Talk:We Do Not Part

Alternative title

@Phibeatrice: Hi! There's an alternative English translation for the title, 'I Do Not Bid Farewell', but I'm not sure if it would be reasonable to include it in the introductory section of the article, since the title already occupies most of the first line and this title seems to not have made it into publishing, I'm not sure why the media called it that (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

In fact, Kang addressed this topic in a Nobel interview (see this) and gave yet another alternative title, 'Impossible Goodbyes', which follows the same structure as the title in languages such as French and Catalan, where it's titled 'Impossibles adieux' and 'Els adeus impossibles', respectively. Maybe this should be mentioned in a production section or maybe even in the English reception one.

I'm mentioning it because I don't have much experience editing the English Wikipedia, so I want to address it beforehand in case this is not the right way to look at it. Other than that, I think the French literary award the novel won a few years ago, back in 2023, should be mentioned as well (it's the Prix Médicis étranger, one of the Prix Médicis). -- Brunnaiz (talk) 18:10, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

In fact, it won another French literary award this year, the Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature (see this). -- Brunnaiz (talk) 18:13, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for your comment! While working in conjunction with the Korean Wikipedia, I was a little curious about both the original Korean title (and how it would translate into English), as well as the matter of the award-winning French translation. In any case, this isn't the first time that Han's book title has been subject to discourse and debate—Human Acts had enough title discussion to merit a section on that page. I believe the title of I Do Not Bid Farewell is probably what the press agreed to refer to the original Korean novel as prior to the English translation title being set ahead of the 2025 publication. For instance, some Korean media outlets referred to Human Acts as its literal title, The Boy is Coming or The Boy Comes before the English translation released; some Korean media outlets still refer to it that way, as Human Acts is a title that only exists in the west, per Han and translator Deborah Smith's decision as they worked together on the release. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent—if I were to infer from what I've read about Human Acts, I know Han is very meticulous about her titles and usually goes through several before deciding on one for publication in English. Sometimes, her decisions for English titles will vastly depart from the literal Korean ones. Thus, your assessment of a section to address this is correct, and I'll be sure to write one. I'll also incorporate information about the French translation and awards. Phibeatrice (talk) 18:18, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Actually, it appears I'm misremembering the contents of the Human Acts page. There's no mention of the title discussion there, but long story short, in one interview, Han stated that she and Smith didn't want to call it The Boy is Coming (the literal Korean translation) for fear of risking an innuendo in English. Han then said she was pretty hands-on with her translations, down to the very title. I'm describing all of this to say: titles are generally a noteworthy tidbit of "lore" to note when it comes to Han's books, ergo your request for a section on titles makes complete sense to me. Thank you! Phibeatrice (talk) 18:21, 17 December 2024 (UTC)