Lee praised for modern translation of 'Beowulf'

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Mon, May 21, 2018 | 10:31

Books

Lee praised for modern translation of 'Beowulf'

Posted : 2017-09-29 15:15

Updated : 2017-09-29 20:14

By Yun Suh-young

Cover of the book Beowulf by Lee Sung-il / Courtesy of Lee Sung-il

"Why read this translation of Beowulf? Because there isn't a better one to be found," writes Robert D. Stevick in the foreword of the newly published "Beowulf in Parallel Texts" by Lee Sung-il. Stevick is a professor emeritus of the University of Washington.

Why so? Because it "reads so well aloud," and "nothing gets in the way," according to the American professor.

"The choice of words is always true to the text being translated, and always belongs to the active literary language of Modern English. Each (word) seems and smells like a careful choice by a connoisseur of English literary composition."

Further, the book is lauded by several Western scholars who wrote recommendations, including professor emeritus Derek Pearsall from Harvard University, who said, "The naturalness of the flow of language is one of the most admirable features of the translation."

Such compliments from scholars of Western background means a lot to a Korean scholar whose mother tongue is not English.

"I was overwhelmed when I saw that phrase and also quite embarrassed to have it on the very cover of the book because it looked boastful. But they already went into print and couldn't remove it," Lee Sung-il said, modestly, in an interview with The Korea Times. Lee is a professor emeritus of Yonsei University who retired in 2009 after 28 years of teaching. He was a founding member of the Medieval English Studies Association of Korea. He received his master's degree from the University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in English literature. Lee's modern English translation of Beowulf was recently published by Cascade Books, a publisher in Oregon.

"I feel thrilled to receive glowing compliments from Western scholars because I'm not a native English speaker. English is an acquired language for me so I felt a sense of mission toward myself. I wanted to challenge the literary scholars of the English language across the world. They might hate the book because students can now read flawlessly," the 74-year-old scholar said, chuckling.

The book is his first English-to-English (medieval-to-modern) translation book to be published. His previous works have been mostly English-to-Korean or vice versa.

The book provides medieval and modern English texts running in parallel on side-to-side pages. The modern translation on the right side is for general readers to enjoy, while the medieval English on the left is for students of English literature who are studying the original text. There is a thorough textual and explanatory notes section at the end of the book which also discusses scholarly interpretations of problematic phrases and lines.

Professor emeritus Lee Sung-il of Yonsei University

"My first love is Old English. Why do I love it so much? Because it's so much fun. And because there are no mushy love stories in medieval epic poems. I was sick and tired of Shakespearean love stories. Although I wrote my dissertation on Shakespeare, I was deeply in love with old English poems," he said.

"Epic poems are worlds of warriors. They're about loyalty, bravery. That's what attracted me as a young man."

If anyone remembers Beowulf's plot from the school curriculum, it is about a warrior named Beowulf of the Geats who comes to the aid of the king of the Danes to fight a monster, Grendel. Beowulf defeats Grendel and also his mother who comes to avenge her son's death, and becomes a hero. Later, Beowulf is crowned king of the Geats. One day, a dragon attacks his kingdom and, to protect his people, Beowulf volunteers to fight when nobody else wishes to. However, in the battle, Beowulf is mortally wounded and dies. The people of Geats honor the king as their brave protector. Created at least a millennium ago, it is considered the oldest surviving long poem of Old English literature.

"I'm so happy now. I'm over 70 and I don't mind when I die because my book will be on the shelves of libraries across the world!" Lee said.

Now 74, Lee says he still has so much to do. Regarding his future plans, he said, "Right now I'm working on short poems to be published as an anthology of Old English poems. And after that I'll continue translating other works. I have so much to do!"

ysy@ktimes.com