Seminar: Kyung-sook Shin and Korean Literature Friday,October24,2014

Sponsor:UCBerkeleyCenterforKoreanStudiesLocation:UCBerkeleyAlumniHouse(TollRoom)

Program 2:00-2:10OpeningRemarksLaura Nelson,Chair,CenterforKoreanStudiesYoungmin Kwon,VisitingProfessor,EastAsianLanguagesandCultures2:10-3:00“OnModernandContemporaryKoreanFiction”Speaker:Christopher P. Hanscom,ProfessorofKoreanLiterature,UCLA3:00-4:45PanelonKoreanLiterature,Translation,andPublicationChair:Daniel O’Neill,AssistantProfessorofJapaneseLiterature,UCBerkeleyBruce Fulton, Young-BinMinChairinKoreanLiterature,UniversityofBritishColumbia

Title:“PublicationofKoreanLiteratureinTranslationinthePost-PLEASELOOKAFTERMOMEra”

Jiwon Shin, ProfessorofKoreanLiterature,ArizonaStateUniversityTitle:“FoodforMemory”

Ha-yun Jung,GraduateSchoolofTranslationandInterpretation,EwhaWomansUniv.Title:"AQuietVoiceStrivingtoBeHeard"

Marcella Marini,AcquisitionsEditor,SellerioEditoreTitle:“TheFamiliarintheUnfamiliar”

4:45CoffeeBreak5:00-6:00ADialoguewithKyung-sookShinShin Kyung-sook,WriterLaura Nelson,Chair,CenterforKoreanStudiesInterpretation:ProfessorJiwonShin,ArizonaStateUniversity6:00-7:30ReceptionandBookSigninginAlumniHouse

Abstracts and Bios Shin Kyung-sook (Novelist, South Korea)

BioKyung-sookShinisoneofSouthKorea’smostwidelyreadandacclaimednovelists.ShegraduatedfromSeoulInstituteoftheArts,andwontheMunyeJoongangNewAuthorPrizeforherfirstnovella,Winter Fables, startinghercareerasawriterattheageof22.SincethenShinhaspublishedsevennovelsincludingDeep Sorrow,A Lone Room,The Train Departs at 7,Violet,Lee Jin,Please Look After MomandI’ll Be Right There,nineshortstorycollections,andthreeessaycollectionsaswell.

Herwritingischaracterizedbyaprofoundpointofviewfocusingonthehumanmind,aresonatingandcolorfulstyleutilizingsymbolismandmetaphor,andanexpressiveandheartfeltnarrativestyle.Settingsocialchangesandpoliticalsituationsasthebackdropsofherworks,Shinmainlylooksinwardsathumans’psychologicalwoundsanddifficultyinreconcilingthemselvestotheirpresentandfuture.Please Look After Momhasbeentranslatedintomorethanthirtylanguages.ItisShin’sfirstbooktoappearinEnglishandithasbeenmetwithcriticalacclaim;sinceitspublication,ithassoldover2millioncopiesworldwide.ShinbecamethefirstKoreanandfirstwomantoreceivetheManAsianLiteraryPrizefortheEnglishtranslationofPlease Look After Momin2011.I’ll Be Right Therehasbeenpublishedinanumberofcountries,includingtheUS,Spain,China,Poland,Italy,andNorway,andtheEnglisheditionwaspublishedinJune2014.IthasbeenreceivedravereviewsbymediaoutletsincludingtheLosAngelesTimes,theNew

YorkTimes,theGuardian,KirkusReviews,andPublishersWeeklyandputonmust-readlistsinmanycountries.Itwasincludedinthelistof“30BooksYouNeedToReadin2014”bytheHuffingtonPost.Itwasalsonamedas“thebestforeignliteratureinthe21stCentury”inChinaand“thebestbookofthewinter2012”inPoland.ShinhasbeenhonoredwiththeManAsianLiteraryPrize,theManhaePrize,theDong-inLiteraryAward,theYiSangLiteraryPrize,andFrance’sPrixdel’Inaperçuin2009fortheFrenchtranslationofherwork,A Lone Room(La Chambre Solitaire),aswellastheHo-AmPrizeintheArts,awardedforherbodyofworkforgeneralachievementinKoreancultureandthearts.ShewasavisitingscholaratColumbiaUniversityin2011andhasbeenservingasgoodwillambassadorforUNICEF.SinceherinternationalsuccesswithPlease Look After Mom,Shinhasbeenparticipatinginmanyinternationaleventsforwritersasaspeaker. Laura Nelson (Chair, Center for Korean Studies, UC Berkeley)

BioLauraC.NelsonisAssociateProfessorofGenderandWomen’sStudiesatUCBerkeley.ShereceivedherPhDinAnthropologyatStanford,andholdsaMaster’sinCityandRegionalPlanningfromUCBerkeleywithafocusonhousingandcommunityeconomicdevelopment.Hercurrentresearchprojectisastudyofbreastcancerasamedical,cultural,personal,environmental,politicalandtransnationalphenomenoninSouthKorea.SheisalsointheearlystagesofaprojectlookingatpoliciespertainingtothechildrenofimmigrantbridesinSouthKorea.Herfirstbook,Measured Excess: Status, Gender, and Consumer Nationalism in South Korea(ColumbiaUniversityPress,2000)utilizedethnographicandmediamaterialstoexaminewayshowinstitutionsshapedconsumercultureinpursuitofnationalgoalsduringtheperiod1960-1997.ThetextexaminestheresponseofSouthKoreans,particularlywomen,invarioussocialpositionsaspoliticalconditionsandconsumerorientedmessagesevolved.ShehasalsodoneworkinSouth

Koreathatinvestigatesthelivesandsocial-presentationstrategiesofolderwomenwithoutchildren.BeforejoiningtheGWSfacultyin2013,LaurataughtforelevenyearsintheAnthropologyDepartmentatCaliforniaStateUniversity,EastBay,wheresheservedaschairfrom2008-2013.Inadditiontoheracademicpositions,Laura’scareerincludesworkinappliedanthropologyintheUS:publicpolicyevaluation,microenterprisedevelopment,andbuildingemploymentlinkagestopoorly-connectedcommunities.Youngmin Kwon (Visiting Professor of Korean Literature, UC Berkeley)

BioYoungminKwoniscurrentlyVisitingProfessorofKoreanLiteratureintheDepartmentofEastAsianLanguagesandCulturesatUCBerkeley.HeisanEmeritusProfessorofSeoulNationalUniversityandChairProfessorofKoreanLiteratureatDankookUniversity.KwonhaspublishednumerousworksofmodernKoreanLiterature,includingHistory of Modern Korean Literature(inKorean,2002)andThe Encyclopedia of Modern Korean Literature (inKorean,2004).Heisco-editor,withBruceFulton,ofModern Korean Fiction(ColumbiaUniversityPress,2005),andhasbeentherecipientofnumerousawards,includingtheCultureandArtCriticsAwardofSeoul(1988),ModernKoreanLiteraryCriticsAward(1990),ManhaeAcademicPrize(2006)andAcademicResearchAwardofSeoulNationalUniversity(2009).

Christopher P. Hanscom (Professor of Korean Literature, UCLA) Title:“OnModernandContemporaryKoreanFiction”

TalkDescriptionThistalkwillsetthestageforadiscussionofShinKyung-sook'sfictioninthecontextofKoreanliteraryhistory.Prof.Hanscomwillintroducesomeofthemajorauthors,genres,andworksofmodernKoreanliterature,andwilltracetrendsinthedevelopmentoffictionwritingacrossthe20thand21stcenturies.BioChristopherP.HanscomisanassociateprofessorintheDepartmentofAsianLanguagesandCulturesatUCLA,andteachescoursesonKoreanliteratureandfilm.Heistheauthorof"MattersofFact:Language,Science,andtheStatusofTruthinLateColonialKorea"(Cross-Currents3.1[May2014]);The Real Modern: Literary Modernism and the Crisis of Representation in Colonial Korea(Harvard,2013),astudyoftheoriesoflanguageandmodernistfictionin1930scolonialKorea;andco-editorofImperatives of Culture: Selected Essays on Korean History, Literature, and Society from the Japanese Colonial Era(Hawai'i,2013),acollectionoftranslationsofmajorliterarycriticalandhistoricalessaysfromtheKoreancolonialperiod.Hiscurrentresearchinterestsincludetherelationshipbetweensocialandaestheticforms,comparativecolonialism,andconceptsofraceandcultureunderJapaneseempire.

Daniel O’Neill (Professor of Japanese Literature, UC Berkeley)

BioAssociateProfessorD.CuongO'NeillcompletedhisPh.D.fromYaleUniversityinJapaneseLiteraturein2002.HeteachescoursesinMeijiprintcultureandliterature,Taishôaesthetics,andpostwarintellectualhistoryandpopularculture.Hisresearchinterestsincludethenovelincomparativeperspective,globalmodernisms,andcriticaltheory(particularlyinrelationtoaffectandaesthetics).RecentandforthcomingpublicationsincludeastudyofMoriÔgaiandthebildungsroman(JapanForum,2006),ananalysisofNatsumeSôseki’stheoryoftragicpleasure(Discourse,2008),andabookchapteronthememoriesofmovingbodiesinTsaiMing-liang’sGoodbyeDragonInn(I.B.Tauris,2009).HeiscurrentlycompletingabooktitledGhostlyRemains:AffectandtheAfterlifeofReadinginModernJapan.Bruce Fulton, Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature, University of British Columbia Title:“PublicationofKoreanLiteratureinTranslationinthePost-PLEASELOOKAFTERMOMEra”

TalkDescriptionInspiteofthesuccessofPLEASELOOKAFTERMOM,KoreanliteratureremainsadifficultsellinEnglishtranslation,especiallyamongcommercialpublishers,whoseemeverymoreconcernedwithsalesvolumesandauthorswithnamevalue.IntherushtoreplicatethesuccessofMs.Shin'sprize-winningnovel,theKoreanfoundations,theliteraryagents,andthetranslatorsbeholdentothemareneglectingacrucialgenre--shortfiction.AlsosufferingneglectfromthepowerstructureofKorean-to-EnglishliterarytranslationarethesmallpressesandacademicpublisherswhocollectivelydeservethemostcreditforthelimitedexposurethatKoreanliteratureenjoysintheAnglophoneworldtodate.BioBruceFultonistheinauguralholderoftheYoung-BinMinChairinKoreanLiteratureandLiteraryTranslation,DepartmentofAsianStudies,UniversityofBritishColumbia.Heistheco-translator,withJu-ChanFulton,ofnumerousworksofmodernKoreanfiction;co-editor,withKwonYoungmin,ofModern Korean Fiction(ColumbiaUniversityPress,2005),editoroftheKoreasectionoftheColumbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature(2003);andgeneraleditoroftheModernKoreanFictionseriespublishedbytheUniversityofHawai’iPress.Heistheco-recipientofseveraltranslationawardsandgrants,includingthefirstNationalEndowmentfortheArtsTranslationFellowshipforaKoreanliterarywork,andthefirstresidencyawardedbytheBanffInternationalLiteraryTranslationCentreforthetranslationofaworkfromanyAsianLanguage.Hismostrecenttranslations,withJu-ChanFulton,areRiver of Fire and Other Stories byOChŏnghŭi(ColumbiaUniversityPress,2012),ChoChŏngnae'sHow in Heaven's Name: A Novel of World War Two(MerwinAsia,2012),andbilingualeditionsofChŏngI-hyŏn’s“IntheTrunk”andYiHye-gyŏng’s“AndThentheFestival”(ASIAPublishers,2013,2014).Jiwon Shin, Professor Korean Literature, Arizona State University

Title:“FoodforMemory”TalkDescriptionChongup,theprovincialtownoftenfeaturedinShinKyung-sook’sworks,thoughmodeledforShin’sbirthplacewhereshelivedforseveralyearsinherchildhood,isaliteraryconstruct.Asiteofeternallossandmemorywhereherwritinglongstoreturn,ChongupservestotellwomanhoodasitregistersKorea’ssocialtransitionfromruraltourbanandtheattendantinjuriesanddesires.ThispresentationwillfocusonhowthissiteofmemoryisenlivenedbythesumptuousandevocativedescriptionsoffoodandfoodpreparationinShin’swriting.BioJiwonShinisanassistantprofessorintheSchoolofInternationalLettersandCulturesatArizonaStateUniversity.SheteachescoursesonKoreanliterature,popularculture,andliteraryandculturaltheory.HerresearchcoversvarioustopicsonmediaandmemoryinpremodernandmodernKoreanliteratureandculturalhistory.Sheiscompletingabookmanuscript,Cultural Memory and Urban Elite Culture in Late Chosŏn Korea(undercontractwithHarvardAsianCenter).ShealsotranslatesmodernandcontemporaryKoreanpoetryandthewritingsinliteraryChinesefrompremodernKorea. Marcella Marini (Acquisitions Editor, Sellerio Editore)

Title:“TheFamiliarintheUnfamiliar”

TalkdescriptionSellerioEditore:thepresentationofanindependenthealthypublishinghousefoundedin1969with2500titlesincatalogueandagreatnumberofIntenationalbestsellerauthors,distinguishedbyauniquesenseofcuriosity,andrenownforitsseriousscoutingjobindiscovering&rediscoveringliteraryauthorsfromaroundtheworld. AnoverviewontheforeignliteraturebusinessinItalyandadeeperlookonwhatistheEuropean/ItalianperceptionoftheabilityofaverysensitivewritersuchasShinKyung-sooktoturnherdistinctsoulandtraditionalbackgroundintouniversalthemesandthereasonsbehindthefascinationofEuropean/ItalianreaderswithKoreanandEastAsianliterature. BioMarcellaMariniisanacquisitionseditoratSellerioEditoreforforeignfictionsince2011afterelevenyearsasforeignfictioneditorandrightsmanageratNeriPozzaEditoreinMilano.ShepreviouslyworkedforfouryearsattheliteraryagencyGrandi&AssociatiinMilanoandasaScoutinLondonUKatVan Lear Associates, literary scouting agency after aninternshipatMariaCampbellinNY MariaB.Campbell,literaryscoutingagencyNewYork. Ha-yun Jung (Professor, Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, Ewha Womans University)

Title:"AQuietVoiceStrivingtoBeHeard"TalkDescriptionTheauthorialvoiceofnovelistShinKyung-sookisoneofinteriorityandaloneness,onethatisdeeplyprivateandfragile,yetatthesametime,utterlydistinctandstubbornlyfirm.Transferringthisvoiceintoanotherlanguageisataskthatdemandsanattentiveandattunedear,aswellasaboldlyricalapproach,whichposesimmensechallengesespecially

whentranslatingbetweentwolanguagesthatareasdistantanddifferentfromeachotherasKoreanandEnglish.BioHa-yunJungisawriterandtranslatorwhoseworkhasappearedinThe Threepenny Review,The New York Times,Best New American Voices 2001 andotherpublications.SheistherecipientofaPENTranslationFundGrantandwritingfellowshipsfromtheUniversityofWisconsin-MadisonandHarvardUniversity’sRadcliffeInstituteforAdvancedStudy.HertranslationsincludenovelsandstoriesbyKoreanwritersOhJung-hee,KimHoon,ShinKyung-sookandothers.SheisonthefacultyofEwhaWomansUniversity’sGraduateSchoolofTranslationandInterpretationinSeoul,Korea.