|
Inside Cloud Cuckoo Land:
The Voice of Korea Written by Lee In-soo, Compiled and Edited by Lee Sung-il and Sung-won; Association for Textual Study and Production at English Department of Troy University; 246 pp., $32.95 |
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The new book, ``Inside Cloud Cuckoo Land: The Voice of Korea,'' is a compilation of essays in English and translations of modern Korean poems and short stories by the late professor Lee In-soo.
Lee pioneered translating Korean literature into English in the 1940s and the works included in the book were made during his professorship at Korea University from 1946 to 1950.
The book consists of two parts. The first comprises 25 prose essays written in English by Lee including ``Aesthetic Achievements of Korea: A Historical Survey of Classic Art,'' ``Plea for a Moral Education,'' ``Democracy in the Orient: From a Non-Political Point of View'' and ``The Students' National Guard: Its Purpose and Function,'' which capture the political, social and cultural situation over five years until the Korean War broke out.
The timely-written essays might be a good source for readers who study modern Korean history and literature as it portrays the turbulent moments and changes following the liberation of the country in 1945, up to the outbreak of the war in 1950.
The second part contains Lee's translations of 45 modern Korean poems such as Han Yong-un's ``Mountain Abode,'' Cho Myong-hui's ``A Prayer,'' Kim So-wol's ``Wild Flowers of the Mountains,'' Yi Yuk-sa's ``The Vertex'' and Yu Chi-hwan's ``Sun of My Life.''
It also covers translated verses for the young written by Yun So-jung including ``Half Past Four''' and ``Day and Night'' to name just two.
Of the two stories included in this part, ``The Rock'' by Kim Dong-ni was translated into English. The most noteworthy work is the translation of ``The Wing'' authored by Yi Sang. Although it was not completed and remains in fragmentary manuscript, it is regarded as a rare but important attempt for a Korean scholar to translate one of the most complicated and abstruse pieces of Korean literature into English targeting overseas readers when Korean writing was almost unknown to the world.
The book not only includes modern writing in English but also tackles the problems brought by Western influences from the view of the author.
Lee's works emerged on the international scene more than five decades ago. Translation of Korean literature into English began in the 1940s with the pioneering work of Lee, although a few isolated publications can be found before this. After liberation from Japan in 1945 and the Korean War, Koreans soon realized that their literature was unnoticed abroad because of a lack of translations. Early attempts were made by Lee and other fellow pioneers.
As a holder of a B.A. Honors degree from University College London, he taught English literature at Korea University until the Korean War broke out in 1950 when he died.
The late professor Gregory Henderson of Tufts University, a former foreign service officer in Korea, wrote in his memoir of Lee: ``He did not live in a simple, clear-cut age but faced times and values which he found complex … He actually stood shoulder to shoulder with many of the best minds of his age, especially in the West.''
The book is compiled and edited by the late professor's sons, Lee Sung-il and Sung-won and published by the Association for Textual Study and Production at the English Department of Troy University in the United States.
chungay@koreatimes.co.kr |
|
yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
