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spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
2.0
This is a good book if you're a non-Korean looking to diversify your bookshelf in order to impress other non-Koreans. That sounds harsh, so I'll explain: despite being an impressively exhaustive collection of modern Korean poetry translated to English, the quality of the translations is mostly quite poor, and the notes are noticeably lacking in contextual information to provide a better understanding to non-Koreans and/or those unlikely to do more research. Why this particular selection of poems? Why this particular selection of poets, for that matter? Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to detract from the actual poets' writing, some of which I've read either in the original language or in better translations, and much of which is indeed better than this compilation makes it seem. Also the cover is ugly and I don't like it.
By "modern" the anthology refers to "the past two centuries or so," including poets born as early as 1879 and as late as the 1950s.* Up-and-coming these poets were not; many are well-known in Korea (there are ten poems by Ko Un and nine by Kim Sowol, for example). In total 21 different translators worked on this book, fewer than half of whom are actually Korean.** In his introduction to the text, the editor, David R. McCann, explains how "translators, Korean literary historians and critics, and, not least of all, the editor of this volume, have exerted themselves to select and present Korean poems in English that will appeal to and, at the same time, challenge readers." Furthermore,
But enough dallying. Each poet is given a paragraph or so of introduction, primarily biographical details. Although various words and phrases are romanised, no actual Korean text appears within the book. This is not a bilingual anthology. The romanisation is often outdated, such as Chu Yohan for 주요한 (Ju Yohan) and "Pullori" for his poem 『불노리』 (bullori). Romanisation of Korean is difficult when b and p are the same sound, as are r and l. Conversely, being able to differentiate between ㅂ and ㅍ means the difference between 비 (rain) and 피 (blood). Why the translators used the McCune–Reischauer system of romanisation instead of the Revised Romanisation system, which is currently the official system in Korea, I don't know.
There are a couple of footnotes, such as explaining that "오늘은 사월이라 파일날" (here translated as "today is the eighth of April") refers to the Buddha's birthday (8 April). Why this wasn't simply kept as the original, "today is April, Buddha's birthday," is beyond me. Also footnoted is the word 기생 (kisaeng), explained as being a "female performer and entertainer, not unlike the Japanese geisha."
It's not all bad though. Here's an example of a translation I thought was actually quite good, Ju Yohan's poem 『빗소리』 (rain sound), here translated as "The Sound of Rain":
//
*Distinct, then, from the typical Korean timeline for "modern," i.e., after the liberation of Korea from the occupying Imperial Japanese forces.
**This does not necessarily detract from the quality, and I do not necessarily believe that an entirely Korean team of translators would have automatically done a better job by dint of their nationality. Where someone is born is not under their control, and I would never judge anyone for that. However, the poor quality of many of the translations (by Korean and non-Korean translators alike) coupled with other factors did not, in the immortal words of Shania Twain, impress me much.
By "modern" the anthology refers to "the past two centuries or so," including poets born as early as 1879 and as late as the 1950s.* Up-and-coming these poets were not; many are well-known in Korea (there are ten poems by Ko Un and nine by Kim Sowol, for example). In total 21 different translators worked on this book, fewer than half of whom are actually Korean.** In his introduction to the text, the editor, David R. McCann, explains how "translators, Korean literary historians and critics, and, not least of all, the editor of this volume, have exerted themselves to select and present Korean poems in English that will appeal to and, at the same time, challenge readers." Furthermore,
Korea's modern poetry is filled with many different voices and styles, subjects and views, moves and countermoves, yet it still remains relatively unknown outside of Korea itself. One reason for this is linguistic. The Korean language, a rich medium for poetry, is, according to the American Foreign Service Institute's ranking of foreign languages, among the most difficult for English speakers to learn.This was incredibly interesting to see, given that I think it's the exact opposite: I genuinely believe that Korean is one of the easiest languages to learn. Mastering the language, particularly to the extent of being able to read and write poetry fluently, is an entirely different story, but obtaining a working knowledge is, in my opinion, quite reasonable.
But enough dallying. Each poet is given a paragraph or so of introduction, primarily biographical details. Although various words and phrases are romanised, no actual Korean text appears within the book. This is not a bilingual anthology. The romanisation is often outdated, such as Chu Yohan for 주요한 (Ju Yohan) and "Pullori" for his poem 『불노리』 (bullori). Romanisation of Korean is difficult when b and p are the same sound, as are r and l. Conversely, being able to differentiate between ㅂ and ㅍ means the difference between 비 (rain) and 피 (blood). Why the translators used the McCune–Reischauer system of romanisation instead of the Revised Romanisation system, which is currently the official system in Korea, I don't know.
There are a couple of footnotes, such as explaining that "오늘은 사월이라 파일날" (here translated as "today is the eighth of April") refers to the Buddha's birthday (8 April). Why this wasn't simply kept as the original, "today is April, Buddha's birthday," is beyond me. Also footnoted is the word 기생 (kisaeng), explained as being a "female performer and entertainer, not unlike the Japanese geisha."
It's not all bad though. Here's an example of a translation I thought was actually quite good, Ju Yohan's poem 『빗소리』 (rain sound), here translated as "The Sound of Rain":
Rain is falling.The original:
The night quietly spreads its feathers,
And the rain whispers in the yard
Like little chicks chirping secretly.
The waning moon was thread-thin,
And a warm breeze blew
As if spring was about to flow down from the stars.
But today the rain falls on this dark night.
Rain is falling.
Like a kind guest, the rain falls.
I open the window to greet him,
But hidden in the whispering, the rain falls.
Rain is falling
In the yard, outside the window, on the roof.
Planting in my heart
Joyful news no one knows, rain is falling.
비가 옵니다.The second line, 『밤은 고요히 깃을 벌리고,』 is one of my favourite lines of poetry I've ever read.
밤은 고요히 깃을 벌리고
비는 뜰 위에 속삭입니다.
몰래 지껄이는 병아리같이.
이즈러진 달이 실낱 같고
별에서도 봄이 흐를 듯이
따뜻한 바람이 불더니,
오늘은 이 어둔 밤을 비가 옵니다.
비가 옵니다.
다정한 손님같이 비가 옵니다.
창을 열고 맞으려 하여도
보이지 않게 속삭이며 비가 옵니다.
비가 옵니다.
뜰 위에, 창 밖에, 지붕에,
남모를 기쁜 소식을
나의 가슴에 전하는 비가 옵니다.
//
*Distinct, then, from the typical Korean timeline for "modern," i.e., after the liberation of Korea from the occupying Imperial Japanese forces.
**This does not necessarily detract from the quality, and I do not necessarily believe that an entirely Korean team of translators would have automatically done a better job by dint of their nationality. Where someone is born is not under their control, and I would never judge anyone for that. However, the poor quality of many of the translations (by Korean and non-Korean translators alike) coupled with other factors did not, in the immortal words of Shania Twain, impress me much.
amyacowan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
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