[REVIEW] 'Understanding Korean Film' book seeks to tackle invisibilities in K-film translation

A scene from the 2019 Oscar-winning film, "Parasite" / Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

By Dong Sun-hwa

Along with K-pop and K-drama, K-film is hitting high notes around the world, with movies like "Parasite" (2019) and "Minari" (2020) writing a new history with their groundbreaking accomplishments. The former is the first Korean film to win an Oscar, while the latter led veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung to become the first Korean to nab an Oscar for acting.

In his acceptance speech for the Oscar award for "Parasite," auteur Bong Joon-ho made a headline-grabbing remark about subtitles, saying that people would be introduced to so many more amazing films once they overcome the "one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles." However, in the eyes of two experts based in England, the English subtitles of most Korean flicks have a deep-rooted issue ― they often play down cultural differences and "naturalize" the lines to cater to English-speaking audiences, hampering them from more deeply understanding and appreciating Korean culture.

Jieun Kiaer, a professor of Korean Language and Linguistics at the University of Oxford / Courtesy of Jieun Kiaer

In their book "Understanding Korean Film: A Cross-Cultural Perspective," published by Routledge in 2021, the two authors ― Jieun Kiaer and Loli Kim ― delve into the different challenges English-speaking audiences face when they watch Korean movies with subtitles and furthermore, provide helpful tools they can use to facilitate their understanding. Kiaer, a professor of Korean Language and Linguistics at the University of Oxford, and Kim, a DPhil researcher in Korean Studies at the same university, came to pen the book after realizing that there have been few attempts to explain the gap in translation when it comes to multimodality.

In the case of "Parasite," a black comedy thriller revolving around the destitute Kim family that infiltrates the house of the rich Park family to climb their way out of poverty, some English-speaking viewers found its ending, in which driver Kim Ki-taek ― played by Song Kang-ho ― kills his employer Park Dong-ik ― played by Lee Sun-kyun ― quite abrupt. But Kiaer and Kim explain that Kim's murder is not out of the blue, considering the contemporary Korean context that involves complex hierarchical systems of interpersonal relations.

Loli Kim, a DPhil researcher in Korean Studies at the University of Oxford / Courtesy of Loli Kim

"Tensions rise between Kim and Park throughout the film due to the conflict in their respective seniorities, which are invisible to Anglo-Euro audiences," the book reads. "Age grants power to Kim, who is almost a generation older than Park, but this seniority is the only status he holds because he has a low socio-economic status. However, the fact that Park is his employer and moreover an elite member of the chaebol makes Kim subordinate to him … Both parties feel they have a right to power in these conflicting hierarchies, so they want to receive respect. In this sense, 'Parasite' is telling a story of emotional tension that is very relatable in contemporary Korean society and of violent eventualities that can be real consequences."

In another case, when Kim's son Ki-woo ― played by Choi Woo-shik ― forges a diploma from Yonsei University, one of the most prestigious universities in Korea, to become a tutor for Park's daughter Da-hye ― played by Jung Ji-so ― the subtitles translate "Yonsei" into "Oxford," using the name of a school that is more familiar to Western viewers. But this naturalizing approach can also prevent viewers from being able to explore Korean society and culture, the book says.

To give clues about diverse cultural contexts, the co-authors not only introduce the history of Confucianism in Korea, but also offer a glimpse into some key concepts in Korean culture. One of the concepts they focus on is "han," which they define as, "a type of emotion, often conceptualized socio-culturally as a collective feeling of unresolved resentment, grief, and anger, which is considered an essential element of Korean identity."

Kiaer and Kim also propose some methods to better understand what they call "socio-pragmatic communication," or verbal and non-verbal expression functioning as part of a system of communication, in Korean films, which are a major object of invisibility for foreign viewers.

The cover of "Understanding Korean Film: A Cross-Cultural Perspective" / Courtesy of Loli Kim

"Eye contact, for instance, is an important aspect of communication," the book reads. "In general, Koreans do not maintain eye contact when they talk, particularly in situations where an inferior is talking to their superior. An inferior maintaining eye contact with their superior is often interpreted as a challenge to the superior's authority and is therefore extremely rude. This may initially come as a shock to visitors from Western countries, where maintain eye contact is generally seen as polite."

In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Kiaer and Kim stressed that knowledge is the key to tackling the untranslatable.

"If you do not have the linguistic or cultural knowledge needed to understand something, it is simply rendered invisible," Kim said. "I find this fascinating. It is an issue that has plagued translation studies, cultural studies, film studies, and yet little has been done to unravel this invisibility and bring about visibility. I was keen to be involved in research that does so ― in explaining the meaning-making systems at work in Korean films and developing analytical methods for film researchers to analyze Korean films."

The two started writing the book during the COVID-19 lockdown when "Parasite" was sweeping awards globally.

"There were people talking about subtitles, such as Bong Joon-ho and some bilingual viewers," she recalled. "Then there was the controversy over 'Minari,' as to whether it should be classified a foreign film or not at awards ceremonies, followed by a stream of awards. We could not have asked for better timing to be writing the book, it was just a challenge to keep up."

According to Kim, making the invisible visible in Korean movies is already happening.

"The rapidly increasing popularity of Korean popular culture is generating interest in understanding this content," she pointed out.

"But it is really important for Koreans to have awareness of Korean traditions in translation. The translation of Korean literature into English only started quite recently, and the Korean mindset has always been that we have to learn and observe the Western mindset in order to speed up, but now with the soft power of our popular culture, it is important that we begin to bring our cultural content into the global forum. Our cultural content is a tangible asset, which we should share with global consumers. That is one of the underlying goals of this book ― to raise awareness of Korean media content and to do it justice."