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[Writer's Notes] Korean Literature Events in Sweden Engage Scandinavian Audiences scrap
by Jeong Myeong-kyo
November 14, 2014
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The Korean literature events took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 14th to 18th, 2010. Yoon Bu-han, head of Strategic Planning Department at the LTI Korea, Lee Yoomi, also from LTI Korea, and novelist Kim Young-ha attended a Korean literature reading in Finland immediately before the event, and traveled to Sweden from there. Novelist Yi Mun-yol and I left for Sweden from Seoul in the morning of the 13th.
We unpacked at a bucolic four-star hotel and went down to the lobby to find our interpreter Choi Sun-Kyoung waiting for us in the lobby. I returned to the room after discussing the itinerary with her, and went to bed. I awoke several times. It was the light Swedish summer night, not the jet lag that must be blamed.
The forum took place three evenings in a row, starting the next day. The routine was quite simple. First, we got together at a predetermined location. Then, Korean writers and Swedish writers talked about their works. The format in which things were discussed varied slightly from day to day. On the first day, two Korean writers and two Swedish writers read excerpts of their own works and each other’s works. After the reading, the moderator asked a variety of questions about the author’s literary world and the meaning behind the work just read, and the writers answered the questions. On the Korean side, Yi Mun-yol and Kim Young-ha were the main participants. On the Swedish side, film producer and novelist Niklas Rödström and the young, provocative writer Lena Andersson were the main participants. Andersson’s book, Duck City, was translated and published in Korea. The moderator was Astrid Trotzig, a promising novelist who is a Korean adoptee. Many Korean expatriates came to the forum. Crowds flocked to see Yi Mun-yol, a testament to his overwhelming popularity.
The second day of the forum was quite formal. The Korean ambassador in Sweden, Cho Hee-yong, and the Swedish ambassador each took turns saying a few words, and then a few representatives from Swedish publishers spoke on publishing literature in Sweden. All the publishers present had published or were in the process of publishing Korean literature. They expressed their intention to actively promote Korean literature in Sweden, lamented the progressively unfavorable conditions for publishing, and stressed the importance of support from cultural foundations and organizations. Then, a writer with the voice and passion of a very experienced voice actor read excerpts from the Swedish translations of the two Korean writers’ works. As I have often observed, Europeans still use languages with rhythm. Koreans have lost it along the way at some point. When will we revive it?
My presentation was simply about the importance of translations in promoting Korean literature around the world and the quality and conditions of translation today. I wanted to do a comparative analysis of Korean literature and Swedish literature, but there wasn’t enough time. You can’t always get what you want. Later that evening, I got everything I wanted at the Korean-Swedish fusion restaurant run by a Korean expatriate. From the first day of the LTI Korea events, Rim Jin Hong from the Swedish Embassy was present and attentive to even the most subtle of details.
On the third day, there was a roundtable discussion with Swedish writers. The characteristics unique to Swedish writers can be boiled down to two things. One, there are many poets. It has been observed time and again that poetry declines with the development of industry, but poets were still alive and well in Sweden. Their situation, however, was no different from Korean poets. There were very few Swedish readers enthusiastic about poetry; government organizations and literary societies were supporting them instead. The Swedish poets, like Korean poets, were printing more books than they could sell, and the small Swedish population did nothing to help the sales. The chair of the writers’ society introduced his book of poems as having a relatively substantial fan base, and confessed that his books sold about 300 copies. Another poet seated nearby chimed in by saying his sold 100 copies. No matter where we go in this world, the assertion that poverty and poetry are friends joined by fate holds. Two, the Swedish Writers’ Society existed for the sole purpose of supporting writers. The first thing that catches one’s eyes when one walks into the Korean Literary Writers’ Society office is the sign that says, “Literature that does not keep the nation in mind is not literature.” But there was no “nation” in Sweden. Pakistanis, Mexicans, and Chinese were all writing in their own languages alongside Anglo writers and calling themselves “Swedish writers.”
We gave them an unorganized picture of the history of Korean literature and its conditions today. The northerners seemed very intrigued by the political intervention of the past generation of Korean literature and the popular intervention in this generation. Their ears perked up, and they sometimes lamented on our behalf or asked sympathetically about how the intervention ended. We told them the truth.
Transferring in Helsinki, we took a moment to watch the Korean soccer team lose against the Argentineans. It was nice that there were no winners or losers in the competition between Korean and Swedish literature. However, there is no sturdy bridge between us to facilitate free exchange. In the future, Korean literature and Swedish literature will have to continue a closer and profound dialogue. One day, conversations between writers from both countries will move beyond the topic of sales.
* Jeong Myeong-kyo (a.k.a Jeong Gwa-ri) is a Korean literary critic. Currently a professor of Korean language and literature at Yonsei University, he has written Literature, Sleeping and Weaving, The Desire for What We Call Literature, and The Return of the Neanderthal. He has received the Daesan Literary Prize and the Kim Hwan-tae Literary Criticism Award.
Writer 필자 소개
Jeong Myeong-kyo
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