{"id":354,"date":"2016-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yule-tide.generalsemiotics.net\/index.php\/2016\/04\/18\/post-347-self-portrait-by-yun-dong-ju-korean-poem\/"},"modified":"2016-04-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T00:00:00","slug":"post-347-self-portrait-by-yun-dong-ju-korean-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/2016\/04\/18\/post-347-self-portrait-by-yun-dong-ju-korean-poem\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-347: “Self-Portrait” by Yun Dong-Ju [Korean Poem, Translated]"},"content":{"rendered":"
I had the pleasure of learning the name Yun Dong-Ju<\/strong> (\uc724\ub3d9\uc8fc) last week. A movie<\/a> is now out about him and I had the good fortune to see it (the less fortunate part was how little I understood). Yun Dong-Ju is, it seems, one of the most beloved Korean poets of the 20th century. He also has a romantic and “political” (one might say) cachet to the present-day Korean mind because of his early death in a Japanese prison in February 1945 at age 27.<\/p>\n

I have decided to translate one of Yun Dong-Ju’s poems called Self-Portrait<\/em>, though I might prefer to translate the title also as Portrait of the Artist<\/em>. It was written in 1939 and was included by the author in a collection he published with limited circulation in 1941. The collection was republished in 1948 following the author’s death and the deceased Yun Dong-Ju became a kind of poet folk hero, it seems.<\/p>\n

The below is my own translation. I increasingly find Korean poetry beautiful for its disciplined use of language and layers of implied meanings, but this also makes it a real challenge to translate smoothly.<\/p>\n

Self Portrait <\/em>has an air of mystery to it. Two characters. Thick symbolism. In reading it, many questions come up. This is a self-portrait, is it? Which character is the author? Both? I suppose that is up to us to decide…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nSelf-Portrait<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

Yun Dongju [1917-1945] \/ Poet
\n[Translated by Me, April 2016]<\/p>\n

On my solitary way down from a rocky outcropping,
\nI seek out a secluded well for a little peek inside.<\/p>\n

Inside the well: A bright moon, drifting clouds,
\na spread-out sky. A blue breeze blows. It is autumn.<\/p>\n

There is also this strapping young lad.
\nFor reasons unclear to me, I feel that I hate this lad.
\nI turn away to leave and proceed on my way.
\nPresently, I begin to take pity on the lad.
\nI go back for another look.
\nThere he is again, still there, just as before.
\nAgain I feel that I hate this lad, and again I take my leave.
\nWalking away, I come to realize something. I yearn for the lad.<\/p>\n

Inside the well: A bright moon, drifting clouds,
\na spread-out sky. A blue breeze blows. It is autumn.
\nAs from the recesses of fond memory, there is, also, this lad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Original Korean:<\/p>\n

\uc790\ud654\uc0c1<\/strong><\/font>
\n\uc724\ub3d9\uc8fc [1917-1945] \/ \uc2dc\uc778<\/p>\n

\uc0b0\ubaa8\ud241\uc774\ub97c \ub3cc\uc544 \ub17c\uac00 \uc678\ub534 \uc6b0\ubb3c\uc744
\n\ud640\ub85c \ucc3e\uc544\uac00\uc120 \uac00\ub9cc\ud788 \ub4e4\uc5ec\ub2e4\ubd05\ub2c8\ub2e4.<\/p>\n

\uc6b0\ubb3c \uc18d\uc5d0\ub294 \ub2ec\uc774 \ubc1d\uace0 \uad6c\ub984\uc774 \ud750\ub974\uace0
\n\ud558\ub298\uc774 \ud3bc\uce58\uace0 \ud30c\uc544\ub780 \ubc14\ub78c\uc774 \ubd88\uace0
\n\uac00\uc744\uc774 \uc788\uc2b5\ub2c8\ub2e4.<\/p>\n

\uadf8\ub9ac\uace0 \ud55c \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\uac00 \uc788\uc2b5\ub2c8\ub2e4.
\n\uc5b4\uca50\uc9c0 \uadf8 \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\uac00 \ubbf8\uc6cc\uc838 \ub3cc\uc544\uac11\ub2c8\ub2e4.
\n\ub3cc\uc544\uac00\ub2e4 \uc0dd\uac01\ud558\ub2c8 \uadf8 \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\uac00 \uac00\uc5fe\uc5b4\uc9d1\ub2c8\ub2e4.
\n\ub3c4\ub85c \uac00 \ub4e4\uc5ec\ub2e4\ubcf4\ub2c8 \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\ub294 \uadf8\ub300\ub85c \uc788\uc2b5\ub2c8\ub2e4.<\/p>\n

\ub2e4\uc2dc \uadf8 \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\uac00 \ubbf8\uc6cc\uc838 \ub3cc\uc544\uac11\ub2c8\ub2e4.
\n\ub3cc\uc544\uac00\ub2e4 \uc0dd\uac01\ud558\ub2c8 \uadf8 \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\uac00 \uadf8\ub9ac\uc6cc\uc9d1\ub2c8\ub2e4.<\/p>\n

\uc6b0\ubb3c \uc18d\uc5d0\ub294 \ub2ec\uc774 \ubc1d\uace0 \uad6c\ub984\uc774 \ud750\ub974\uace0
\n\ud558\ub298\uc774 \ud3bc\uce58\uace0 \ud30c\uc544\ub780 \ubc14\ub78c\uc774 \ubd88\uace0
\n\uac00\uc744\uc774 \uc788\uace0 \ucd94\uc5b5\ucc98\ub7fc \uc0ac\ub098\uc774\uac00 \uc788\uc2b5\ub2c8\ub2e4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n

\n
\n
\"Picture\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Poster for “Dong-Ju” (2016). Yun Dong-Ju is on the left, without glasses. The actor bears a strong resemblance to the real person.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of learning the name Yun Dong-Ju (\uc724\ub3d9\uc8fc) last week. A movie is now out about him and I had the good fortune to see it (the less fortunate part was how little I understood). Yun Dong-Ju is, it seems, one of the most beloved Korean poets of the 20th century. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-korea","category-korean-language","category-my-translations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yule-tide.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}