Hang Kang's Human Acts was first published serially in an online literary magazine from 2013 to 2014 and published in book form in 2014. It is a dramatization of the so-called Gwangju Uprising, which took place in South Korea in 1980 and aimed to make the country more democratic.
Each chapter in the novel follows a different person, each of whom is involved with, and ultimately suffers due to their involvement in, the Gwangju Uprising in one way or another. However, each character is connected to Kang Dong-ho, who is the subject of the novel's first chapter. For instance, the book's second chapter follows Jeong-dae, Kang Dong-ho's friend who died during the Uprising. The fifth chapter tells the story of Seon-ju, who dealt with terrible sexual abuse because of her involvement in the Uprising.
Critics have hailed Human Acts as one of the most influential novels to come out of South Korea during the 21st century thus far. In a review of the novel, Eimear McBride of The Guardian said that Kang's novel is "Neither inviting nor shying away from modern-day parallels; Han neatly unpacks the social and political catalysts behind the massacre and maps its lengthy, toxic fallout. But remarkable is how she accomplishes this while still making it a novel of blood and bone." It shined a light on the Uprising for a new generation; its popularity has also spurred the development of a play, musical composition, three T.V. shows, and five films.
