By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
International translators have agreed that more of Korean literature should be introduced to third world countries where only a small number of Korean works are known.
Six renowned translators from China, Vietnam, Brazil and Spain gathered Tuesday to discuss the problems of Korean literature worldwide. The meeting was held one day before the 2nd International Translators' Conference organized by the Korea Literature Translation Institute, which began Wednesday and will run through Thursday.
``First of all, the biggest problem facing Korean literature translation is too much emphasis on short stories rather than novels and other long stories. The novels and long stories have tended to be overshadowed by poetry and short fiction,'' said Bruce Fulton, a professor at the University of British Columbia.
He said that the novels enjoy more general readership, and are preferred by large commercial publishers in America.
Im Yun-jung, a graduate from the University of Sao Paulo, said that Korean literature, for example her translation of Korean novelist Yi Sang's works, has gained popularity in Brazil. ``Many Brazilians have read Yi's works and liked them, but Korean literary translations are extremely rare except for my translations. The lack of translators from Korean to Portuguese is also part of the reason,'' she said.
It was the same in China. Han Mei, a professor of Korean language at Sandong University, said that even though China has tons of Korean literature translations, it still lags behind readers' demands.
``There are 20,000 Chinese who are learning the Korean language. But the current supply of hard copies of Korean literature translations fails even to meet the demands of Chinese students learning the Korean language. It's a more serious shortage for general readers,'' she said.
According to Francisco J. Carranza Romero of the Institute of Asian and American Studies of Dankook University, in Hispanic countries there is only one university teaching Korean in Spain, two in Mexico, two in Peru and one in Chile.
``Korean language and literature remains quite limited to the public … Korean literature should draw universal human sympathy from various countries rather than being concerned too much about winning the Nobel Prize for Literature,'' he said.
Yoon Ji-kwan, director of the institute, said that it will also expand literary exchange with other countries such as the Middle East and North Eastern Asian countries.
``So we've invited translators from third world countries to the conference. Eighteen translators are giving presentations at the conference,'' he said.
Yoon said that the institute will hold a week-long event to promote Korean literature in Russia from Oct. 24. Also, Korean literature events will take place in Belgium, Jordan, Egypt and Mexico in November.
The forum began with keynote speeches from poet Kim Ji-ha and Song Jae-so, emeritus professor of Sungkyunkwan University. Kim Seong-kon, a professor of Seoul National University, and authors Park Beom-sin, Yun Heung-gil and Choe Yun, and translators Fulton, Ahn Woo-sik, Kevin O'Rourke and Han Mei will further discuss ``Author and Translator, Creation and Re-Creation'' at a roundtable discussion.
Also, O'Rourke and Ha Minh Thanh of the Vietnam National University, Francisco J. Carranza Romero of the Institute of Asian and American Studies, Dankook University, and Andres Felipe Solano Mendoza, a writer from Colombia, will talk about the ``Korean Literature in an Around the World-Outlook and Proposals.''