A Look into Korean Literature

This spring, Han Kang became the first Korean author to win the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for her novel, "The Vegetarian." And, for the first time in the prize's history, the award was shared by the novel's translator, Deborah Smith.

While this award has brought attention to Korean literature around the world, Korean authors are still relatively unknown outside of the peninsula. What is behind this phenomenon? What are some of the challenges of translating Korean into other languages? And what can be done to boost the popularity of Korean literature around the world?

To answer these and other interesting questions, we are joined this week by Dr. Susan Hwang, assistant professor of contemporary Korean literature and culture studies at Indiana University.

Image from Sam Bae's photostream on flickr Creative Commons.