Korean literature in the spotlight at Paris Book Fair

Posted on : 2016-03-18 16:58 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Writers from South Korea making a bigger impression on French readers, with growing presence of translated works
Visitors to the Paris Book Fair look at books in the South Korean hall. (Korean Publishers Association)
Visitors to the Paris Book Fair look at books in the South Korean hall. (Korean Publishers Association)

“Works of Korean literature have been translated and published in France for 15 years now, but the impact they’ve been having on French readers recently could be described as revolutionary,” the French publisher said.

As he spoke, Serge Safran referred to a catalogue of his publishing company, also called Serge Safran, which includes French-language translations of works by Korean writers like Hwang Sok-yong, Lee Seung-u, Oh Jung-hi and Cheon Un-yeong.

The Hankyoreh met Safran on Mar. 16 at the South Korean hall at the 36th Paris Book Fair, which is taking place at the Paris expo Porte de Versailles exhibition center. South Korea is the guest of honor at this year’s fair.

Safran used to work as a co-editor of Korean literature at a publishing company named Zulma, which translates and publishes works of Korean literature in France. But in 2012, Safran set off on his own, setting up a publishing company under his own name.

“Recently, the French have been responding to South Korean culture differently from before,” Safran said. “I’m not just talking about Korean literature, but movies and food as well.”

“Ten years ago, Australian literature was in the spotlight in Paris, but today, Korea is all the rage,” said Richard du Bois, the general manager of Gibert Joseph, a large book store that is located near the Boulevard Saint-Michel in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

France’s largest chain of bookstores, Gibert Joseph is a family-owned company that is based in three buildings in downtown Paris - including two six-story buildings on the Boulevard Saint-Michel. The company has a 130 year history, along with 30 branches around the country. Of the 600,000 books that are currently in stock, 1,500 are translations of Korean books.

“We expect to be able to sell 10,000 copies of Korean books in translation during the four days of this book fair,” said du Bois, who explains that the company is treating the fair as an opportunity to set up new sections for Korean books at its stores.

“We have high hopes for the increasing number of books by Korean authors that are being translated and published in France,” he said.

The Serge Safran publishing company, which releases more than 10 books each year, has just a couple of Korean works of literature in its catalogue. Even so, Safran says that “Simcheong, The Lotus Path,” by Hwang Sok-yong has sold more than 10,000 copies and that works by Lee Seung-u are becoming almost as popular.

But this is the exception, Safran says, with translations of Korean literature published in France only selling about 300 or 400 copies on average.

But with recently published translations of Han Kang’s books “The Vegetarian: A Novel” and “Human Acts” coming to recent prominence, sales have been on the rise. As a consequence, the publishing industry is taking a greater interest in these writers.

French interest in Korean literature appears to be connected with South Korea’s expertise in information technology and the Korean movies that have appeared in Europe.

“As the French become more familiar with the Korean culture found in films directed by Hong Sang-soo, which have garnered attention in France, this appears to have had a positive influence on sales of Korean works of literature, too,” said Safran, who emphasized the importance of translation.

“Korea is still not as familiar to the French as China and Japan, countries that have steadily introduced their culture to France since the 19th century. The South Korean government needs to keep providing support to translation projects,” Safran said.

Safran added that the recent work of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea has been getting noticeable results.

Hwang Sok-yong and the other South Korean writers who participated in the book fair all emphasized the role of translators.

“Steady, long-term support is needed,” said Hwang, who criticized the “sporting event” approach to translation assistance that aims at short-term gains and focuses on the Nobel Prize.

“Compared to the Haruki Murakami brand of Japanese literature that has gone after sentimental consumption by Western youth who are immersed in commercialism, compared to Chinese literary works whose expression is limited under the single-party Communist regime, and compared to Western minimalist literature, Korean literature has tackled social and political issues head on, giving it a unique power and advantage,” the writer said.

However, the efforts by translators of Korean books in the French publishing industry appear to still be at an early stage.

“Korean literature still accounts for such a small proportion of global literature,” said Jeong Gwa-ri, a literary critic who attended the Paris Book Fair. “We need to figure out the reasons why Korean literature is being received so much better in France than in English-speaking countries, where there is hardly any interest.”

Around 1,500 publishing companies from 55 countries are participating in this year’s Paris Book Fair, which is taking place from Mar. 16 to Mar. 20. From the very first day, the fair was inundated with crowds of people.

South Korea was invited as the guest of honor at this year’s fair to mark 130 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, and a total of 30 South Korean writers - including 15 writers of literature, along with writers of children‘s picture books, humanities books, cartoons and web comics - are attending the fair.

Along with the event honoring South Korea - which was hosted by the Korean Publishers Association and organized by the Korea Publishers Society, the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea and the Korea Creative Content Agency - there will also be a number of events at which South Korean writers can meet their French readers, including book exhibitions, book signings and conversations with writers.

On the opening day of the fair, French President Francois Hollande visited the South Korean hall, leaving his signature and a message in the register.

By Han Sung-dong, senior staff writer in Paris

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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