Kim Uchang has enormous influence and respect as a literary critic and thinker. In this interview, he discusses the state of Korean literature in translation and the condition of literature itself in today’s media saturated environment.

Lee Kyung-ho: It’s so good to see you. It’s been a while. I heard that you were participating in the Tokyo International Book Fair this July. I understand you’ll be having a discussion on Korean Japanese philosophies with the renowned Japanese literary critic Karatani Kojin as part of the book fair. Karatani has expressed a keen interest in Korean literature, and created quite a stir among Korean critics with his unique view on the “death of modern literature.” What are your thoughts on the view that the traditional sociopolitical role held by contemporary literature is becoming irrelevant or altered?

Kim Uchang: I was fortunate enough to meet him a few times. I would say the “death of modern literature” is a bit hyperbolic, most likely a strategic phrasing. But it is true that the role of literature in contemporary society has been diminishing. The landscape of information is broadening and diversifying, so the role of literature as a source of information is losing significance. This surge of information is one external factor that contributes to the waning value of literature that had a more prominent role until modern times. One major internal cause for this phenomenon would be that commercial motivation heavily factors into producing literature. There is a powerful motivation to produce works that are easy to understand and empathize with, rather than ones that offer profound insights on life. A prime manifestation of this trend would be “airport novels.” These are typically characterized as something gripping one can read on a plane and toss. Literature should not be so easily consumed. Reading should be careful, arduous work.

Lee: Korea is the featured country this year at the Tokyo International Book Fair. You chaired the committee that oversaw all the programs hosted by Korea when Korea was the featured country at the 2005 Frankfurt International Book Fair. What are some important areas to consider in advertising and disseminating our literature and culture in an international setting?

Kim: The “Korean Wave” and our economic influence have afforded us greater visibility and status among other nations, but it is still difficult to point out the values of our culture and receive recognition. Also, cultural value and influence aren’t built overnight.

Literary critics Kim Uchang and Lee Kyung-ho

Lee: It appears Korean literature that is translated and introduced abroad tends to be concentrated in one area rather than a broad spectrum of genres. Are these books finding their niche among foreign readers?

Kim: I went to an LTI Korea meeting not long ago and advised the staff not to have such high expectations of their contemporary literature translation projects. I said the same thing at the Frankfurt Book Fair—that Germans are not that familiar with their own literature, either, so don’t expect them to understand Korean literature. Truth be told, there are very few writers who remain relevant beyond their era, so it is a tall order to expect a timeless, internationally recognized work to come out of Korean literature.

Lee: In recent years, there has been an increasing number of publishing houses reviving the multi-volume world literature anthologies. But the list of canonical works in these anthologies has not changed much since several decades ago. The amount of Western literature is overwhelming. Wouldn’t you say it’s time for a new approach?

Kim: It seems the overwhelming dominance of Western literature in these anthologies is inevitable due to Western civilization’s great contribution to understanding the history of mankind. President Xi Jinping, who recently became president of China revealed plans for a cultural renaissance in China, and I hope that this entails unearthing and encouraging works that express universal values embodied in Chinese tradition rather than simply reviving and preserving traditional Chinese culture. Nationalism in Korea makes little effort to be relatable outside the peninsula, to engage with universal values. By the way, these multi-volume world literature anthologies are mainly found in Japan and Korea. It may be a strategy of the publishing industry that Korea picked up from Japan.

Lee: Translations produced in Korea routinely receive far worse reviews than journal articles by Korean scholars. Translation projects led by publishers also tend to provide insufficient compensation. You were involved in a wide range of translation projects. What could be some solutions to these problems?

Kim: I understand why good journal articles are held in higher regard than translations, but translation has a bigger role in our society today in terms of its contribution to the advancement of culture in this country. But an important, often overlooked part of translation is finding a good academic to provide context and notes. I mentioned this once at a classics translation meeting. Translating works of the past is important, but critical contextualization of these works is also important. There are three things that we need for this critical contextualization, and they are (a) the significance of the text in its time, (b) the significance of the text today, and (c) why the text is less relevant today than it was in the past. The translation projects must take this perspective into consideration. Translating old texts word for word is valuable only inasmuch as it provides research material for scholars. If you want to get laypersons to read classical works, you need the critical eye to edit the texts to cater to a certain purpose or theme. And it is the role of the editor or the critic to shoulder this responsibility.

Lee: Since a while back, the readability and fluidity of the narrative were held in higher regard compared to accuracy and expert knowledge when it comes to translating foreign works into Korean. As a result, some Korean writers have taken it upon themselves to translate foreign works. What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?

Kim: Korean writers translating foreign works is a good way of exploring new directions for translation. Some time ago, I wrote a column for a paper based in Gwangju. In the column, there was a part where I talk about Assisi, the hometown of Saint Francis, and how I was “surprised to see that it was crowded with tourists.” But the editors at the paper changed this to, “surprised to see that it was so crowded that tourists were standing shoulder to shoulder.” They must have thought that this was a more vivid description, but the fact of the matter is people weren’t standing shoulder to shoulder. It is important to stick with expressions that stay true to the facts rather than ones that are stirring and read easily.

Lee: I see. Then what are your views on the idea that translation is another form of creation?

Kim: I once gave a talk on creativity at Korea National University of Arts. I said that it is only natural that we seldom see truly creative works. Teaching creativity through education is not easy. This means being a creative translator is even harder. Edward Seidensticker, the translator of Kawabata Yasunari who went on to win the Nobel Prize, once said, “I should be getting that Nobel Prize.” He was joking, of course, but it reflects his view that his translation was another form of creation. Still, I would say creative translators are rare. That’s why it’s important for translators to stay true to the text.

The Complete Works of Kim Uchang (5 vols.)

Kim Uchang, Minumsa Publishing Group

2006, 432 pp., ISBN 9788937410314 (Vol.1)

Lee: You’ve had an interest in the relationship between literature and other related disciplines and have been a pioneer in studying the interdisciplinarity of literature, which has been emphasized since the 2000s. But I can’t help but wonder if various fields have been so quick to embrace interdisciplinarity due to its economic and industrial appeal. What would be a more constructive approach to studying interdisciplinarity?

Kim: I actually gave a talk on the topic of categorization, imagination, and consilience at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study. It is a challenge to take an interdisciplinary approach, or achieve consilience among disciplines. What this means is that we need to look at our fields within the context of the whole. This approach may translate to an interest in developing individual competence. If you look at Korean poetry these days, for example, there is quite a bit of nonsense. This is the result of poets not spending enough time exploring the factual in life. Even poets need to be trained in scientific perspectives. Einstein invented the atomic bomb, but feared for what it could lead to. Scientists must also reflect on the meaning of their scientific discoveries on human life.

Lee: With the advent of the era of digital publishing, the format of publications is shifting from text to incorporation of audiovisual media. To a generation familiar with the Internet or smart phones, this format of textual presentation is already the norm. Marshall McLuhan welcomes this shift from text to digital media as a return to the primitive. What are your thoughts on these changes?

Kim: It is true that we are in the midst of a great revolution. I can’t predict the outcome, but I can speak as a person who belongs to a time before the digital era. I also own a Kindle. My kids bought me one. I tried it when I was looking things up in the dictionary or searching for certain keywords in books, but it was quite a nuisance to use. It was difficult to navigate between different parts of the book. But Kindle would be good for reading novels. Sartre talked about the convenience of books that can be read in any state, and digital media has a way of sucking the reader in. Still, physical books will survive. Texts or digital media are all the same in that they relay information, but information has a way of buffering the directness of relationships. For example, if you are murdering with knives, it is difficult to kill a lot of people because it’s too gruesome and tiresome. But if you kill using bombs, you can skip the gruesome experience and so the availability of the option can lead to a great catastrophe. I believe digital media could lead to something similar, to the dehumanization of humans.

Lee: From ancient times to the modern era, the metaphysical world such as the soul or reason was the main area of interest when it came to the religious and philosophical perspective of humans. The physical being was not deemed a valuable part of the discourse, whereas art and academia in contemporary society seems to be putting too much emphasis on the senses and the desires of the body. Early on in your career, you advocated for aesthetic reasoning, a balance between reason as it represents the mental value of life, and the aesthetic as a value that complements the mental and can be experienced in everyday life. How would you evaluate the values of contemporary society from the perspective of aesthetic reasoning?

Kim: The physical is being too stressed as of late. Literature has both sensual and rational appeal. The German writer, Thomas Mann wrote essays on Freud that demonstrated deeper insight than Freud scholars, and D. H. Lawrence, a British writer, is known for his sensual and sexual narratives, but was also able to write articles on American literature that far surpassed any expert in the field in their depth. This is what I would like to see in Korean writers. I said at a lecture at the Frankfurt Book Fair that there were three instances where Germany invaded the world without using force. The first was music, second was Marxism, and third was philosophy. German music expresses emotions through a wide range of nuances, which come from a wide range of sensual experiences. The foundation of this expression is rationality. People say that math and music are closely related, and Mozart's compositions—while Mozart is Austrian—has these elements of scientific rationality that employs equations to express emotion. Max Weber’s treatise on the rationalization of music is particularly informative as it provides a comprehensive perspective that looks at both the rational and emotional side of artistic expression. Korean literature needs this deep reflection. I hope to see more works that respect rationality and are written in sentences true to facts.

by Lee Kyung-ho