First of all, I'd like to admit that I'm not a poet, I'm not a qualified critic of literature, although I have done some translation, I'm really just an "amateur" translator, and as you can tell already, I really don't speak Korean very well. So why was I invited here to talk to a group of Korean poets about Korean poetry in Korean? Well, I'm not exactly sure myself.
        So I asked myself: What can I say to you that I know and you don't? I guess as a foreigner who has lived in Korea for a number of years, I have some insights into Korean language and culture that most "outsiders" don't have. At the same time, as a native speaker of English, I have a rather privileged perspective on works of Korean literature that have been translated into English that most of you don't have. In other words, I think I can be a better judge of whether a translation really "works" in English. So that's what I'd like to talk about tonight, that is, what kind of translation appeals to a reader like me--someone from outside your culture and from outside your profession?
        I think anything written in Korean can be translated into English, of course. However, I think that there are some things--works of literature especially--that end up being better translations than others. First, to be a good "candidate" for translation, a poem must be interesting and well-written. Although these things depend a lot on personal opinion, of course, we have to think about what English-speaking readers will like. Second, since reading poetry should be enjoyable most of all, the poem should be simple enough that the basic meaning and feeling can be translated clearly without a lot of footnotes and explanations. Third, there should be something in the poem related to common human experience and emotion--something any human being can relate to. Fourth, and just as importantly though, there should be something uniquely Korean in the poem--something we can't find in English poems.
        I'd like to read two poems that Professor Hong Eun Taek and I have translated that I think have all of these qualities. One is tragic; one is rather humorous. While one spans a period of more than fifty years, the other describes just a few moments in time. Although they're very different types of poems, they seem to me to have certain important qualities in common--qualities that make them successful translations.
        The first poem is "A Record of Crossing the River" by Chyung Jin Kyu. In this poem, the poet describes events that happened during and after the Korean War, and expresses the heartbreak of losing a brother during the war. The poet paints pictures in this poem that evoke vivid images of a series of experiences that have taken place throughout his lifetime--all compressed into a few lines. It's a very moving poem in Korean, and I think it translates well into English. One reason is that readers from any culture can sympathize with the type of loss described by the poet, whether it was caused by war or something else.

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A Record of Crossing the River
By Chyung Jin Kyu

The Han River to me is always "Chyung Jin Keun." Chyung Jin Keun, the name of my
eldest brother who went into the army during the Korean War. I still can't erase the
symbolism. An erased name, a name my father reported as missing after waiting ten
years. I still can't erase the symbolism.

The Han River to me is always one volume of the Japanese Sanseito Concise English
Dictionary. Chyung Jin Keun, imprinted in red with a wooden stamp on the first page. To
me this volume is still my most precious rare book. I still can't erase the symbolism.

A broken down bridge, my mother and I took a small boat late at night. We ventured
into Seoul. We crossed the river. Even though we had heard the news that he was drafted
into the army, we sought out my brother's boarding house in Haebangchon. Yongsan
Middle School 6th Grade Chyung Jin Keun, a volume with this written in my brother's own
handwriting, I brought it from that room. I came here. Fifty years passed.

I always cross the river that way. I cross the Han River with one volume of the
Sanseito Concise English Dictionary. A broken down bridge, there is no bridge over the
Han River. I am always crossing the river that way. A small boat is always creaking. I can't
even cough. I still can't erase the symbolism.
 

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        The second poem I'd like to read is "A Scene" by Kim Chun Chu. It's very different from the first, both in structure and in tone. It's just a quick "snapshot" of an instant in time, but it creates a vivid image that can last forever in the mind of the reader. It's a poem that probably couldn't have been written by anyone but a Korean, but it can be appreciated by readers from any culture. It's innocent, but at the same time erotic. It's a common scene really, but also somehow exotic (at least to an English-speaking reader). It takes a serious tone, but it's also humorous in a slightly irreverent way.
 

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A Scene

By Kim Chun Chu

When a Buddhist nun with a milky, moon-like face
secretly urinates in a peach orchard
the full moon making a timely pass
looks and looks again at the downy peaches and
the well-ripened buttocks like a gourd and
while she laughs, in the end, her chin drops
and shows her throat, even her uvula
 

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        Of course, it's best to experience a poem in the language in which it was written--exactly as it was intended by the poet. Unfortunately, it's impossible for most people in the world to experience Korean poems that way. The second best way to experience a poem, perhaps, is to read a good translation in your own native language. In the future, I hope there will be even more cooperation among poets, translators, and publishers to make more Korean poetry available to an international audience.