This is the second of a four-part series on the importance of translation in globalizing Korean culture. ― ED.
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Good translation holds the key to globalizing Korean literature and quality translation comes from translators of diverse backgrounds, according to experts.
Novelist Han Kang winning the Man Booker International Prize last month with "The Vegetarian" highlighted the importance of translation. Experts say that British translator Deborah Smith equally deserves credit for the honor.
Jung Ha-yun, professor of translation studies at Ewha Womans University, said literary translation is a complicated art, a walk on a tightrope, as it were, requiring both linguistic precision and aesthetic perspective.
"The situation is even trickier when it comes to Korean literature, which is underrepresented and viewed as unknown and unfamiliar on the world literature scene," Jung said. "There is great pressure on translators, especially within trade publishing, to render familiar a literary tradition based on a language and a culture that is very distant from Western languages, cultures and literature."
Smith, who studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, learned Korean over seven years and now translates Korean literary works into English.
It was Smith who brought a sample of her translation of "The Vegetarian" to Portobello Books suggesting they publish the English edition.
Jung said Smith's foremost achievement was that she pushed hard for Han's book and persuaded the publishers to pay attention to a writer from an unfamiliar literary tradition, which does not happen often enough in English-language trade publishing.
However, Jung pointed out that it is Han's writing that won the prestigious award.
"Despite being a translator quite new to the Korean language and literary tradition, Smith singularly focused on delivering the narrative voice in English, which is of the highest priority in translating a first-person novel. This is why the translation is successful even when it does not adhere closely to the original Korean," the professor said.
"I do want to stress, however, that the infidelities of her translation did not contribute to her achievement but compromised it. Her translation is a great feat for a first-time literary translator, whose work I believe will get only stronger and more beautiful with time."
When Korean literature was first introduced internationally in the 1990s, most of the translators were Koreans fluent in foreign languages and the translations were later supervised and edited by native speakers.
In the 2000s, foreigners who majored in Korean Studies or learned the Korean language joined the band of translators.
Recently, a young group of foreigners such as Smith, who learned about Korea and the language and became fascinated by Korean culture, spontaneously translate their favorite works into their mother tongue, raising the standard of translation.
However, Professor Jung is cautious about a certain group of translators to be considered the master key to the globalization of Korean literature as language is just one factor of translating literature and the ideal translator is one who is the most dedicated to her art.
"I am concerned that amidst the excitement, the award might send out a message of exclusion to aspiring translators of different backgrounds, which does not benefit anyone, not Korean literature or readers around the world," she said.
The distance between Korean and English is so great, posing immense difficulties on the translator, she said.
"So why exclude or prioritize certain types of translators based on their qualifications, especially their backgrounds? There is such a lack of translators already and I absolutely recommend that translators of different backgrounds in language and in training work together by collaborating or simply reading one another's translations or engaging in discussions about them," Jung said.
Korean literature still exists on the periphery of the literary world. Only about 1,500 Korean works have been translated and introduced overseas.
The government established the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) to support translations of Korean literature and the LTI helped with translating 1,241 books into 34 languages.
The Daesan Foundation, which promotes the globalization of Korean culture and is funded by Kyobo Life Insurance, is another organization that has supported the translation of Korean literature since 1992.
Though the number is still small compared to other countries, more foreign publishers have shown interest in Korean literature in recent years. According to the LTI, international publishing companies applied for support in translating 58 Korean novels and poems in 2015, which is a big jump from 13 in 2014.
Previously, the LTI or the Daesan Foundation translated the work first and asked for foreign companies to publish the book, but more editors are becoming interested in Korean literature.
Research commissioned by the Man Booker International Prize also shows that the sales of translated fiction in the U.K. have grown from 1.3 million copies in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2015 against a falling market. Among them, translated Korean fiction showed an exceptional increase, up from 88 copies in 2001 to 10,191 in 2015.
Updated on June 10: In the article under the headline "Good translation" on the front page of the June 8 edition, Ewha Womans University professor Jung Ha-yun's comment: "I do want to stress, however, that the infidelities of her translation did not compromise her achievement but contributed to it," should have been read as: "I do want to stress, however, that the infidelities of her translation did not contribute to her achievement but compromised it." We regret the error. ― ED.
By Kwon Mee-yoo
 |
| Han Kang's novel "The Vegetarian" is seen in a bookstore in London, May 17. / Yonhap |
Novelist Han Kang winning the Man Booker International Prize last month with "The Vegetarian" highlighted the importance of translation. Experts say that British translator Deborah Smith equally deserves credit for the honor.
Jung Ha-yun, professor of translation studies at Ewha Womans University, said literary translation is a complicated art, a walk on a tightrope, as it were, requiring both linguistic precision and aesthetic perspective.
"The situation is even trickier when it comes to Korean literature, which is underrepresented and viewed as unknown and unfamiliar on the world literature scene," Jung said. "There is great pressure on translators, especially within trade publishing, to render familiar a literary tradition based on a language and a culture that is very distant from Western languages, cultures and literature."
Smith, who studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, learned Korean over seven years and now translates Korean literary works into English.
It was Smith who brought a sample of her translation of "The Vegetarian" to Portobello Books suggesting they publish the English edition.
Jung said Smith's foremost achievement was that she pushed hard for Han's book and persuaded the publishers to pay attention to a writer from an unfamiliar literary tradition, which does not happen often enough in English-language trade publishing.
However, Jung pointed out that it is Han's writing that won the prestigious award.
"Despite being a translator quite new to the Korean language and literary tradition, Smith singularly focused on delivering the narrative voice in English, which is of the highest priority in translating a first-person novel. This is why the translation is successful even when it does not adhere closely to the original Korean," the professor said.
"I do want to stress, however, that the infidelities of her translation did not contribute to her achievement but compromised it. Her translation is a great feat for a first-time literary translator, whose work I believe will get only stronger and more beautiful with time."
When Korean literature was first introduced internationally in the 1990s, most of the translators were Koreans fluent in foreign languages and the translations were later supervised and edited by native speakers.
In the 2000s, foreigners who majored in Korean Studies or learned the Korean language joined the band of translators.
Recently, a young group of foreigners such as Smith, who learned about Korea and the language and became fascinated by Korean culture, spontaneously translate their favorite works into their mother tongue, raising the standard of translation.
However, Professor Jung is cautious about a certain group of translators to be considered the master key to the globalization of Korean literature as language is just one factor of translating literature and the ideal translator is one who is the most dedicated to her art.
"I am concerned that amidst the excitement, the award might send out a message of exclusion to aspiring translators of different backgrounds, which does not benefit anyone, not Korean literature or readers around the world," she said.
The distance between Korean and English is so great, posing immense difficulties on the translator, she said.
"So why exclude or prioritize certain types of translators based on their qualifications, especially their backgrounds? There is such a lack of translators already and I absolutely recommend that translators of different backgrounds in language and in training work together by collaborating or simply reading one another's translations or engaging in discussions about them," Jung said.
Korean literature still exists on the periphery of the literary world. Only about 1,500 Korean works have been translated and introduced overseas.
The government established the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) to support translations of Korean literature and the LTI helped with translating 1,241 books into 34 languages.
The Daesan Foundation, which promotes the globalization of Korean culture and is funded by Kyobo Life Insurance, is another organization that has supported the translation of Korean literature since 1992.
Though the number is still small compared to other countries, more foreign publishers have shown interest in Korean literature in recent years. According to the LTI, international publishing companies applied for support in translating 58 Korean novels and poems in 2015, which is a big jump from 13 in 2014.
Previously, the LTI or the Daesan Foundation translated the work first and asked for foreign companies to publish the book, but more editors are becoming interested in Korean literature.
Research commissioned by the Man Booker International Prize also shows that the sales of translated fiction in the U.K. have grown from 1.3 million copies in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2015 against a falling market. Among them, translated Korean fiction showed an exceptional increase, up from 88 copies in 2001 to 10,191 in 2015.
Updated on June 10: In the article under the headline "Good translation" on the front page of the June 8 edition, Ewha Womans University professor Jung Ha-yun's comment: "I do want to stress, however, that the infidelities of her translation did not compromise her achievement but contributed to it," should have been read as: "I do want to stress, however, that the infidelities of her translation did not contribute to her achievement but compromised it." We regret the error. ― ED.
