Acknowledgements
Writing this book felt like raising a child. While writing it, I experienced the whole spectrum of human emotions, and I grew so attached to it that I did not want to let it go. Now, after more than 14 years of research, analysis and writing, I hope that this teenager is ready to meet the world. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it took a huge community of scholars, friends and family to write this book. Sometimes a brief comment during a chance encounter changed the direction of the whole project. At other times, an encouraging word in the right moment helped me finish a chapter. I would like to use this opportunity to thank many of the people who helped me, even those who might not even be aware of their influence on this book.
I am deeply grateful for my time at Ruhr University Bochum, where I spent four years under the wings of my mentor Marion Eggert, who guided me with emotional honesty and sharp intelligence. Her courage to accept me as a PhD candidate, although I arrived after having studied in Korea for eight years as a de facto single mother with a four year old and a one year old, gave me the energy to follow my dreams. My deep thanks go also to Barbara Mittler, who not only served as the second thesis supervisor, but also invited me to join colloquia with her PhD candidates in Heidelberg. I was lucky to share my PhD nest with Dennis Würthner, Florian Pölking, Gunhild Stierand and Felix Siegmund, who inspired me and kept me sane. I would also like to thank Jörg Plassen for a one-to-one tutorial in Buddhism, decisive reading recommendations and reassuring words at the right time. I would not have been able to finish my thesis without the help of the teachers and parents at Kita Kinderland, especially Geske Houtrow and Mario Hütte, Andrea and Markus Sittart, and Claudia and Jörg Möllenberg. Taking turns supervising play groups provided me with some precious writing time until late in the afternoon.
My year in Vancouver that I spent as a Korea Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia was crucial for my decision to stay in academia. Ross King made us feel at home from the first day by picking us up from the airport. I have benefited tremendously from his seminars and workshops and continue to regard him as one of my main mentors. Another source of inspiration was Sean Bussell, who was the first to suggest that the many versions of The Journey reminded him of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Joshua Mostow’s book recommendations helped me to restructure the whole study.
Hamburg University offered me the first opportunity to teach, which also helped me improve the clarity of my writing. I would like to thank Yvonne Schulz Zinda for providing an environment that encouraged me to teach but left enough time for research. Michael Friedrich, Hans Kühner, Na-Rhee Scherfling, Ruth Cremerius and Stefan Christ kept me happy during breaks and served as stimulating sparring partners when brainstorming new ideas.
My journey through academia would not have led me to Copenhagen without the support and trust I have received from Andrew Jackson. What started as a guest appearance took root. Six years later I am still at the University of Copenhagen. Annika Hvithamar, Jesper Nielsen and Ingolf Thuesen have succeeded in creating a welcoming and supportive atmosphere at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies despite the threats caused by COVID-19 and neoliberal belt-tightening. My brilliant colleagues support me with humor, warmth, and inspiration. It was also here in Copenhagen that Lars Kjær and Hans-Joachim Backe planted the idea in me to translate my ideas on transmedia storytelling into game jams, which I could realize on two occasions with the help of Sarah Grossi, Bo Ærenlund Sørensen, and wonderful students who accepted the challenge and created video games instead of writing traditional exam papers. The first game jam in 2019 was supported by the Korea Foundation, the second in 2022 by the Digital Curriculum based at Aarhus University.
This book has benefited from the feedback that I have received at many workshops, conferences, and invited talks. I am especially indebted to Kwon Hyukchan, William Hedberg, Robert Hegel, Kim Sung Youl, Pak Haehyǒn, Ku Jaejin, Choe Youngchul, Catherine Swatek, Hoang Yen Nguyen, Yevheniy Vakhnenko, Nick Stember, Adam Bohnet, Sixiang Wang, Jung Byungsul, Laura Moretti, Grace Koh, Tim Tangherlini, Dal Yong Jin, Ju Oak Kim, Jan Creutzenberg, Javier Cha, Dafna Zur, Jerome de Wit, Wiebke Dennecke, Jamie Jungmin Yoo, Seo Hye-eun, Kim Young, Maya Stiller, Vladimir Glomb, Isabelle Sancho, Florence Galmiche, Andrew Logie, CedarBough Saeji, Bonnie Tilland, Holly Stephens, Sim Doobo, Liang Luo, Kevin Cawley, Julia Schneider, Kim Seongsu, Cui Min, Hwang Hoduk, Martin Petersen and Fritz Buttgereit.
I thank my editors D. Ohlandt and Jenny Gavacs for their work on this book at different stages. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. The responsibility for any remaining errors is entirely my own.
While this project approaches The Journey as a story cloud that is comprised of 60 variations, I have plucked some variations from the cloud and discussed them separately in smaller studies. Extended analyses of Ch’oe Inhun’s variations appeared in English in Acta Koreana (Vol. 20, No. 1, 2017) and in Korean in the edited volume Ch’oe Inhun: Odiseusǔ ǔi hanghae [Ch’oe Inhun: the voyage of Odysseus] (2018). I used six variations to explain the dynamics of transmedia storytelling in Dal Yong Jin’s special issue “Transmedia Storytelling in the Age of Digital Media”, published in International Journal of Communication (Vol. 13, 2019). Together with my co-author Kim Young I introduced the Deep Rooted Tree manuscript as Artefact of the Month at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (2021) in Hamburg and in Korean in Chungguk sosŏl yŏn’gu hoebo [Journal of the study of Chinese fiction] (Vol. 114, 2021). I selected three visual variations to explore the possibilities of translation beyond the written word for the edited volume Transnational East Asian Studies (2023). Finally, Dong Myong Lee and I have contributed to the special section “Digital Korean Studies” with a study on visualization of story universes in Korean Studies (Vol. 47, 2023), for which we used three variations from this project. I thank all reviewers and editors for reading my ideas and helping me to improve them.
My work on this book was supported by different institutions at various stages, including the Social Science Research Council, the Academy of Korean Studies, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and the Korea Foundation. I am deeply grateful for the generous financial support.
My source of hope and optimism is my family. My parents Anni and Volker Wall and my mother-in-law Im Cha Sun had the courage to support my ideas, although they were often diametrically opposed to theirs. My brother Lars Peter Wall and his partner Anja Wall provided shelter at times when my situation left me without a roof over my head. They have shouldered many family tasks that I could not fulfill, since I was away most of the time. I also thank my sisters- and brothers-in law, Lee Dong Ha, Lee Dong Chu, Lee Dong Suk, Lee Dong Cho, Lee Dong Hǔi, and Lee Dong Hun for welcoming me whenever we are back in Korea. My biggest heroes are my partner Dong Myong Lee and our two sons Rumbin and Jeongin. I dedicate this book to them.