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| The cover of "Yi Sang: Selected Works" (2020), translated by Jack Jung et al. / Courtesy of Wave Books |
By Park Han-sol
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| Poet Yi Sang / Korea Times file |
The team of four translators behind Yi's collection of poems and essays was named the winner of the 17th Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a Translation of a Literary Work.
Since 1999, the prize has been awarded by the MLA ― an organization founded in 1883 dedicated to the study of modern languages and literature ― to a book-length literary work translated into English.
The book, the English publication of which was made possible through the sponsorship of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), is the result of a collaborative effort of Jack Jung, Sawako Nakayasu, Joyelle McSweeney and Choi Don-mee.
Choi previously received the 2019 International Griffin Poetry Prize with her translation of poet Kim Hye-soon's "Autobiography of Death," as well as the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry for her own piece, "DMZ Colony."
"[Yi Sang's] writing combines fable, fantasy, satire, parody, Dadaism, concrete poetry and quasi-translation, and presents a steep challenge to translation," the selection committee's citation reads, commending the team for bringing Yi's experimental, dreamlike pieces to life in English.
"With its evocation of alien typographies, its professed decadence and its indifference to hierarchy, Yi Sang's writing fits on neither side of the colonial relationship that defined Korea and Japan. The elegant format and plural translating voices make this book a suitable monument to this intriguing figure."
The award will be presented to the translators on Jan. 8, 2022, during the MLA's annual convention scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C.
The anthology constitutes a total of 69 pieces, composed by Yi during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial occupation of Korea before he met his untimely death at the age of 27 due to tuberculosis. The majority of the works ― 49 poems, six essays and two short stories ― were originally written in Korean, while 12 poems were written in Japanese.
Yi, born as Kim Hae-gyeong, was one of Korea's most innovative writers of the early 20th century ― a figure much ahead of his time. The poet's modernist works remained largely neglected until after the 1950-53 Korean War.
In 1977, the Yi Sang Literary Award was established to celebrate his short but profound achievements. His iconic avant-garde works include "The Wings" and "Crow's Eye View."
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