Although the global popularity of Korean pop music and film has spread to Ethiopia, From Wonso Pond is probably the first classic Korean novel to be translated into the Amharic language. Ethiopia, with a population of over 115 million, has a thriving literary tradition and publishing industry in many local languages, but particularly in Amharic. Recently, there is a growing trend of translating bestselling Western novels into Amharic.

From Wonso Pond has been rendered into Amharic as የዕምባ ኩሬ or Ye’imba kure, which translates to “pond of tears.” Set in 1930s’ Japanese-occupied Korea, the story begins in a small farming community in the North where a greedy landlord makes the lives of small farmers unbearable. Sonbi, a beautiful teenager, is forced to work in the landlord’s household as a maid after she becomes orphaned. The landlord uses his power to rape Sonbi. He also ends the tenancy of the young farmer, Cheotchae, for daring to resist the harsh taxes imposed upon him. On the other hand, he tries to manipulate Sincheol, a young law student with good prospects, to marry his daughter.

These three characters end up resisting their presumed fates by individually fleeing to the port city of Incheon and becoming involved in a covert resistance movement. They also are unwittingly enmeshed in a love triangle. Both Cheotchae and Sincheol secretly love Sonbi. Sonbi, on the other hand, is puzzled by why Cheotchae seems to always be in her thoughts.

This classic Korean novel will resonate with Ethiopian readers because of the historical similarities between the two countries during that era. In the 1930s, Ethiopian society was languishing under feudal oppression and Italian occupation. The suffering that took place and the resistance that ensued are still fresh in most Ethiopians’ minds today due to the Amharic classic novel Fikir eske mekabir (Love to the grave, 1968) [publishedin English as Love Unto Crypt (Author House,2005)]. In this work, a nobleman’s daughter from Gojam falls in love with her tutor, a man of low social standing. When the father finds out, he imprisons his daughter in his house and threatens to kill the tutor. The tutor flees to the city to save his life but is attacked by robbers on the way and dies. When the daughter learns of this tragedy, she flees to a monastery and becomes a nun. This book was serialized on national radio, the recorded broadcasts of which can still be accessed on YouTube.

From Wonso Pond was written by Kang Kyeong-ae (1906–1944), one of the few women writers of colonial Korea, whereas Fikir eske mekabir was written by the male author, Haddis Alemayehu (1910–2003). However, both authors personally experienced foreign occupation and social oppression during the 1930s in their respective countries. Kang grew up in poverty. Haddis Alemayehu fought againist the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–36) until he was captured and exiled to an island near Sardinia. He was freed by Allied forces and finally returned to Ethiopia in 1943. 

 A recent BookerPrize-shortlisted Ethiopian book, The Shadow King(2019) by Maaza Mengiste, also explores very similar themes. In this work, the nobleman repeatedly rapes the young orphaned housemaid. The wife who joins the nobleman in the war against the Italian invasion takes the housemaid with her. The two women heroically fight side by side and are taken prisoner by the Italians.

Apart from similarities in the storylines of these novels, the Korean War (1950–1953) features in many Ethiopian historical novels and other fictional works becauseof the participation of Ethiopian troops in the Korean War. 

 Another common aspect between Korean and Amharic novels is probably the level of censorship they historically received. During Ethiopia’s imperial and socialist rule as well as during its occupation by Italy, books were heavily censored to avert potential resistance narratives. Similarly, the gaps in the storyline of From Wonso Pond make one speculate about possible censorship by the Japanese authorities.

The cruel manner in which rich landlords subjugated their poor tenants resonates with Ethiopian society. The abject poverty of the time described through the meagerness of food, atrocious personal hygiene, and devastating illnesses is aptly renderedin the Amharic translation. Socialist student and labour movements took place in Ethiopia comparatively later than in Korea. However, concepts such as “class consciousness” and “surplus labor” are well reflected in the Amharic translation because of the country’s Marxist past, which introduced and regularized such terms.

The translation would have benefited from the inclusion of an introduction or translator’s note, which would have framed the social and historical context of the novel for the reader. On another note, I believe the Amharic version has the linguistic potential to be closer to the Korean because of certain features that the two languages share. Both languages are highly influenced by sociocultural hierarchy, age and social status in particular. The translator did not take this into account, perhaps because the translation was created from the English version, which does not have such linguistic features. This makes the translation sound somewhat culturally unfamiliar and unconventional. For example, it is very strange in an Ethiopian cultural context for a housemaid to address a nobleman without using honorifics and formal pronouns.

The Amharic grammar, vocabulary choices, and expressions are at times uneven. For example, archaic expressions and vocabulary that are used in the Amharic translation of the Bible are sometimes used in the narration, which clash with the predominately informal register used in the rest of the book. Most importantly, the translation suffers from editorial slackness, which I fear may detract the reader from fully enjoying the story.

Nevertheless, this rare Amharic translation of a classic Korean novel is crucial in bringing Asian culture and literature to Ethiopian readers. It also showcases the importance of consciously considering different regional canons, rather than the disturbing current trend of focusing almost exclusively on literary translations from the Western canon. I have high hopes for the second (amended) edition to be used within the Ethiopian education system. The translation will also enable Amharic literary scholars to carry out much-needed comparative literary analyses that could serve to enrich and enliven both cultures.

Bethlehem Attfield

Translator,The Lost Spell (Henningham Family Press, 2022)
by Yismake Worku

PhD Candidate (Modern Languages),University of Birmingham