'What matters in translation is tone of each voice'
Han Kang, author of “The Vegetarian” and winner of the Man Booker Prize, introduces her new book “The Elegy of Whiteness” at a press conference, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soon
Man Booker Prize winner says honor came unexpectedly
By Park Jin-hai
Han Kang, the author of this year’s Man Booker International Prize winning “The Vegetarian,” said the award win was unexpected.
“I was in the U.K. to discuss my new book The Elegy of Whiteness that will be published there. I didn’t expect the award,” said Han, during a press conference at a book cafe in Seoul, Tuesday, to introduce her new book.
“The Vegetarian,” a three-part novel first published in Korean in 2007, tells the story of Yeong-hye, a homemaker who has nightmares which cause her to become a vegetarian. It won the respected Man Booker prize last week for its English translation completed by British translator Deborah Smith in 2015.
“During the awards ceremony, I kept my composure and stayed calm because it was a book that I finished writing 11 years ago,” she said. “It felt surreal and strange in a good way for my book to get the award after all those years and in a place so far away from my own country.”
Han said “The Vegetarian” could be an uneasy novel for readers. “When I write I don’t think about my future readers, because I have no room left in my internal struggle over whether I can finish the book or not,” she said.
“While reading my novel, readers could feel uneasy. I want readers to understand it as a form of question that I have about whether we can endure a world where violence coexists with beauty. Now I have moved on from the question I raised 11 years ago and will continue moving forward.”
As for its English translation, Han said that what was important was to preserve the same tone of the original novel. “I’ve always been intrigued by the subtlety of language. I think language is a channel that connects in this world and for that, translation is really important,” she said.
“What matters in translation is the tone of each voice. When I first saw Deborah’s work — in particular, Yeoung-hye’s very first monologue — I thought that we were speaking the same language. That led to total trust between us on that and following works as well.”
The publication rights for the book have been sold to 27 countries. It has gone into a second printing of 20,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 7,500 copies in the United States, according to Korean Literary Management, an agency that handles authors’ publication rights in foreign markets.
Local literary circles, which have been tarnished by plagiarism scandals and slow sales in recent years, have been especially buoyed by Han, whose award will boost the readership of Korean books globally.
Her new book “The Elegy of Whiteness” is an experimental novel, which stands between a novel and poem, telling the story of life and death. “The whiteness has both life and death in it in the Korean cultural context. The Elegy of Whiteness is about something that cannot be destroyed and tainted like transparency, life and lightness,” Han said.
The author will participate in the upcoming Vanishing Point exhibition, a collaboration work with media artist Cha Mi-hye, which will kick off June 3 in Seoul. During the 24-day exhibition Han will use nonverbal language as an extended form of writing, in relation to “The Elegy of Whiteness.”