On Translating Modern Korean Poetry

Jieun Kiaer, Anna Yates-Lu, Mattho Mandersloot

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000438796
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

On Translating Modern Korean Poetry is a research monograph exploring the intricacies and complexities of translating modern Korean poetry.

This monograph highlights the difficulties entailed in translating Korean poetry, due to the lexical, structural, social, expressive and attitudinal levels with which the translator must be engaged. Featuring all-new translations, this book explores the question of what exactly modern Korean poetry is, increases the representation of female poets and includes poems addressing modern historical events, globalization, diaspora and mental health. Each chapter provides commentary on both the original and translated texts and looks at some of the issues that arose during the translation process. By doing so the authors draw attention to the intricate, trans-cultural and trans-creational process of Korean poetry translation.

Collating contemporary Korean poetry and intricately exploring the translation process, this book is ideal for researchers and advanced level students of Korean Studies, Translation Studies and Literature with an interest in translation.

1 Baek Seok – Me, Natasha and the White Donkey

나와 나타샤와 흰 당나귀

가난한 내가

아름다운 나타샤를 사랑해서

오늘밤은 푹푹 눈이 나린다

나타샤를 사랑은 하고

눈은 푹푹 날리고

나는 혼자 쓸쓸히 앉아 소주를 마신다

소주를 마시며 생각한다

나타샤와 나는

눈이 푹푹 쌓이는 밤 흰 당나귀를 타고

산골로 가자 출출이 우는 깊은 산골로 가 마가리에 살자

눈은 푹푹 나리고

나는 나타샤를 생각하고

나타샤가 아니 올 리 없다

언제 벌써 내 속에 고조곤히 와 이야기한다.

산골로 가는 것은 세상한테 지는 것이 아니다

세상 같은 건 더러워 버리는 것이다

눈은 푹푹 나리고

아름다운 나타샤는 나를 사랑하고

어디서 흰 당나귀도 오늘밤이 좋아서 응앙응앙 울을 것이다

Nawa Natasyawa huin dangnagwi

Gananhan naega

Areumdaun natasyareul saranghaeseo

Oneulbameun pukpuk nuni narinda

Natasyareul sarangeun hago

Nuneun pukpuk nalligo

Naneun honja sseulsseulhi anja sojureul masinda

Sojureul masimyeo saenggakanda

Natasyawa naneun

Nuni pukpuk ssaineun bam huin dangnagwireul tago

Sangollo gaja chulchuri uneun gipeun sangollo ga magarie salja

Nuneun pukpuk narigo

Naneun natasyareul saenggakago

Natasyaga ani ol ri eopda

Oonje beolsseo nae soge gojogonhi wa iyagihanda.

Sangollo ganeun geoseun sesanghante jineun geosi anida

Sesang gateun geon deoreowo beorineun geosida

Nuneun pukpuk narigo

Areumdaun natasyaneun nareul saranghago

Eodiseo huin dangnagwido oneulbami joaseo eungangeungang ureul geosida

Biography

Baek Gihaeng, known as Baek Seok (1912–1995), was a North Korean poet beloved by all Koreans. In the Republic of Korea, the publication of his works was strictly prohibited for many years because he was labelled a North Korean and a communist. However, since the publication of his collected works in 1987, he has been widely re-evaluated by scholars and critics.

Baek Seok was born in Jeongju in North Pyeongan. He studied English literature with French and Russian at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan, before returning to Korea, where he began a career in journalism at the Chosun Ilbo in 1934. It was in the Chosun Ilbo, on 31 August 1935, that Baek published his first poem “Jeongju Seong” (Jeongju Fortress). The next year, on 20 January, he personally published a collection of 33 poems he had written, entitled Saseum (Deer). It was long believed that Baek Seok had died on a collective farm in 1963; however, personal documents later revealed that he lived until 1996 (Choe 2001). Baek Seok’s poetry contains a lot of North Korean language, reflecting his origins.

Baek had a lover called Jaya, whose birth name was Kim Yeonghan (1916–1999). She became a gisaeng¹ at the age of 16 to support her family following the death of her father. She learned court music and dancing from Ha Kyuil (1867–1937), a well-known authority on court music, and became renowned for her talents in artistic performance. Kim met Baek Seok in her early twenties when he was an English teacher at the Yeongsaeng Kobo school in Hamgyeong, North Korea. Baek used to call Kim “Jaya”, referring to the poem “Jayaoga” (子夜吳歌, Zi ye wu ge) by Li Bai (701–762), also known as Li Bo. Baek and Jaya wanted to marry, but faced opposition from Baek’s family who were unhappy about Jaya’s background. Baek wanted to flee with Jaya to Manchuria, but she refused out of concern for him.

In 1989, Jaya set up a successful business, running a high-end restaurant for politicians and businessmen with her fellow gisaeng. She also established the Baek Seok literary award. In 1996 she published the book My Love Baek Seok (Nae Sarang Baek Seok). Jaya later gave away one billion dollars (100 billion won) to construct a temple in the middle of Seoul named Gilsang Temple. Missing Baek, she said that one billion dollars was worth less than one line of his poems.

It is often assumed that the “Natasha” in Baek’s poem is Jaya and that the poem describes his dream to flee with his lover to Manchuria. Baek Seok had a great interest in Russian literature and was also known to be fluent in Russian. Perhaps the name Natasha alludes to the prominent character in Tolstoy’s War and Peace, reflecting his love for Russian literature.

Commentary

North Korean words

Baek Seok’s poems are coloured by his North Korean identity. They often contain words and phrases from the Pyeongbuk region. One example in this poem is chulchuli – baepsae in Modern Korean – meaning “blue tit”. Other examples include: magari – omaksari in Modern Korean – meaning “hut”, and gojogonhi – goyohi in Modern Korean – meaning “quietly”.

Dialect is a significant feature of Baek’s poetry and its use appears to be of great importance to the poet. Yet this feature of language may be rendered invisible in the process of translation. I’ve underlined the North Korean words in the original poem above. There are many different ways in which a writer may choose to reveal a regional identity when writing in their native language. However, it is questionable whether a translator also needs to create a similar identity – or whether they can themselves create a distinct voice. When the terms are “function” words rather than “content” words, I think it is best to transcribe their features – even partially. If the word is a content word, perhaps we can translate it using a common English word and include a footnote to show its linguistic and cultural heritage.

Onomatopoeia and vowel harmony

Another challenge when translating Korean poems is the rich use of onomatopoeic expressions. These are examples of words without much meaning, yet with melodic repetition, they become a key prosodic feature. One method of reviving such meanings is to approximate the prosodic forms and meanings from the original poem. In this poem, the word pukpuk, with its repetition of the dark vowel u, is used to describe the way the snow falls heavily yet quietly. Although not strictly adhered to nowadays, vowel harmony was one of the defining characteristics of the Korean language and common to the other languages of Altaic origin. In Korean, vowel harmony was strictly observed until the 15th century. Light vowels, such as a (ㅏ) and o (ㅗ), only occurred with other light vowels, whereas dark vowels, such as u (ㅜ) and eo (ㅓ), only occurred with other dark vowels. Light vowel pairs bring a light atmosphere, whereas dark or heavy vowels bring a heavy atmosphere. Consider the following examples, taken from Kiaer (2018: 10):

Li...