X

Author Yi Mun-yol’s novella featured in The New Yorker

By
Published : Sept. 5, 2011 - 17:44

New York magazine publishes Korean short fiction for the first time

The English-language translation of author Yi Mun-yol’s 1982 novella, “An Anonymous Island” will be published on the New Yorker’s upcoming issue on Sept. 12, Yi’s local publisher Minumsa said.


Yi Mun-yol


The American magazine -- established in 1925 -- is well-known for its attention to modern fiction and literary reviews, along with its commentary and cartoons on popular culture, social issues and world politics.

The magazine has previously published short fiction by several non-American authors, such as Haruki Murakami and Kenzaburo Oe of Japan, as well as Orhan Pamuk of Turkey.

It is the first time ever for the magazine to publish a fictional work by a Korean author, although in 2006 it featured four poems by Ko Un.

It was Lee Young-jun who recommended Yi’s “Island,” when contacted last spring by the writer’s international literary agent, the Wylie Agency. Lee is editor-in-chief of “Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture,” which is devoted to introducing Korean literature to English-language readers and is published by the Korean Institute at Harvard University.

“What English-language readers want and what we want to introduce has been always different,” Lee Young-jun told The Korea Herald over the phone Monday.

“For many years, Korea has been thinking highly of novels that deal with either history or political struggle. But in the U.S., many don’t seriously consider such historical novels as a pure form of literary art. They rather belong to a different category. Yi’s early works are relatively apolitical compared to his later works, and that was one of the reasons why I chose ‘An Anonymous Island.’”

Heinz Insu Fenkl, an editorial board member of “Azalea” and an associate professor of English and Asian Studies at SUNY New Paltz, translated the short fiction last year at the request of the Wylie Agency, Lee said.

Fenkl was born in Bupyeong, Gyeonggi Province in 1960 and lived in Korea for the first 13 years of his life. He is famous for his autobiographical novel, “Memories of My Ghost Brother,” which records his experience growing up in Korea as a biracial child in the 1960s. He is currently translating Yi’s “Hail to the Emperor!” and short stories by novelist Sung Suk-je.

Lee and Fenkl were notified last month that the New Yorker would be publishing the translated version in September.

“I think it was Yi’s American agency that played a great part in this,” Lee said. “It is one of the greatest literary agencies in the U.S., and obviously they knew what they were doing.”

Regarded as one of the world’s leading literary agencies, the Wylie’s client list includes Al Gore, Kenzaburo Oe, Salman Rushdie and Dave Eggers. Yi is the only Korean client.

“Island,” published in 1982, deals with women living in a remote rural town where everyone knows everyone and most are related by blood. Ggae-cheol, the only man in town born elsewhere, pretends to be mentally challenged so he can please the sexually suppressed women in secret.

Minumsa said the piece’s publication on the New Yorker proves its artistic and literary value, and is another turning point in Korean literature and its on-going efforts to attract readers worldwide.

Born in Yeongyang County in North Gyeongsang Province in 1948, Yi Mun-yol studied Korean language education at the Seoul National University. He won numerous awards for his literary works, including the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts and Yi Sang Literary Award. One of his renowned works, “Our Twisted Hero” (1987) was made into a movie in 1992 and translated into English and published by Hyperion East in 2001.

By Claire Lee
(dyc@heraldcorp.com)

 



이문열 단편, 한국 소설 첫 '뉴요커' 게재

단편소설 '익명의 섬' 12일 자에 소개

이문열(63)의 단편 소설 '익명의 섬'이 한국 소설로는 처음으로 미국 굴지의 시사교양지인 '뉴요커'에 게재된다.

민음사는 2일 "'익명의 섬' 전문이 5일 배포되는 '뉴요커' 12일 자에 번역돼 실린다"며 "2006년 고은 시인의 작품 4편이 '뉴요커'에 실린 적은 있지만 한국 작가의 소설이 소개되는 것은 처음"이라고 말했다.

'뉴요커'는 140만 부의 판매 부수를 자랑하는 권위있는 주간지다. 오에 겐자부로, 오르한 파묵, 무라카미 하루키 등이 이 잡지에 작품이 실리면서 세계적 작가로 거듭난 바 있다. '뉴요커'는 1년에 외국 작가는 한 명 정도만 소개하고 있다.

민음사는 "이문열의 소설이 '뉴요커'에 실린다는 것은 그의 작품성이 세계적 평가를 받게 됐음을 의미한다"며 "이문열의 작품이 영미권에서 더욱 큰 주목을 받을 수 있을 것"이라고 설명했다.

1982년 '세계의 문학' 봄호에 발표된 '익명의 섬'은 친인척으로만 이뤄진 시골의 한 마을을 배경으로 동네 아낙들과 덜 떨어진 듯한 남자 깨칠이의 은밀한 관계를 다룬 소설이다.

동네 사람과 혈연으로 엮이지 않은 유일한 남자인 깨칠이는 아낙들 대부분과 성 적 관계를 맺는데 일부러 미치광이 행세를 하면서 비밀을 지켜준다. 아낙들은 '익명 의 섬'인 깨칠이를 통해 억눌린 성을 분출한다.

이 소설은 한국문학을 영어권에 소개하는 문예지 '진달래(AZALEA)'의 편집위원 인 하인즈 인수 펜클 뉴욕주립대 교수가 번역했다. 13세까지 한국에서 살았던 펜클 교수는 이문열의 '황제를 위하여', 성석제의 단편 소설 등을 번역하고 있다. (연합뉴스)

 


MOST POPULAR

More articles by this writerBack to List