By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
For Korean-American and English major Irene Park, it was bothersome to find that it was so hard for third-generation Koreans in the United States to find an easy gateway to connect with their ethnic heritage. This perhaps was the reason why the 24-year-old aspiring writer was drawn to the 40th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, where she eventually won the grand prize for fiction.
``There are many creative minds among the Korean literary populace just waiting to burst into the arena of international renown, but hardly sufficient venues to give voice to these individuals and their brilliance. I always found this to be unfortunate,'' Park said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times.
Park won the award by translating Yoon Sung-hee's ``Possibly,'' a winner at the Yi Sang Literature Award in 2008.
It was by chance that she found the novel to work on, which she thought was ``simultaneously charming and melancholy.''
``(I) loved the twist of eternally purple-lipped children, which I interpreted as a humorous and even somewhat sarcastic insert by the writer. After reading the entire story, I imagined the writer to be one of those individuals who, though they appear soft on the exterior, are in actuality quite crafty and possess trenchant perspective about the inner workings of the world. That was very intriguing to me,'' she said.
Translating a novel can be time consuming not to mention a difficult task, but Park replied that she had much fun in the process. Being a perfectionist, she admitted, Park strived to ensure that she was setting herself apart from mediocre translations. With a little help from her Korean-American boyfriend, she believed that ``the entire venture was a challenge of its own accord.''
``I tried to analyze the characters, their actions and their significance in order to really grasp the overall theme and message of the story, and convey that, albeit through a different language,'' she said.
When asked what she found special or unique about Korean works, Park pointed out the love-hate relationship Koreans in general have with their heritage.
``While many individuals will freely put down his or her own culture, he or she will immediately switch into defense mode if anyone else is to take those same liberties. Koreans also take great pride in the accomplishments of their fellow countrymen and seem more attentive than peoples of even other Asian cultures to Korea spreading its name in the global arena,'' Park said.
``Accordingly, I think these elements are very pronounced in the works of Korean writers. They have a profound interest in dissecting the Korean mindset and, often unintentionally, depict very shrewdly the mannerisms and esoteric elements of Koreans.''
As the Grand Prize winner, The Korea Times asked Park what she thought made a good translator. She answered that it's important to consider the nuances of both languages in consideration.
``I don't profess myself to be an expert in either Korean or English, but I do try my best to be true to what the author is trying to convey by being meticulous and by attempting to understand the underlying themes of the piece to be translated,'' she said.
``I've often seen translators be too prideful about their original language, choosing the exact wording of the original language over sounding fluent in the second. It's important to strike that delicate balance between the two points of reference.''
Park currently coordinates books for publishing and contributes stories to English magazines in Korea. When asked about her future plans, she said she was looking forward to traveling and experiencing new cultures.
``As for my projects in writing, I'd love to publish a book some day. So I grab my pen and notebook as often as I can for that. I do hope to venture into the Modern Korean Literature Translation contest again in the future as well.''