This notice for an upcoming event is probably not as useful as the book the event is focusing on. Factory Girl Literature: Sexuality, Violence and Representation in Industrializing Korea – Presentation by Ruth Barraclough. Korea’s twentieth-century industrialization saw millions of women and girls leave country towns to generate a series of manufacturing booms. Ruth Barracloght…
Lee Hyo-seok is a beloved Korean author best known for his story When Buckwheat Blossoms Bloom. In recognition of his importance to Korean literature, a Memorial Village and Festival have been created in his honor. When Buckwheat Blossoms Bloom is set in his hometown Bongpyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun) and the area is still famous for its buckwheat…
Heh, second one I’m aware of (the first one was Park Wan-so) on Google Korea. Buckwheat Seasons was not one of my favorite Korean translations as it is is too dilatory and completely lacks a conclusion, but many other readers love it and it is considered a classic Korean tale. The doodle is up to…
A couple of things found on the web.. First, from the estimable Zen Kimchi, a trip to Pyeongchang to explore buckwheat cuisine in the land that Lee Hyo-seok immortalized in Buckwheat Flowers. Having eaten buckwheat noodles in Seoul, I can attest to their tastiness.^^ Second, a fine new blog on Korean literature the Korean Literature Blog…
A Couple of Interesting Web Finds: 1) From the lovely and talented (and limping) James at Grand Narrative (who will be presenting at RASKB this Tuesday) on Korea Society’s vimeo, The Korean War in Korean Voices through Literature with Professor Jin Young Choi. The website describes it: On November 2, 2010, Dr. Jin Young Choi,…
The final piece cobbled from my article in 10 Magazine Korea, these books/stories are all famous and/or written by major Korean authors. Unfortunately, this does not necessarily make them good reads for English-language readers. Comments, as always, welcome. Heartless (무정 1917) by Yi Kwang-su Could have been more usefully titled “Endless.” This work is known…
My feelings for Lee Hyo-seuk’s “The Buckwheat Season” (which you can download a pdf of here) and its relentless translation and re-translation are well known (I had a slash at it here), but when my foodie pal Jennifer Flinn invited Yvonne and I out to eat at a restaurant named for the story, and featuring…
The Korean vision of a human’s role in the Universe, is very different from that of the West, and it is a vision that is at least partially hostile to the development of the individual, or even tragic, hero.
I came across a slim volume entirely dedicated to “When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom,” which is a translation of the title I don’t think I’ve seen before. But this book translates Buckwheat into English, French, Spanish, Chinese (two different dialects) and rounds off with Buckwheat in the original Hangul.
Some notes I wrote up on multiple translations of Buckwheat Season – The quotes were translated by my supervisor and I wrote the notes up from the perspective of an English reader, so that she could use my input in a presentation. As I looked over multiple translations, notably of Buckwheat Season (by Yi Hyo-Sok)…