Memories of My Ghost Brother by Heinz Insu Fenkl

We are 'haunted by the ghosts of the past,' 'touched by the ghost of a memory,' 'haunted by conscience,' moved by 'a haunting melody.' Over the years I've come to believe that literal and figurative hauntings can be the same: memories are ghosts of the past and ghosts are those memories embodied.Īnd both-not coincidentally-have a strong connection to place. In trying to explain my ghosts in a common language that makes sense to everyone, I have found it useful to talk about haunting, a word and concept imbued with the idea of ghosts, but also associated with memory and emotion. The question is sometimes blunt and sometimes politely round-about, and I've had to answer it in many different contexts: in classes full of students who were curious about the Japanese Colonel and Gannan, among skeptically-minded friends and colleagues who want to insist that I am creating a literary trope, among anamist Koreans of my mother's generation who find my ghosts commonplace.

Author Statement A few notes on Memories of My Ghost Brother Heinz Insu FenklĮveryone who has heard me read from Memories of My Ghost Brother eventually asks me if I believe in ghosts.

Memories of My Ghost Brother by Heinz Insu Fenkl