{"id":622392,"date":"2024-10-11T11:43:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T15:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=622392"},"modified":"2025-10-11T11:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T15:10:17","slug":"han-kang-the-vegetarian-translation-controversy-nobel-prize-622392","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/han-kang-the-vegetarian-translation-controversy-nobel-prize-622392\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vegetarian<\/em> by Han Kang: A Nobel Prize, a Rochester press, and a translation controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest Nobel Prize in Literature laureate has unexpected ties to the University\u2019s literary translation press.<\/h2>\n

South Korean poet and novelist Han Kang has won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature<\/a> for a poetic and unsettling body of work that \u201cconfronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,\u201d according to the Nobel committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore my wife turned vegetarian, I\u2019d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way,\u201d reads the opening line of The Vegetarian<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> about a woman who believes she is turning into a plant, first published in South Korea in 2007 and translated into English in 2015.<\/p>\n

The novel continues:<\/p>\n

To be frank, the first time I met her I wasn\u2019t even attracted to her. Middling height; bobbed hair neither long nor short; jaundiced, sickly-looking skin; somewhat prominent cheekbones; her timid, sallow aspect told me all I needed to know.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tracing a woman\u2019s descent into mental illness and neglect by her family, The Vegetarian<\/em> became the first Korean-language novel to snag the International Booker Prize for fiction. That was eight years ago and the honor put Han, now the author of 13 novels and novellas, on the map for international audiences, making her a viable Nobel Prize contender.<\/p>\n

\"Deborah
IT TAKES TWO TO TRANSLATE:<\/strong> English language translator Deborah Smith and author Han Kang were awarded the 2016 International Booker Prize for The Vegetarian<\/em>. (Getty Images \/ Jeff Spicer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, it\u2019s the work of literary translators that make international literature accessible to a wider audience. That\u2019s where Rochester\u2019s connection to this year\u2019s Nobel laureate starts, although not in the way you might expect.<\/p>\n

Chad Post, who heads up Open Letter<\/strong><\/a>, the nonprofit, literary translation press at the\u00a0Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/strong><\/a>, rejected<\/em> Han\u2019s The Vegetarian<\/em> when her translator originally offered it to the press.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of other books that do the same thing, but in a more interesting way,\u201d Post explains his lack of interest. Instead, he says, he prefers the works of two other Korean authors, Bae Suah and Ha Seong-Nan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, on a stylistic level, they\u2019re more sophisticated,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But unlike twelve publishing houses that are still kicking themselves hard for turning down J.K. Rowling when she came knocking with her first Harry Potter manuscript, Post remains sanguine. \u201cIf you start doubting yourself like that, then you get into a weird mind space where you ask yourself \u2018What are you publishing for? Are you publishing because you think this will win a prize? Or are you publishing because you think this is an amazing author?\u2019\u201d says Post.<\/p>\n

A translation controversy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Choosing an author\u2019s work to be published in translation comes down to several crucial factors beyond the quality of the work itself. Just as important, says Post, who also oversees the editorial activities at Dalkey Archive Press<\/strong><\/a>, is the translator who is attached to a particular book or author.<\/p>\n

When it came to Han\u2019s translator, Deborah Smith, he was thrown by a style that didn\u2019t feel consistent across the translated manuscript of The Vegetarian<\/em>. To be honest, he didn\u2019t really love the book either.<\/p>\n

Later, controversy<\/a> ensued when critics noticed<\/a> striking deviations from Han\u2019s original Korean text compared to Smith\u2019s English translation, which now suddenly had a British-Victorian tinge. Tim Parks, writing for The New York Review of Books<\/em>, was the first to raise red flags about the translation in his article \u201cRaw and Cooked<\/a>,\u201d mincing no words: \u201cSometimes this mix of the uptight and the colloquial creates an awkwardness at the limits of comprehensibility,\u201d Parks lamented.<\/p>\n

\"Black
OPENING LITERARY DOORS:<\/strong> Chad Post, the publisher at Open Letter, one of only a handful of publishing houses dedicated to increasing access to world literature for English readers. (Photo provided)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith, who is English, admitted freely that she had learned Korean only three years earlier, largely through translation work.<\/p>\n

The popularity of Han\u2019s novels, particularly The Vegetarian<\/em>, got her translated into Swedish, which is likely the translation the Nobel judges read. \u201cOf course, I don\u2019t know what exactly they were reading,\u201d notes Post. \u201cAs Anglophone readers, we just know what Han Kang sounds like via the lens of Deborah Smith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admittedly, translating literature is always a balancing act: remain too literal and one risks missing clever word puns, subtle innuendo, sly satire, or meaning that is derived from a backdrop of shared experiences, understood only in a specific country or region. But stray too far from the text and you end up writing your own work, unfaithful to the original.<\/p>\n

In the end, Post says, the public spat over Han\u2019s (mis)translated work, which even spawned academic inquiry<\/a>, shone a light on issues that needed to be addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did elevate the conversation about what constitutes a good translation,\u201d says Post.<\/p>\n

In another twist, Open Letter\u2019s rejection probably proved fortuitous for Han, admits Post. Hogarth, a bigger US publisher (and a Penguin Random House imprint) ended up taking on The Vegetarian<\/em> instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had published it, it probably wouldn\u2019t have won any prizes,\u201d Post says. \u201cBut coming from a big press with big money behind it, it was able to get a lot more attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s eyes on the Nobel Prize <\/strong><\/h3>\n

While Han was by no means the favorite to win this year\u2019s Nobel Prize, her success wasn\u2019t a matter of chance.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ a decade ago, South Korea\u2019s government went to work<\/a> on showcasing Korean culture to the world, aiming for nothing less than the top literary award in the world. Playing the long game, the Korean Ministry of Culture started the Literature Translation Institute (LTI) of Korea<\/a>, a well-funded program to help promote Korean literature, and established training for professional translators. The institute\u2019s efforts ran the gamut from funding complete translations of literary works (even before they had a publisher), to promotional grants for Korean writers to tour abroad, to grants for international editors to visit Korea.<\/p>\n

The cultural phenomenon of K-pop\u2014which hit stratospheric heights in 2012 with the international mega hit \u201cGangnam Style\u201d by rapper Psy\u2014became Korea\u2019s strongest cultural ambassador. Yet, Korean literature is a force to be reckoned with.<\/div>\n

In 2016, The New Yorker<\/em> asked provocatively, \u201cCan a big government push bring the Nobel Prize in Literature to South Korea?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

We now know the answer.<\/p>\n

Speaking of LTI Korea\u2019s generous funding: Post was one of their invited editors. During a trip to Seoul in the winter of 2014, he not only met Deborah Smith, Han Kang’s eventual translator, but also numerous other Korean authors, agents, and publishers. As a result, Open Letter signed on the English translation of A Greater Music<\/em><\/a>, by Korean author Bae Suah, which became the first book in the press\u2019s Korean Series, funded by LTI Korea. Incidentally, the translator for that project was Deborah Smith.<\/p>\n

\"Triptych
IT\u2019S K-LIT: <\/strong>Translator\u2019s Triptych of three titles, selected by translator Janet Hong and published this summer by Open Letter. The press now has more South Korean contemporary female writers in English translation than any other press.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an aside, Post says it really wasn\u2019t Korean literature (until now) that ended up attracting worldwide attention. Instead, the cultural phenomenon of K-pop\u2014which hit stratospheric heights in 2012 with the international mega hit \u201cGangnam Style<\/a>\u201d by rapper Psy\u2014became Korea\u2019s strongest cultural ambassador, more so than any literary prize could hope to attract.<\/p>\n

Yet, Korean literature is a force to be reckoned with. Today, Ha Seong-Nan is Open Letter\u2019s best-known Korean author. \u201cHer stories are psychologically creepy, and so gripping and weird in all the right ways,\u201d says Post, who admits that he prefers the works of both Ha Seong-Nan and Bae Suah over those by Nobel Prize laureate Han.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of what they contribute to international literature, Ha and Bae are more challenging and innovative, leading to more original, better books,\u201d says Post.<\/p>\n

Including a so-called Translator\u2019s Triptych of three titles, selected by translator Janet Hong<\/a> (published this summer), Open Letter now has more South Korean contemporary female writers in English translation<\/a> than any other press.<\/p>\n

Was it a stupid move to reject Han?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot the first time that has happened,\u201d Post laughs. \u201cI mean, we stand by our editorial vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day before the announcement from Stockholm, The Guardian<\/em> had picked Chinese author Can Xue, another translated author of Open Letter<\/a>, as the most likely winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a ton of authors who could or have been in the running for the Nobel Prize,\u201d Post says. \u201cYou just you can\u2019t win them all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest Nobel Prize in Literature laureate has unexpected ties to the University\u2019s literary translation press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":942,"featured_media":622562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13092],"tags":[486,20542,19242,576,2276,586,16072],"class_list":["post-622392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-arts","tag-awards","tag-department-of-english","tag-global-engagement","tag-literary-translation","tag-literature","tag-open-letter","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Vegetarian by Han Kang: A Nobel Prize, a Rochester press, and a translation controversy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Han Kang, the latest Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, has ties to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s literary translation press. 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(Getty Images \/ Jeff Spicer)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/han-kang-the-vegetarian-translation-controversy-nobel-prize-622392\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Vegetarian by Han Kang: A Nobel Prize, a Rochester press, and a translation controversy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5","name":"Sandra Knispel","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/sknispel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/942"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622392"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":672402,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622392\/revisions\/672402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}