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Translation: A key player in the Nobel Prize for Literature

By Yoon Tae-in (Sunil Girls’ H | 기사입력 2024/12/30 [14:24]

Translation: A key player in the Nobel Prize for Literature

By Yoon Tae-in (Sunil Girls’ H | 입력 : 2024/12/30 [14:24]

Yoon Tae-in (Sunil Girls’ High School in Seoul)

On October 10th, Novelist Han Kang became the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. According to the official Nobel website, she was awarded “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” Writing works that captivate readers and judges worldwide is no easy feat, but translating and delivering such works to an international audience can be even more challenging.

 

Deborah Smith, a British translator of Han Kang’s novels, played a crucial role in this achievement. Her translations effectively conveyed the emotions and nuances of Han Kang’s works, significantly contributing to the Nobel Prize win. After graduating from Cambridge University, Smith pursued a career in translation and became interested in Korean literature, which was largely unexplored in the English-speaking literary world at the time.

 

In 2010, she began learning Korean independently and later pursued a master’s and doctoral degree in Korean studies at SOAS University of London. After five years of language study, she published the first English version of The Vegetarian in January 2015. Her efforts paid off when, in 2016, she and Han Kang jointly won the International Booker Prize. Despite her relatively short time studying Korean, Smith’s exceptional writing skills allowed her to produce translations that resonated globally.

 

Now, Korean literature is enjoying increased attention, with English translations gaining traction in the global literary market. Some believe this reflects a stable growth phase for the “Korean Wave” in literature, supported by systematic efforts from both the public and private sectors alike.

 

While Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win is expected to further globalize Korean literature, the field faces challenges, particularly in cultivating and supporting the next generation of skilled translators. Continued interest and government support for translation are essential to sustaining this momentum and expanding Korea’s literary influence worldwide.

 

 
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