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| Sean Lin Halbert, third from left, speaks at a news conference for the 16th Literature Translation Institute (LTI) Korea Awards at Koreana Hotel in central Seoul, Monday. Halbert is one of the eight winners of the LTI Korea Awards for aspiring translators. Retired Japanese professor Masuo Omura, second from left, and Janet Hong, left, were chosen as the winners for the LTI Korea Translation Award. The award ceremony will take place in Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of LTI Korea |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Since 2010, there has been some good news for Korean literature. Scattered anecdotes have delivered the unprecedented successes of translated Korean fiction overseas.
Among others, Han Kang's award-winning book "The Vegetarian" has been widely cited as a game changer that has turned global readers' attention to Korean fiction.
Literary translator Deborah Smith was lauded for her role in bridging cultures of the original text and target language, albeit with allegations about translation errors not fully resolved.
Despite the global success of some Korean literature, the vast majority of translated literary works have remained out of global readers' attention.
Amid disappointments, there have been some positive changes, which occurred outside literary circles but helped Korean literary works widen their global reader base.
During a recent event in Seoul where literary translators gathered, celebrity endorsements and K-pop were mentioned as benefactors to Korean literature.
"In general, Korean literature is not popular in Japan and only a handful of Japanese readers are interested in Korean literature," Masuo Omura, a retired professor of Waseda University, said during a news conference for the Literature Translation Institute (LTI) Korea Translation Awards at Koreana Hotel in central Seoul on Monday. "Despite the tough days, I believe the future for Korean literature will be very different."
Omura is one of the three winners of the 16th LTI Korea Translation Awards. Two others are Korean-Canadian translator Janet Hong and Lidia Azarina from Russia.
Among them, Omura won the top prize presented by the culture minister.
LTI Korea presented outstanding service awards to French publishing house Editions Philippe Picquier and Katharina Borchardt from Germany for their respective roles in promoting translated Korean literary works in Europe.
Seven emerging translators in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese were also honored by LTI Korea. Sean Lin Halbert, who won the Korea Times Translation Award in November, is one of the seven winners.
The state-run institution presented the awards at a ceremony on Tuesday.
Omura was decorated for his decades of service and devotion to translating Korean literary works into Japanese to widen the reader base there. He has participated in the ambitious project that began in 1998 to translate eight selected contemporary Joseon literary pieces. Among the eight books, he translated two books ― Kang Kyung-ae's "Human Problems" and Lee Ki-young's "Hometown."
"I have a firm belief that some day in the future, my translated work will be served as valuable resources when future-generation Japanese scholars do research about Korean literature and history," Omura said.
Yuko Matsubuchi, who won LTI Korea's aspiring translators award, said some translated Korean literary works are benefiting from celebrity endorsements in Japan.
According to her, a popular Japanese comedian recommended Korean author Park Min-kyu's "Sponge Cake" as a must-read book on a popular TV show and the book has since been available in Japanese bookstores. "I think Korean literary works are gaining attention from Japanese readers, albeit little by little," she said.
Janet Hong from Canada said Korean literature has gained much more attention from Canadian readers than ever before since the rise of some K-pop singers.
She said singer Psy's "Gangnam Style" music video served as a turning point and its enormous popularity has facilitated Canadian readers to take an interest in Korean culture, including its literature. "I have translated Korean fiction into English and also worked on my own fiction for 15 years now. Fifteen years ago when I began my literary translation career, few people were interested in Korean literature but the situation has changed a lot after the phenomenal success of Psy and then BTS," she said in Korean.
Lee Eun-jung, who translated Korean literature into French and was one of the seven aspiring translators decorated by LTI Korea, said she personally felt Korean literature is drawing much more attention from French readers than before.
"In other parts of the world, people are talking a lot about K-pop or Korean TV series as a catalyst for the popularity of Korean culture. But in France, Korean films are more popular than K-pop or dramas," she said.
Lee said French people are open-minded to new culture and new ideas and have a deeper understanding of culture. "French people in general are curious about lesser-known countries, such as Korea, and their cultures," she said.
She said French readers express their interest in young Korean authors' literary works but that most translated Korean literary works available in France are pieces written by older writers featuring decades-old topics like the Korean War, the following division of the two Koreas, poverty and clashes of ideas.
Germany-based translator Park Ji-hyeon said Han Kang's award-winning book "The Vegetarian" facilitated some German readers' interest in Korean literature. Park concurred with the need for young Korean writers' translated works to keep up the momentum.
