“The Whale” is a book by South Korean author Cheon Myeong-kwan. In 2023, the title was included on the list of titles nominated for the International Booker Prize. At the end of September 2024, its Polish version was released.
The book “Whale” translated using Google Translate?
According to Koreanist and translator Marta Niewiadomska, the Polish version of “Wieloryba” – all or a large part of it – is translated using Google Translate. “It's not a problem that I don't like a translation, but I can recognize translational translations and I can distinguish Polish literary texts from English ones. […] This text is translated with Google Translator from the English translation of 'Wieloryba', or at least everything indicates so,” she wrote on Instagram. And she added: “Yes, of course I have evidence.”
In her opinion Polish edition is sometimes closer to the translation of the English version of “The Whale” than to the Korean original. Niewiadomska gave examples. A fragment of the Polish book reads: “The conversations between Chunhui and Jumbo were repetitive and elliptical in nature.” The English version is: “Chunhui and Jumbo's conversations were ongoing and elliptical”. In Niewiadomska's translation from the Korean Polish release should read: “Questions and Chunhui and Jumbo's answers/conversations were endless.” Niewiadomska also compared other sentences from the Polish translation with the Google Translate translation. It turned out that the sentences were identical or very similar.
What about “The Whale”? The publishing house responds: We have made every effort
Dr. Anna Dinejko-Wąs, translator and employee of the University of Warsaw, is responsible for the translation. The book “Wieloryb” was published by Znak Literanova Publishing House and was published with the support of the Korean Literary Translation Institute.
Znak Literanova Publishing House responded to the editorial team's question Onet Kultura in connection with allegations regarding translation. “We are surprised by the allegations that appeared on social media, especially since so far we have received only positive reviews of the translation of the book in question. The reviewers also drew attention to the linguistic qualities of the text,” said Bogna Rosińska, publishing director of Znak Literanova. “At Znak, we always entrust translations to translators, living people with whom we sign license agreements. Of course, we are investigating the matter,” it added.