Korean literature for English readers

Although the Korean government has redoubled its efforts to introduce Korean literature to foreign readers in recent years, experts say the country still has a long way to go.

Lee Sung-il, professor emeritus of English literature at Yonsei University, is considered one of the leading scholars translating Korea`s literature into English.

His latest work, "The Brush and the Sword: Kasa, Korean Classical Poems in Prose," published by Cross Cultural Communications in New York, is part of his lifelong efforts to bring classical Korean literature to readers around the world.

"Not much of the literary heritage of Korea, a nation that takes pride in her extensive cultural history, has been introduced to the world readership," Lee writes in the book, which contains translations of 15 Joseon period poems composed between the early 15th and late 18th centuries in the form of kasa, a genre virtually unknown to non-Korean readers.

The book features top-notch poems composed by famous authors such as Chong Chol, Pak In-ro and Ho Nan-sol-hon along with the original Korean texts - a format aimed at encouraging foreign readers to study classical Korean literature.

The book centers around the powerful resonance of kasa, a unique Korean tradition of poetic composition which pushes readers to breathe with the full capacity of their lungs.

"Kasa is unique in the sense that it really doesn`t have any form," Lee said. "This type of poetic composition is not under any restrictions of prosodic scheme or number of lines. In some sense, kasa can be considered an equivalent in spirit to `blank verse` in English poetry."

As a result, kasa`s sweeping lines carry the reader`s mind and heart to the last stroke of its author`s brush at a thrilling pace - so long as the metric requirement of 13-to-16 syllables per line and the symmetrical balance of the on-verse and off-verse are met.

Lee paid particular attention to the synchronization between the original Korean kasa and English translation, trying to sustain the verbal echo of the rhythmic beat inherent in the original text.

"Reading literary works in translation is not the royal road in getting acquainted with a literary tradition alien to one`s own," he said. "So long as the lines in translation echo the original verse`s rhythm and meaning, however, one must be satisfied, for then the requirement of approximation to the original can be considered to have been met."

Lee, born in Seoul in 1943, earned his Ph.D. at Texas Tech University and began teaching medieval English literature at Yonsei University in 1981.

Lee, who retired last month, received several awards during his career. They include the Grand Prize in Translation at the Korean Literary Awards in 1990 for "The Wind and the Waves: Four Modern Korean Poets" (Asian Humanities Press) and the Excellence Award at the 4th Biennial Korean Literature Translation Awards in 1999 for "The Moonlit Pond: Korean Classical Poems in Chinese" (Copper Canyon Press).

"The Brush and the Sword," has thus far grabbed the attention of fellow translators and critics.

"Lee lays before us samples of the great classical form of Korean poetry called kasa, so sadly unknown to Western readers along with any coherent knowledge of the country`s past and its culture," said award-winning translator Gregory Rabassa.

Renowned translator Kim Kyung-nyun also noted Lee`s "rigorous discipline" in bringing kasa to the English-speaking public.

By Yang Sung-jin



(insight@heraldm.com)