Challenges of Korean Novel Translation

The Case Study of Love in the Big City

Abstract

This study explores the challenges of translating Korean literary fiction for international audiences, focusing on Park Sang Young’s Love in the Big City and Anton Hur’s English translation. While K-pop and K-dramas have become global phenomena, Korean novels have not reached the same recognition, often due to the complexities of cultural translation. The research examines how translation choices shape English-speaking readers’ experience and how emotion, culture, and society are mediated across languages. Accessibility is defined as readers’ ability to engage with both narrative and cultural meaning, including translation clarity, cultural contextualisation, and coherence of emotional and thematic arcs. Screen adaptations are considered not as a primary focus but as contextual points of circulation. The study combines close reading with qualitative methods, including interviews and secondary sources. Insights from LTI Korea and Anton Hur are analysed alongside online reviews to understand the novel’s reception. By integrating these perspectives, the paper examines how translation decisions affect accessibility and cultural nuance, and how institutional actors shape the international circulation of Korean fiction.