Korean LIT
10/08/2005 @ 6:00 pm
South Korean writer Young-ha Kim has entered the literary sweepstakes with a new book titled I Have The Right To Destroy Myself, and it’s being billed as Lost In Translation meets The Unbearable Lightness Of Being.
Actually, the book is not new. It’s a few years old now. But I suppose that it’s new as far as non-Korean readers are concerned.
And here’s an exclusive scoop for Japundit: another novel of Young-ha Kim’s is scheduled to be translated by the end of February/beginning of March next year, and will hopefully be published not too long after that (i.e., before the end of next year if we’re lucky). How do I know this? I’m the translator.
The Korean title is Black Flower, but I haven’t decided yet if that is going to be the English title. I don’t know what it’s a cross between, but it tells the story of the first (and last) Korean immigrants to Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. With all that was happening at the time (the Japanese annexation of Korea, the Mexican Revolution), let’s just say it was an interesting time to be a Korean immigrant in Mexico.
October 8th, 2005 at 10:55 pmCharles
October 10th, 2005 at 1:26 pmCan you tell us a little about how the book translation process works? Did the Korean publisher ask you to translate the book, or did an agent ask you, or did the English-language publisher ask you undertake the translation? Who initiates these kinds of translation jobs, the original publisher, the new publisher in USA or UK, or an agent or just you as a freelancer? Please explain. I think we on the the outside of the translation process will find it interesting. Does the translator receive a flat fee, one time payment, or do you also get royalties depending on how many copies sell?
In Korea these days, most translations are initiated by the Korean government or Korean organizations in an attempt to increase the popularity of Korean literature. The translation you mentioned in the post is sponsored by the Daesan Foundation (a private organization). My translation is sponsored by the Korea Literature Translation Institute (a government organization).
These organizations generally have a list of works they would like to see translated, and prospective translators usually apply to translate certain works, but sometimes you can convince them to support a work not on their list (I did that with my first translation project, a Korean novel from the 1920s, for which the publication process will hopefully begin sometime next year).
Most organization-sponsored translators are paid one-time payments (although this payment is usually given on a monthly basis over the a certain period) and do not expect royalties.
I would definitely not recommend translating freelance. A lot of people do this, either for fun or because they don’t have the connections, but it’s very hard for new translators to find a publisher. If you are sponsored by an organization, you have more credibility and can rely on the resources and connections of that organization to get published.
I am still a “new” translator when it comes to literature, so I don’t have much experience in publishing, but I imagine that next year will change that.
October 11th, 2005 at 10:36 am