Fiction Commendation Award winner Julie Wi
Julie Wi is a translator from the United States who studied at the University of California Santa Barbara. She then started a master's program for Korean culture at Ewha Womans University.
She was introduced to translation after taking a course during her undergraduate studies. About two years ago, she decided to pursue a career in the field by enrolling in the Translation Academy of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. This opened up an opportunity for her to develop her translation skills.
“I think it was the diversity of the constructive feedback I received, as well as the opportunity to experiment creatively, that allowed me to improve my writing and discover more about my own approach to translation,” she said.
Wi translated the short story, "To My Pet Rice Cooker, Cuckoo,” by novelist Park Ji-young.
She shared that the author's witty approach to unfolding a sorrowful story caught her interest.
“The novel made me feel amused, uncomfortable and melancholic all at the same time, and in that sense it felt true to the tendency of emotion to be a bit contradictory. I don't think I've seen many people write about illness the way Park has — but I think in some ways her story does justice to the realities of people affected by illness more than, for instance, a more uplifting, hopeful narrative would,” she said.
“The story's absurdity and vulgarity don't make Man-seok's Alzheimer's or Seon-dong's loneliness feel any less devastating — if anything, it makes it feel more honest. It was that sense of honesty and commitment to Seondong's inner world that made me connect to the novel.”
The most difficult part of the work was translating the curse words and making sure the translation captured the essence of those words.
“Swearing in general was a central component of the story and of Man-seok's characterization, but when translating profanities, I think one can risk going overboard,” she said.
“Since there was no direct equivalent to ‘yeombyeong' in English, I had to consider the function it had in the novel and try to recreate the effect with existing English profanities. I'm not sure that I did a perfect job, but it definitely made for a fun challenge.”
For Wi, a good translation means giving the best effort when faced with difficulties of the original text.
“When reading a translation, it's usually apparent when the translator has changed or omitted an aspect of the text because they didn't notice it or didn't fully understand why it had to be there. But I believe a good translator needs to pick up on the subtleties of the source text and try to preserve what aspects are vital to their reading,” she said, adding each choice for changes needs to be purposeful.
“Above all, I think a translation just needs to be personal," she said. "Every translator has their own unique perspective, and it's these differences that ultimately make translations enjoyable to read.”