The Fox Maidens is an inspired take on one of the most subversive themes in East Asian folktales: that of the female cooptation of the male body in a patriarchal society. Among the most common representations of this theme are the tales involving a nine-tail fox (kumiho) that takes on the form of a comely maiden who seduces a man and thereby deprives him of his psychic energy, or ki. The story begs for visual treatment, and Robin Ha’s graphic novel, the result of three and a half years of creative work and running more than 300 pages, with an average of five panels per page, more than fills the bill.
Kai (Ka-hŭi in Korean), the protagonist, is the daughter of Meorhu, a low-born woman rescued by a kumiho that maintains itself by feeding on the livers of evil men, and Tamjin, orphaned by the murder of his family by a corrupt royal guard but restored to elite status by hunting kumiho. Early on, Kai distinguishes herself in the martial arts program run by her father, a general of the local Royal Legion. But at puberty a crisis ensues when her first menstrual flow (the moonblood) is accompanied by the appearance of the first of her nine tails—another inheritance from the kumiho that saved Kai’s mother and enabled the barren woman to conceive.
Now a fox maiden, Kai is given a choice by kumiho—she can live as a woman by keeping to a full-moon regimen of transforming to a fox, killing an evil man, and consuming his liver, or if not, she will forever remain a fox, always hunted and always on the run. Against her will, Kai chooses the former path, but ultimately the carnage she wreaks comes to the attention of Tamjin, who as a Royal Legion officer has committed himself to eradicating any and all agents of wrongdoing. A confrontation of father and daughter is inevitable, and tragedy ensues. Bereft of her parents and having forsworn killing, Kai remains a fox for three years before deliverance finally arrives in a meeting between kumiho Kai and a young Buddhist nun, who as a street urchin and pickpocket in her childhood was rescued by Kai in her capacity as a member of Tamjin’s martial-arts corps.
Like several recent Korean American young-adult novels, The Fox Maidens is distinguished by a strong mother-daughter bond—though the relationship between Kai and Tamjin is compelling as well. There is also a strong karmic element to the story, a salutary reminder of the importance of spirituality from the beginning of recorded Korean history, marked not only by a rich tradition of native spirituality but also by a strong presence of Buddhism and, since late in the Chosŏn period, the elevation of what in now South Korea to the most Christian of East Asian nations. Equally significant is the same-sex relationship that ends the story. Rare in Korean literature as well until the new millennium, LGBTQ fiction produced in the Korean diaspora offers the potential for greater visibility for groups traditionally marginalized by gender-role expectations, class structure, and perceived disabilities.
Prefacing The Fox Maidens is a useful explanation of the kumiho myth followed by a two-page outline of Chosŏn class structure and the role of women, and finally a cast of characters in the novel. The detailing of class structure deserves elaboration. Except for the Cheonmin (ch’ŏnmin, “the wretched”), who were denied a class affiliation, the people of Chosŏn belonged to one of four classes: sa (scholars), nong (farmers), kong (artisans), and sang (merchants), in descending order of status. The Joongin (chungin, “in-between person”) had yet to gain recognition when this novel is set, 400 years ago. The yangban, consisted originally of the two groups of officials, civil and military, attendant upon the monarch; the term has long since come to refer generally to the elite. The commentary on the rigid outlook on women that follows is an excellent illustration of what individuals such as Meorhu and Kai had to face in order to thrive, and it is ultimately the triumphal breakthrough in life and love of Kai–a young woman inheriting her mother’s uncertain class status–presented in graphic form with lively dialogue, that will render The Fox Maidens an engaging experience for readers regardless of age, gender, class, and ethnicity.
Bruce Fulton occupies the Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature and Literary Translation at the University of British Columbia, where he serves as a Professor in the Department of Asian Studies. He is the co-translator, with Ju-Chan Fulton, of numerous works of modern Korean fiction, most recently Togani by Gong Ji-young and Chinatown, four stories by Oh Jung-hee (Penguin Modern Classic); co-recipient, with Ju-Chan Fulton, of the first U.S. National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship for a Korean literary work and the first residency at the Banff International Literature Translation Centre awarded for a translation from any Asian language; and editor of The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories.
