Korean literature in translation enjoys growing universal appeal

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, October 2, 2023 | 10:50

Books

Korean literature in translation enjoys growing universal appeal

Posted : 2023-05-26 16:19

Updated : 2023-05-28 17:00

From left, book cover of "Whale," "Violets" and "Love in the Big City" / Courtesy of Literature Translation Institute of Korea

By Kwak Yeon-soo

As Korean literature in translation continues to reach more international readers, Korean authors are achieving a growing presence in the global publishing market. So far, a total of eight novels have been nominated for prestigious literary awards this year.

Although it missed out on the 2023 International Booker Prize, novelist-director Cheon Myeong-kwan's "Whale," translated by Kim Chi-young, was shortlisted for the British literary award. He is the third Korean writer to be shortlisted for the award following "The Vegetarian" and "The White Book" author Han Kang, who was selected in 2016 and 2018, and "Cursed Bunny" author Bora Chung, who was selected last year.

"Whale," a multi-generational tale that sheds light on growth and modernization in Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War, is set to be translated into several languages.

The U.K. edition was released in January while the U.S. version was dropped in May. The novel was published in other languages, including German, Russian, Japanese and Turkish, with assistance from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).

"In recent years, there's been an uptick in the number of Korean novels translated into foreign languages, and the literary world has taken note with Han Kang receiving the International Booker Prize in 2016 for her novel 'The Vegetarian,'" an LTI Korea official said.

"Modern Family," also by Cheon, will be published into six languages including English, French, Russian, Chinese, Mongolian and Romanian.

Novelist Park Sang-young's "Love in the Big City," which was longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, has also been longlisted for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award. This year's prize went to German author Katja Oskamp and translator Jo Heinrich.

Shin Kyung-sook's "Violets" was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Awards and also shortlisted in the fiction category for 2023 Firecracker Awards, which will announce the winners on June 22. Both Park and Shin's novels were translated into English by Anton Hur.

In Russia, a Russian version of "Summer Outside" by Kim Ae-ran and "Sweet Violence" by Jeong Yi-hyun were nominated for the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award. The winners will be announced in October.

In Japan, a local translation of "Becoming Cyborg" penned by Kim Cho-yeop and "Prism" by Sohn Won-pyung were each nominated for the Japanese Translation Award and Japanese Booksellers' Awards in the category of translated fiction novel.

"The Hellbound," the comic series that was adapted into a 2021 Netflix series, has been nominated for a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the comics industry.

"The Hellbound Volume 1-2" by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok, translated into English by Danny Lim, was nominated in the category of Best U.S. Edition of International Material. The winners will be announced on July 21.

"The hard work of Korean authors and dedication of translators give Korean literature a growing universal appeal," the LTI Korea official said.

yeons.kwak@koreatimes.co.kr