Taiwanese Novel Translator Kim Yi-sa Hopes to Build a Bridge for Literary Exchange Between Taiwan and Korea [Interview]

(Central News Agency, Reporter Yang Chi-fang, Seoul, 3rd) "Taiwan Travelogue" has been popular worldwide, and Korea is no exception. Kim Yi-sa, the Korean translator of the book, told CNA in an interview that although she once struggled to find a publisher, she has always wanted to build a bridge for literary exchange and hopes that Taiwan and Korea can understand each other better.

"Taiwan Travelogue" has successively won the National Book Award in the United States and the International Booker Prize in the United Kingdom, earning recognition for author Yang Shuang-tzu and English translator Jin Ling. "Taiwan Travelogue" currently has translated editions in multiple languages. Among them, the Korean translator Kim Yi-sa is also a writer with many years of experience translating Chinese books. With the book "Taiwan Travelogue" told from the translator's perspective, it was an even more special experience for her.

Kim Yi-sa said that she began to engage in related work during her graduate studies. Initially, she wrote literary review books, which involved analyzing which parts of a novel would work well and which would not if translated into Korean, and how they should be modified during translation. Later, Kim Yi-sa's translation career began with the fantasy novel by Taiwanese author Yue Liang Xiong, establishing her connection with Taiwan.

Speaking about the work of translation, Kim Yi-sa pointed out, "The more I translate, the more interesting I find it, because I had already started creating at that time. I believe translation is something that combines reading and creation."

Regarding her connection with "Taiwan Travelogue," Kim Yi-sa said that around 2019, she began to discover works she liked and then introduce them to Korea. "From then on, I started looking for works overseas that I wanted to translate." During her exchange visit to Taiwan, she learned about the author Yang Shuang-tzu by chance, and then actively recommended the work to various publishers when "Taiwan Travelogue" was published.

However, Kim Yi-sa admitted that she encountered many difficulties when initially approaching publishers. Many Korean publishers felt it was a sensitive topic when they heard it was set during the Japanese colonial period. Kim Yi-sa laughed and said, "Even when I attended various conferences as a novelist, I would ask if they were interested in introducing this Taiwanese novel."

Subsequently, Kim Yi-sa was contacted by Matisseblue, the publisher of the Korean edition of "Taiwan Travelogue." Kim Yi-sa spent a full three weeks writing a review report for this work. "I actually had many projects at the time, but because finding a publisher for "Taiwan Travelogue" was so rare, I pushed aside other work."

When asked about the most difficult part of the translation, Kim Yi-sa laughed and said, "Many, a whole lot!" She recalled that Yang Shuang-tzu even said, "Welcome to the hell." Kim Yi-sa gave an example: for many dish names or specific terms in the book, she had to decide whether to use the Chinese pronunciation or the Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation for each word.

Kim Yi-sa admitted that translating this work was indeed difficult. When discussing her translation strategy, she said, "What's more important to me is that I want to introduce Shuang-tzu's works and Taiwanese works in the future. To do that, it's more important to capture the readers' hearts, so I adopted a more natural and大众-oriented approach."

Kim Yi-sa mentioned that because the book contains many dish names, Yang Shuang-tzu also provided assistance. "Shuang-tzu gave me a list of terms, indicating which were Hakka and which were Taiwanese Hokkien, and I translated them accordingly."

However, Kim Yi-sa also made many decisions based on her own judgment while translating "Taiwan Travelogue." For example, the title was ultimately decided as "1938 Taiwan Travelogue (타이완 여행기)". This choice was carefully considered because there are two ways to say "Taiwan" in Korean: the Sino-Korean reading Daeman (대만) and the transliteration Taiwan (타이완).

Kim Yi-sa explained that the Sino-Korean reading of Taiwan is a term that existed before the severance of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and South Korea, while "Taiwan" is transcribed according to the current foreign language notation method, following the original pronunciation.

Kim Yi-sa pointed out, "Before the severance of diplomatic relations, exchanges between the two sides were frequent, but after the severance, there was a great distance between us. Now, people on both sides actually don't know each other." Kim Yi-sa emphasized that contemporary Taiwan is very different from the past. Although the book is set during the Japanese colonial period, "I feel it is completely inseparable from contemporary Taiwan and the thoughts of contemporary Taiwanese writers."

Kim Yi-sa also mentioned that "understanding the context" is very important when translating literature. "There are many contexts within literature. If I cannot highlight those contexts, wouldn't it be a distortion?" She pointed out that she likes to add annotations and explanations in her translated works to shorten the distance between overseas readers and the original text.

Currently, Taiwan and Korea have frequent exchanges through tourism, dramas, food, and K-pop. However, Kim Yi-sa admitted that in the past few years, there has been almost no exchange between Taiwanese and Korean literature. "Because my identity is rather unique, I am a novelist and know many Korean writers. Also, because I am a translator, I know many overseas writers. I can act as a bridge in between and build it."

Kim Yi-sa indicated that starting last year, she has been bringing Korean writers to Taiwan for exchanges. This year, she also plans to apply for government subsidies to bring Korean writers to Taiwan to interact with Taiwanese writers. Additionally, during events like the Seoul International Book Fair or Yang Shuang-tzu's lecture in Korea in early June this year, Kim Yi-sa will arrange for both sides' writers to dine together and get to know each other.

Kim Yi-sa humbly stated that she is not the first person to build this bridge. Another translator, Xu Yu-ying, plays a very important role in Taiwan-Korea exchanges. "I know that Teacher Xu has been working hard for Taiwanese literature for a long time. When Shuang-tzu won the Booker Prize, Teacher Xu also sent me a text message to congratulate me. I was very moved. It is because of the efforts of teachers like them that I am here too." (Edited by Chen Hui-ping) 1150703

Stand with facts, your every donation is a force to protect the freedom of the press.

Download the CNA "One-Stop News" APP to get the latest news in real-time.

Text, images, and videos on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.