[한국 첫 노벨문학상 한강]
The regional version of the executive method is introduced throughout the globe… British translator: “Translating into multiple languages is interesting”
Translation of all 4 works into Swedish… 1,000 people flocked to the first local signing event
“It was interesting to see that ‘vegetarian’ was translated into Tamil and Malayalam (spoken in South India). Will we be able to see it in Hindi someday?”
British translator Deborah Smith posted a screenshot of the translation status of Han Kang‘s work on Wikipedia on her Even he, who had translated the Han River works into English and introduced the Han River abroad, was surprised to learn that ‘The Vegetarian‘ had been translated into several unfamiliar languages.
‘Literary scalability’ is cited as one of the secrets to Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize in Literature on the 10th. Although it is misunderstood by some as being difficult, Han Kang’s work has great resonance by touching on the universal human problem of violence, and has been translated into various languages, gaining sympathy from readers around the world. It is assessed that this literary expansiveness influenced the Academy’s decision to award the award.
The work that particularly stands out is ‘The Vegetarian’. Since this work was published in Korea in 2007, it has been consistently translated and published in many countries, including Japan, China, and France. In particular, publishing in other languages accelerated as he won the Booker Prize (then Man Booker Prize) International Category in 2016, which is considered one of the world’s top three literary prizes along with the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Goncourt Prize. It has been translated into a total of 31 languages so far, expanding not only to major languages but also Icelandic and Galician. Han Kang’s works have been introduced all over the world, with ‘The Boy Coming’ being translated into 23 languages, including Mongolian and Azerbaijani, and ‘White’ being translated into 16 languages, including Catalan.
The colorful covers of published books are also an element that attracts the attention of overseas readers. For example, the Israeli version of ‘The Vegetarian’ contained an image of a naked woman standing still. The Taiwanese version, which depicts a person rolling among flowers, and the Chinese version, which depicts a large flower behind a woman’s back, also attract attention. The Brazilian version shows a woman trapped in a grotesque pattern, while the Serbian version shows a six-headed woman carrying three of her own faces. It is evaluated that it well conveyed the intention of ‘vegetarians’ to resist violence while capturing the unique sensibilities of each country.
Another characteristic is that most of the works introduced overseas are ‘translated’ versions of Smith’s English versions. In the past, there was criticism of Smith’s translation as a mistranslation, but it is said that his work style, which closely communicated with Han Kang through winning the Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature, has been recognized. Professor Emeritus Kwon Young-min of Seoul National University explained, “In the end, literature around the world spreads through translation of English translations,” adding, “In the end, most translators from minority languages read and translated the English translations that were the result of the joint work of Han Kang and Deborah Smith.” .
It is said that the fact that many of Han River’s works were translated into Swedish, where the Academy that awards the Nobel Prize is located, also had an influence on the award. Currently, a total of four books have been translated into Sweden, including ‘The Vegetarian’, ‘The Boy Is Coming’, ‘White’, and ‘No Goodbye’. In particular, more than 1,000 readers attended Han Kang’s autograph session held in Sweden in March of this year. Local interest in the Han River is so high that people stand in line for over an hour to get autographs. In particular, there is an analysis that ‘No Goodbye’, published in Swedish this year, had a decisive influence on the Nobel Prize in Literature review. Anders Karlsson, a professor at the University of London who translated Han Kang’s work into Swedish, said, “After Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature, competition to buy the rights to Korean literary works will intensify in the Swedish publishing industry.”
Reporter Hojae Lee [email protected]
Reporter Sa Ji-won [email protected]
Reporter Kim So-min [email protected]
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