Joseon-Soviet Culture (Jo Sso Munhwa) and Baek Seok’s translation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Baek Seok, who returned to his hometown Jeongju via Manchuria after 1940, is a poet who experienced liberation of Korea from Japanese colonial rule (1945) and the Korean War (1950) in North Korea. During this period, he worked on translation rather than creating poetry. For this reason, researchers who attempt to examine Baek’s activities during his time in North Korea have focused on discovering and studying his translation works. As this article will elaborate, during the mid-twentieth century after his return home, Baek Seok also published a large number of translated poems in Joseon-Soviet Culture (Jo Sso Munhwa), the journal of the Joseon-Soviet Culture Association. Joseon-Soviet Culture, which was published from 1946 to 1963, is a major channel for investigating how North Korea’s so-called “official” literature was established through the influence of the Soviet Union. Baek Seok’s translation works have been largely understood as “indirect writing” during the period when creation was directly and indirectly banned. It is expected that, by reviewing various translations by Baek in Joseon-Soviet Culture, Baek’s literary activities in North Korea before writing freely was banned, can be confirmed more empirically. In this article, I will show how Baek Seok’s literary longing during this period can be traced through the analysis of his translated poem I want to say to you “You are my wife!” … by Konstantin Simonov. I argue that this poem shares an atmosphere similar to Baek’s existing creative poetry and translation practices are linked to reading practices.