[KS] Ch'ongddae translation

Peter Schroepfer schroepfer at gmail.com
Wed May 3 03:40:44 EDT 2006


Greetings members of The List,

I'm looking for an English translation of the North Korean novel
_Ch'ongddae_ ("Barrel of a Gun") or, short of that, any ideas about
what it would take to be sure about whether one really exists or not.

_Ch'ongddae_ was written by Kim Il Sung Award-winning author Pak Yun.
It was published in 2003 (Chuche 92) by the Munhak Yesul Ch'ulp'ansa.
There is no ISBN.

I bought my Korean language copy through a Chosen Soren bookstore in
Tokyo. It is the only North Korean literary work that made me laugh
out loud for reasons that appear to have been intended.

The helpful Chosen Soren lady called all the way to The Republic for
me in search of a translation, and was told that one was indeed done
but that "all have been sold and no more are going to be printed."

Given the strange response we got from P'yang and nature of the novel
itself, described in an opinion piece in the NYTimes last year by
Brian Myers (link below), I think it is possible that no official NK
translation was ever done. (This despite the fact that, according to a
helpful member of this list, it was read over KCNA radio in a series
of segments last year.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/opinion/13myers.html

I am in contact with some individuals who are interested in having a
translation done, to promote peace on the Korean peninsula and in the
Northeast Asia by making the DPRK better understood by similarly
sovereign and independent nations. Before marching forward they would
like to be sure that a translation has not been done already.
Naturally, if a translation exists, they would like to have one.

I tried to practice self-reliance on this, but it appears I will be
need to submit to international assistance. And as everyone knows,
South Korea (where I am) is not the best place to look for such
things. Any hints or advice would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Peter Schroeper




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