japanese writer, also faced legal disputes after featuring acquaintances in her 1999 novel 'Fish Swimming in Stone.' At that time, Yumiri was banned from publishing the novel and was ordered by the court to pay 13 million won to the acquaintance.

In 2007, writer Gong Ji-young attempted to serialize the novel 'My Happy Home' in a daily newspaper, but the serialization was canceled after Gong's ex-husband filed a provisional injunction with the court, citing concerns over invasion of his privacy.

An anonymous publisher told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "The biggest problem with these novels seems to be that they revealed the most sensitive parts of others' private lives," and pointed out, "Sexual life, outing, etc., are matters that can definitely cause victims, so even in literature, they must be approached cautiously."

He added, "Novels containing autobiographical experiences are a literary style frequently seen recently in Korea as well," emphasizing, "It is important to carefully select and thoroughly adapt sensitive parts to prevent such harm."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.