Italian author Italo Calvino once wrote that “without translation, I would be limited to the borders of my own country,” that a good translator “introduces me to the world.” While translated books are rather under represented in US publishing–only around 3% of books published each year are translations–there are some extraordinary translators out there transforming the best stories from around the world into the English language. One of the most noteworthy of these translator is Anton Hur, who has published over a dozen books in translation over the past few years and is the only translator of color to have been shortlisted for both the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award for their translation of Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung. Anton Hur is not just an incredible translator however, and the recent release of Toward Eternity shows Hur has just as profound abilities as an author.
Set in a near future where nanotechnologies are able to cure cancer by replacing human bodies with new, immortal bodies, Toward Eternity probes ideas on language and art in an era of Artificial Intelligence and confronts questions on what it means to be human. “Are scientists the poets of the natural world or are poets scientists of the imagined world?” the novel asks. It is a fascinating read especially as society is hurling towards greater incorporation of AI in daily life and many worry about the role of artists and the representation of emotion in such a future. The novel has garnered comparisons with books such as Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, though fans of authors such as Adrian Tchaikovsky (we here at Herrick are BIG fans) or other author/translators such as Brian Evenson. It is a sci-fi in love with language and a gorgeously written one at that.
"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮. 𝘏𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴?"
In a publishing world largely dominated by white translators primarily working from French, German and Spanish, Anton Hur's work has helped showcase the marvelous works of South Korean authors and spark interest in their literature. Hur has worked on a wide variety of stories and styles to bring them to the English language and uses articles and social media to advocate for translation and translators, who are often overlooked despite the important art they bring to us. Translators are often left unmentioned on book covers--even ones that win translation prizes--and many award winning translators don't own the copyrights to their translations among other issues, and Hur does well to call out such issues to raise awareness for these artists.
Hur has translated two collections of short stories by Bora Chung, three novels by Kyung-Sook Shin, the International Booker Longlisted novel Love in the Big City by Sang Young Pack, the cyberpunk novel Counterweight by Djuna, and others including the recent fantastical novella A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon.
They have had great success with memoirs as well, such as the bestselling I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee and fans of the K-Pop band BTS will recognize Hur from their translation of the BTS memoir Beyond the Story.
Poetry is another area where Hur excels, having translated the poetry lectures of Lee Seong-bok, Indeterminate Inflorescence, as well as various poems by writers such as Shim Bo-seon, Kim Un and more. Hur even translated Ocean Vuong's well-loved volume, Night Sky With Exit Wounds, into Korean. Poetry plays a large role in Hur's novel, Toward Eternity, and their work in translation opens up a lot of conversations to be had around AI and language. For Hur, poetry is less the actual words and more "what the poems point to" as they write in their 2016 article On Translating Poetry. "Poetry is not words but the emotion or thought the poetic configuration of words generate." This idea is echoed by a cellist in the novel who states "A musician’s task is not to create sound from nothingness… We do not create music, we draw it out from underneath the silence." Translation is much like poetry, it is a harmony between the original text, the emotional impact of the text, the artistry of the translator and their choices, and the language into which it is being placed. It is an abstract transformation that is not unlike the art of poetry itself. As of the present, a computer cannot harmonize language and emotion to replicate this translation of poetry--something Hur has frequently spoken out about on social media--but Toward Eternity ask the question: what if it could? The novel features an AI with a masters degree in poetry which also draws the question, if a robot could write poetry would we consider that a waste of resources?
All this and more can be found in Toward Eternity, so be sure to pick up a copy or place a hold next time you visit Herrick District Library. Speaking of libraries, Anton Hur is also a huge advocate for libraries and recently donated all the books read while judging for the Dublin Literary Award to Bucheon City Library in South Korean where they are now on display. You can see a full list of their translations and article on their website HERE and can read many of the books through Herrick Library or the Hoopla app. Happy reading!
