On July 27, 2022, The Strand Bookstore presented an online literary translation event entitled “Anton Hur & Bruna Dantas Lobato: Beyond Translation.” Anton Hur is the translator of the Korean novel “Violets” written by the important South Korean author Kyung-Sook Shin. Ms. Lobato is the translator of “Moldy Strawberries” by Caio Fernando Abreu, one of Brazil’s most prominent chroniclers of Brazilian culture and society in the 1970’s and 80’s.
The Strand bookstore, founded in 1927, is the sole surviving bookstore of the forty-eight shops that once comprised New York City’s “Book Row,” an area clustered around Fourth Avenue. The Strand, which is currently run by the granddaughter of the founder, carries over 2.5 million used, new, and rare books. Its in-store and online events feature dialogues with important authors and personalities.
The event began with readings by the two translators. Although Ms. Lobato’s translation was just recently published by Archipelago books, “Moldy Strawberries” was written more than forty years ago during a time when Brazil was dealing with the AIDS crisis as well as life under a dictatorship. Ms. Lobato read from one of the eighteen stories in the collection which is entitled “Beyond the Point.” The selection was striking in its poetic quality and its expression of the longing for love and connection and the fear of rejection.
Mr. Hur’s translation of the Korean novel “Violets” is a coming-of-age novel which was just published by the Feminist Press. The selection that Mr. Hur read was a delicate and poetic description of an incipient relationship between two young Korean girls. The book goes on to tell the story of one of the girls as a young adult and explores issues of rejection, obsession and violence against women in 1990’s South Korea.
After the two readings, the translators addressed various issues such as why they chose to translate these two particular books. It was clear that both translators were attracted to the way in which the authors addressed the issue of “otherness” and how individuals perceived by society to be different survive in a hostile world. While considered by some to be outsiders in their societies, the principal characters in the both books are conventionally normal in their desire for love and acceptance. As Ms. Lobato stated, if the outside world cannot accept the desires of those classified as “others,” it is the world that is broken and not the people.
Both books presented certain unique challenges to the translators. Ms. Lobato mentioned the particular rhythm of the author’s prose, its unique syntax and its crystalline language. She acknowledged how important the input of her editor was in her attempt to capture these effects in her translation. She made the interesting comment that at a certain point the translator becomes “possessed” by the voice of the author. Mr. Hur mentioned that there is still some ambivalence about the place of queer literature in contemporary Korean society.
The event was interesting in the way it showed how universal themes like love, rejection and “otherness” span the boundaries of international literature. The two translators were impressive in their commitment to presenting both the universality and the uniqueness of these two diverse voices to an English-speaking audience.
On July 27, 2022, The Strand Bookstore presented an online literary translation event entitled “Anton Hur & Bruna Dantas Lobato: Beyond Translation.” Anton Hur is the translator of the Korean novel “Violets” written by the important South Korean author Kyung-Sook Shin. Ms. Lobato is the translator of “Moldy Strawberries” by Caio Fernando Abreu, one of Brazil’s most prominent chroniclers of Brazilian culture and society in the 1970’s and 80’s.
The Strand bookstore, founded in 1927, is the sole surviving bookstore of the forty-eight shops that once comprised New York City’s “Book Row,” an area clustered around Fourth Avenue. The Strand, which is currently run by the granddaughter of the founder, carries over 2.5 million used, new, and rare books. Its in-store and online events feature dialogues with important authors and personalities.
The event began with readings by the two translators. Although Ms. Lobato’s translation was just recently published by Archipelago books, “Moldy Strawberries” was written more than forty years ago during a time when Brazil was dealing with the AIDS crisis as well as life under a dictatorship. Ms. Lobato read from one of the eighteen stories in the collection which is entitled “Beyond the Point.” The selection was striking in its poetic quality and its expression of the longing for love and connection and the fear of rejection.
Mr. Hur’s translation of the Korean novel “Violets” is a coming-of-age novel which was just published by the Feminist Press. The selection that Mr. Hur read was a delicate and poetic description of an incipient relationship between two young Korean girls. The book goes on to tell the story of one of the girls as a young adult and explores issues of rejection, obsession and violence against women in 1990’s South Korea.
After the two readings, the translators addressed various issues such as why they chose to translate these two particular books. It was clear that both translators were attracted to the way in which the authors addressed the issue of “otherness” and how individuals perceived by society to be different survive in a hostile world. While considered by some to be outsiders in their societies, the principal characters in the both books are conventionally normal in their desire for love and acceptance. As Ms. Lobato stated, if the outside world cannot accept the desires of those classified as “others,” it is the world that is broken and not the people.
Both books presented certain unique challenges to the translators. Ms. Lobato mentioned the particular rhythm of the author’s prose, its unique syntax and its crystalline language. She acknowledged how important the input of her editor was in her attempt to capture these effects in her translation. She made the interesting comment that at a certain point the translator becomes “possessed” by the voice of the author. Mr. Hur mentioned that there is still some ambivalence about the place of queer literature in contemporary Korean society.
The event was interesting in the way it showed how universal themes like love, rejection and “otherness” span the boundaries of international literature. The two translators were impressive in their commitment to presenting both the universality and the uniqueness of these two diverse voices to an English-speaking audience.
