It's been up a while, but only now, via Korean Literature: in translation, have I come across Benoit Berthelier's From Pyongyang to Mars: Sci-fi, Genre, and Literary Value in North Korea at Sino NK.
North Korean literature is, of course, one of the other last great unexplored-in-English frontiers (despite Dalkey Archive Press doing their Korean part, too -- alas, their new Library of Korean Literature appears to be entirely southern), and genre fiction is even more marginalized, so it's great to hear a bit about what's going on there.
Would that we could read some of this stuff -- after all: "With action-filled narratives and a broader range of subjects and characters than regular fiction, sci-fi stories make up a particularly interesting and entertaining strand within the DPRK's literature."
North Korean literature is, of course, one of the other last great unexplored-in-English frontiers (despite Dalkey Archive Press doing their Korean part, too -- alas, their new Library of Korean Literature appears to be entirely southern), and genre fiction is even more marginalized, so it's great to hear a bit about what's going on there.
Would that we could read some of this stuff -- after all: "With action-filled narratives and a broader range of subjects and characters than regular fiction, sci-fi stories make up a particularly interesting and entertaining strand within the DPRK's literature."