- Overview
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The life of Ok Seon Lee, who was taken away as a 'comfort woman' for the Japanese army, is told in cartoon format.
- Book Intro
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being 'comfort women' as victims who experienced war and whose human rights were considerably violated. Author Kim depicts Ok Seon Lee as a peace activist and a human rights activist who opposes war and has a strong will towards life. The testimonies given by Ok Seon Lee are a vivid part of history and are a story that we should listen attentively to and remember.
This is not the first time author Keum Suk Kim drew a cartoon of the 'comfort women' issue. She drew The Secret, a short cartoon, for the Flowers that Never Wilt exhibition that was held at the 2014 Angoulême International Comics Festival to publicize the 'comfort women' issue. After her short cartoon, she felt a sense of duty to talk about this issue using a different approach and planned to create the full-length cartoon Grass. Above all, the author adopted the method of using images to describe the emotions and psychological state of Ok Seon Lee, rather than maximizing the sense of hatred towards assailants by exaggerating violence. According to the author's intentions, when readers turn each page of Grass, they feel like they are watching a film. The ink-brushed drawings that are maximized by the sense of simplicity of white and black give strength to the testimonies of Lee.
- About the Author
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Kim Geum-suk
A cartoonist and picture book writer, Kim Geum-suk graduated from Sejong University with a degree in Painting. He also graduated from the Higher School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg, France.
The main works by Kim include the cartoon books titled My Brother Juni, Grass, Father’s Song, Jiseul and Kkokkaengi (a total of three volumes). Picture books created by Kim include Little Diver Ongrangi Goes to Dokdo Island to Gather Seaweed! and One Day Between Grandfather and the Little Girl. Storybooks illustrated by Kim include My Mother Gang Geumsun and Damare Damare!. Grass, Father’s Song, and Jiseul were published in France, won the Press Award, and were nominated for the Artemisia Award. Grass will be published in English, Spanish and Italian in 2019.
