By Kim Ji-myung
"Without it being written in English and spread on internet, even a truly attractive or valuable story of Korea would move the minds of only a handful of people on earth."
This has always been my personal belief. The success of Korean idol groups, dramas and films abroad owe much to excellent translations. But it is not only contemporary Korean popular culture that benefits from translations.
"The records of all states, how strong or weak they were.
Alas, why such differences amid the same humanity!
While some peoples, seeing ahead, swagger over land and ocean,
Why do we lag and linger, in the dark of the night?"
Don't these lines sound like they are taken straight from an English verse? The "we" here are the Koreans, living in the turbulent period of the Korean Empire (1897-1910). The author deplores the frustrating situation of his fatherland. I am sure these rhymed lines, translated into English from an old document, will come into the hearts of modern Koreans, more than the original poem in the classical Chinese or the hangeul-translated versions.
Among the 2,475 items from the documentary heritage of the National Debt Redemption Movement (1907-1910) which are listed on the UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, included are a few verses. The translation team now transforming the mixed texts in old Chinese, old Hangeul and modern Hangeul into English, face considerable challenges due to the vast differences in use of words, expressions and social customs.
As a project manager of this translation and archiving project, one of the first tasks was finding the best team of translators and editors. It was our luck that the scheduled translation work of the Veritable Records (or Annals) of the Joseon Kingdom had been completed. It meant that well-proven translators and editors were available for our project.
The mission that kept me awake at night was who will come up with the translation of those verses. Through previous experience with literary translation award projects, I know for sure that proficiency in English or knowledge in English literature do not guarantee impressive literary translation. I was lucky again this time that I could persuade a reliable translator and a famed editor to accept my invitation to help with those "national debt redemption verses."
"And lo, some men of wisdom, leading their obscure village lives,
Spent days musing on how to clear the mountain of national debt!
We, twenty million countrymen, can raise money, they say,
By giving up smoking for just three months. What an idea! ―
For, not only is it good for health, it means no loss of money!"
If the readers are moved by these few lines, I am sure, it is by the magic of translation. Because the original text is hard even for Koreans to understand.
The translation process has been relatively smooth, except for a few issues. The first problem is the diverse use of terminology.
The documents were created in the process of initiating a fund-raising campaign by two visionaries in 1907. To spread the campaign nationwide, letters of appeal, declarations, editorials, letters of recommendation, agreements reached among clan members, circulars, royal edicts, were created and propagated. Korea, like China, had profuse academic and scholarly sources of classical writings.
I could count more than 50 different names of document forms. Each differed in its background and significance. Although we don't even know such forms or styles nowadays, translation should not simply ignore the differences.
Another problem was the titles of groups, organizations and institutions for fund raising. In a surprising speed, small and big groups, organizations, associations, leagues, societies, unions and alliances for fund-raising were created nationwide. Centers and headquarters for managing the funds were also set up under various names.
There remains much work to be done to introduce this historical movement by translating documents into English.
"In Daegu, women came forward with their scarfs and toupees,
Taking off as well their rings and accessories, and whatnot!
If men are great, greater still are women at heart!" the poem continues.
Beginning in 2020, the people of the world will be able to read some of the texts and discover how the Korean people did struggle to hold on to the nation's sovereignty through financial independence.
The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairperson of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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This has always been my personal belief. The success of Korean idol groups, dramas and films abroad owe much to excellent translations. But it is not only contemporary Korean popular culture that benefits from translations.
"The records of all states, how strong or weak they were.
Alas, why such differences amid the same humanity!
While some peoples, seeing ahead, swagger over land and ocean,
Why do we lag and linger, in the dark of the night?"
Don't these lines sound like they are taken straight from an English verse? The "we" here are the Koreans, living in the turbulent period of the Korean Empire (1897-1910). The author deplores the frustrating situation of his fatherland. I am sure these rhymed lines, translated into English from an old document, will come into the hearts of modern Koreans, more than the original poem in the classical Chinese or the hangeul-translated versions.
Among the 2,475 items from the documentary heritage of the National Debt Redemption Movement (1907-1910) which are listed on the UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, included are a few verses. The translation team now transforming the mixed texts in old Chinese, old Hangeul and modern Hangeul into English, face considerable challenges due to the vast differences in use of words, expressions and social customs.
As a project manager of this translation and archiving project, one of the first tasks was finding the best team of translators and editors. It was our luck that the scheduled translation work of the Veritable Records (or Annals) of the Joseon Kingdom had been completed. It meant that well-proven translators and editors were available for our project.
The mission that kept me awake at night was who will come up with the translation of those verses. Through previous experience with literary translation award projects, I know for sure that proficiency in English or knowledge in English literature do not guarantee impressive literary translation. I was lucky again this time that I could persuade a reliable translator and a famed editor to accept my invitation to help with those "national debt redemption verses."
"And lo, some men of wisdom, leading their obscure village lives,
Spent days musing on how to clear the mountain of national debt!
We, twenty million countrymen, can raise money, they say,
By giving up smoking for just three months. What an idea! ―
For, not only is it good for health, it means no loss of money!"
If the readers are moved by these few lines, I am sure, it is by the magic of translation. Because the original text is hard even for Koreans to understand.
The translation process has been relatively smooth, except for a few issues. The first problem is the diverse use of terminology.
The documents were created in the process of initiating a fund-raising campaign by two visionaries in 1907. To spread the campaign nationwide, letters of appeal, declarations, editorials, letters of recommendation, agreements reached among clan members, circulars, royal edicts, were created and propagated. Korea, like China, had profuse academic and scholarly sources of classical writings.
I could count more than 50 different names of document forms. Each differed in its background and significance. Although we don't even know such forms or styles nowadays, translation should not simply ignore the differences.
Another problem was the titles of groups, organizations and institutions for fund raising. In a surprising speed, small and big groups, organizations, associations, leagues, societies, unions and alliances for fund-raising were created nationwide. Centers and headquarters for managing the funds were also set up under various names.
There remains much work to be done to introduce this historical movement by translating documents into English.
"In Daegu, women came forward with their scarfs and toupees,
Taking off as well their rings and accessories, and whatnot!
If men are great, greater still are women at heart!" the poem continues.
Beginning in 2020, the people of the world will be able to read some of the texts and discover how the Korean people did struggle to hold on to the nation's sovereignty through financial independence.
The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairperson of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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