On October 10, the day after Hangeul Day, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Han Kang. The press said that the award was given “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historic traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” As phrase of the award unfold, South Koreans jumped for pleasure and having gained a second Nobel Prize. Followers of Han Kang world wide had been thrilled at her receiving essentially the most prestigious literary award on this planet.
The announcement dominated the information cycle for days as media retailers and commentators regarded into varied facets of Ms. Han’s oeuvre and the which means of the prize. Listed here are some random ideas on the award; I’ll save my ideas on Ms. Han’s work for an additional time.
The function of presidency help. The South Korean authorities’s curiosity in literary translation goes again to 1974 when the federal government began providing grants to translators and publishers for literary translation. Although not said straight, the implicit purpose was to create the circumstances for a South Korean creator to win a Nobel Prize. The applications expanded within the Nineteen Nineties, resulting in the muse of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea in 1996.
Authorities help for literary translation was a part of a broader push to advertise consciousness of South Korea overseas. Based in 1991, the Korea Basis has taken a number one function in these efforts with a collection of applications to help Korean research and Korean artwork collections. The push to boost the profile of the nation in educational and cultural circles got here from an curiosity in cultivating the nation’s delicate energy after the democratization within the Nineteen Eighties.
The function of translations and translators. These two facets of translating Korean literature into English have typically been controversial. Criticism of translations has centered on debates between these that target an correct illustration of the unique and people that target the attraction of the textual content to readers. Fortuitously, this query has died down in recent times as the recognition of Korean literature has grown and extra translations have gained awards. As a substitute, a great translation is now considered as one which the translator and the creator assume will interact readers, as Ms. Han’s works have completed.
Korean literature right this moment is lucky to have a rising pool of proficient and devoted translators. Which means works from completely different authors in numerous genres are actually being translated into extra languages. This has vastly expanded the vary of high quality translations accessible, which attracts a wider vary of readers.
Authorities help for translation has contributed a lot to this development, however the future is murkier. Budgetary constraints stemming from the getting older of the inhabitants might make it tough to maintain present ranges of help. Then, there’s additionally the hazard that Ms. Han’s Nobel Prize might encourage some bureaucrats to declare “mission completed” and shift funding to different areas. This is able to be a mistake as a result of translators want continued help and small publishers that rely on grants might step away. Ms. Han’s Nobel Prize will give Korean literature a giant increase, however it would take time to see if that develops right into a sustainable market with out authorities help.
City regeneration. Media retailers have reported on traces forming in entrance of the bookshop that Ms. Han runs within the Seochon neighborhood sitting simply to the west of Gyeongbokgung Palace. There have additionally been pictures of flowers in entrance of her “hanok,” a conventional Korean home, in the identical neighborhood. Within the late 2000s, plans to stage the neighborhood and substitute it with flats had been shifting ahead, however the metropolis ultimately put the brakes on these plans due to the neighborhood’s historic worth.
Within the 2010s, new residents started shifting to the world and dwelling in renovated hanok as older, long-term residents moved on. This helped keep the residential element of the neighborhood that has been virtually misplaced in Bukchon on the opposite facet of the Palace. Ms. Han’s option to stay in a hanok has helped to take care of the viability of the residential element of the neighborhood.
A wave of commercialization beginning within the mid-2010s has pushed out varied native companies, together with bookshops, in favor of eateries and bars that cater to guests. Ms. Han’s bookshop counters this pattern and offers the neighborhood much-needed retail variety. Her Nobel Prize has helped elevate consciousness of a historic neighborhood that was virtually misplaced to bulldozers.
Robert J. Fouser
Robert J. Fouser, a former affiliate professor of Korean language schooling at Seoul Nationwide College, writes on Korea from Windfall, Rhode Island. He will be reached at robertjfouser@gmail.com. The views expressed listed below are the author’s personal. — Ed.