Value of Korean Dramatists

By Will Kern

This year, The Korea Times hosts the 40th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards. As in years past, the contest fails to include a category for one of the nation's most vibrant literary art forms: the stage play.

Why is drama not considered a suitable category for the translation award? Why are there categories for novels, novellas, short stories, and poetry but not one for drama?

Surely there is a precedent to include one. The Nobel Prize for Literature, the biggest and most prestigious prize of its kind, has gone to 12 playwrights in its 108-year history.

Past winners include Eugene O'Neill, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Goa Xingjian. And the United States' Pulitzer Prize for Drama, celebrating the cream of American theater writing, is one of the world's top literature awards, honoring giants like Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams.

Drama is unquestionably literature. But is it considered so in South Korea? To leave it out of the literature translation awards seems to imply that it is somehow lesser ― not as well written, and certainly not as important ― than the other categories. Beneath the standard of what ``literature'' is.

But looking at famous Korean plays, aren't they at least equal to, if not better than, the other forms of fictional writing?

Two of Korea's most famous films, ``The King's Man'' and ``Memories of Murder,'' were originally stage plays. The King's Man comes from the historical epic ``Ee'' by Kim Tae-woong, and Memories of Murder was based on the crime drama ``Come and See Me'' by Kim Hwang-lim. Both writers are among Korea's finest, but because they write plays, their work is ineligible.

Shouldn't the translation award be open to their plays and other plays as well? Modern classics like Choe In-hoon's poetic drama ``Hey Moon, Hey Moon, Bright Moon''; Hwang Chi-woo's political comedy ``Byun,'' which was co-written with Lee Sang-oo; and the latter's comedy ``Old Thieves,'' which is a popular revival now in its second year in Daehangno, central Seoul.

Hwang's work is a perfect case in point. Hwang is one of the nation's top poets, and his poetry has been translated into many different languages and published worldwide. But under the rules of the contest, his poetry would be considered and his theater writing would not be.

Does this mean his comedy Byun is somehow unequal to his other work? He writes for the stage ― poetic and visually provocative pieces like ``The Bride in May'' and ``Material Man.'' Are these really lesser works because they are dramas? Do they suddenly become non-poetry because they are written for the stage?

Korean theater writers are underutilized, but they shouldn't be. Their plays could be cultural ambassadors, acting as a mirror and a window into the Korean soul, but they have never been given the chance. This is not the case with China, which exported the martial arts play ``Soul of Shaolin'' to New York City and recently received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for the effort.

This is a major coup for Chinese dramatic arts. At the same time, it has succeeded in doing what tourist ministries are constantly trying to do: promote cultural awareness and enhance the country's brand.

In a brand-conscious country like this one, doesn't it make sense to try and explore new ways of attaining worldwide recognition? And couldn't Korean dramatists be part of that? Korea could enjoy the kind of artistic relevance that China is starting to get, and other areas of the world already have.

Korea's dramatists could be as famous as Scandinavia's, with its mighty heroes of Ibsen and Strindberg. This is small nation but it has excellent traditions, and its theater writers collectively are second to none.

This recognition, however, is never going to happen until good translations are made of the already excellent plays, and they are promoted to and produced in theaters across the world.

As to production, that may be a question of getting the right person or artistic team in the right place. The musical ``Oh! While You Were Sleeping,'' book and lyrics by Chang You-jeong and music by Kim Hae-sung, has been in an open run in Seoul since it premiered in 2005.

While it may not be the literary equivalent of ``Romeo and Juliet,'' it is as good as ``West Side Story,'' as good as ``Rent,'' as good as most American musicals, and if given the chance in New York or London, it could make a real splash on the international scene. Its success in either city would cause a ripple effect that would spread to the rest of the world, and open doors for other Korean artists.

It would get people talking about Korea in a way that is different from the way they do now. This would be great for the brand, and show a light on the Korean musical that has until now, internationally, always been in shadow.

In the category of plays ``ready to break out'' is Kim Tae-woong's Ee. Ee is a classic in world literature, truly one of the great plays written in any language. Its combination of soaring poetic dialogue, intriguing characters, and compelling, interweaving plotlines signals a master at his craft. But the only ones who know this treasure are Koreans and fluent foreigners who go to the theater. And me.

I had the good fortune of being given the opportunity to translate Kim's masterwork. It's a very difficult piece, full of puns and great poetry, written in old Korean.

As I slowly went through the process, the play opened up like a beautiful flower, from its strange opening to its devastating conclusion. By the end of the process, I knew I had something that bordered on magical. But outside of this peninsula, nobody knows it.

And until Korean dramatists become widely translated and their works are performed by overseas theater companies, it's likely to stay that way. So here's hoping that in the future, The Korea Times will include a drama category in the Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, and give Korean dramatists the respect they surely deserve.

Will Kern is a professor of Intercultural Communications at Sookmyung Women's University. His play ``Mothers and Tigers'' premiered at the Seoul Arts Center in December. He can be reached at will@willkern.com.