MEOW: A Literary Podcast for Cats
The Meow Library
Categories: Arts
Listen to the last episode:
This podcast is a presentation of The Meow Library.
Han Kang's The Vegetarian can be purchased here.
The basis of Nobel laureate Han Kang's The Vegetarian is a line by Korean poet Yi Sang: "I believe that humans should be plants."
But some, like today's interviewee, believe that humans should be cats.
A Meow Library translator has taken exception to Han Kang being awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the many errors in the English editions of The Vegetarian and her other, lesser-known works. Certain that the Nobel committee is unfamiliar with her books in their original Korean, and that the translated work is not truly of Kan's authorship, he feels that the award should be revoked.
"Any English translation of Han Kang is bound to mislead. The tonal properties of Korean are totally lost to the Anglophone world. Meows are the only language that could possibly convey the melancholy and gravitas of Kang's original prose -- and perhaps even surpass it," he remarks.
After a brief introductory statement, our translator recites a 27-minute passage of The Vegetarian, translated his way. It is his wish that the Nobel committee take note of his improvements and distribute the 2024 Literature prize accordingly.
This podcast is made possible by sales of our first translation for cats, Meow: A Novel.
Previous episodes
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35 - 34. Han Kang's Nobel Prize Controversy: A Translator's Perspective Fri, 11 Oct 2024
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34 - 33. Sally Rooney's Intermezzo: Love Under the Specter of Marx Thu, 26 Sep 2024
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33 - 32. Matthew Davis, Let Me Try Again, and the Gen Z Superego Wed, 21 Aug 2024
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32 - 31. Caroline Calloway, Scammer, and Feline Virality Tue, 13 Aug 2024
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31 - 30. Gabi Abrão (@sighswoon), Notes on Shapeshifting, and the Poetics of Feline Vocalization Thu, 30 May 2024
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30 - 29. Millie Bobby Brown, Nineteen Steps, and the Role of the Ghostwriter Fri, 22 Sep 2023
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28 - 28. Cormac McCarthy's Final Interview Wed, 14 Jun 2023
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27 - 27. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) Strike, ChatGPT, and the Future of Entertainment Thu, 04 May 2023
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26 - 26. Norman Mailer's Truth and Being: A Paean to Excrement and the Spirit of Meow Wed, 08 Mar 2023
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25 - 25. Roald Dahl, Alberto Gullaba, Jr., and a Modest Proposal for Sensitivity Readers Thu, 02 Mar 2023
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24 - 24. Ian F. Svenonius, Jean-Luc Godard, and Sam Austen: Against the Written Word Tue, 21 Feb 2023
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23 - 23. M.I.A., OHMNI9, and the Evolution of the Audiobook: A Translation For Your Cat Tue, 07 Feb 2023
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22 - 22. A Bold New Translation of Ted Kaczynski's "Industrial Society and Its Future" (aka "The Unabomber Manifesto")  Wed, 01 Feb 2023
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21 - 21. Prince Harry's Memoir, Hypnotic Cascades, and the Teachings of Gurdjieff Tue, 10 Jan 2023
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20 - 20. Crashing Institutional Gates With Schrödinger’s Cat: An Object Lesson in Eric Weinstein’s DISC Wed, 28 Dec 2022
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19 - 19. Jordan Peterson’s 12th Rule, Ailurophobia, and the Feline Panopticon Tue, 20 Dec 2022
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18 - 18. Annie Hamilton and the Novel That Wasn't There Tue, 13 Dec 2022
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17 - 17. Jack Skelley, Guy Debord, and LA's Cat Problem Tue, 06 Dec 2022
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16 - 16. Taylor Jenkins Reid, David Foster Wallace, and the Catgut Parcae Tue, 29 Nov 2022
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15 - 15. Angela Campbell's On the Scent, Psychic Detectives, and Feline-Centered Estate Planning Tue, 22 Nov 2022
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14 - 14. Chuck Palahniuk, The Pixie Project, and a Reading of ‘Phoenix’  Tue, 15 Nov 2022
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13 - 13. Bret Easton Ellis, The Shards, and the Gen-X Paracosm Tue, 08 Nov 2022
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12 - 12. Jerry Saltz's Art Is Life - An Excerpt for Your Cat Wed, 02 Nov 2022
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11 - 11. Brad Phillips, Patricia Highsmith, and Clifford Irving Wed, 26 Oct 2022
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10 - 10. Caitlin Forst's NDA, the Primacy of Autofiction, and the Rise of Otherspecies Narratives Mon, 17 Oct 2022
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9 - 9. Allie Rowbottom's Aesthetica, Erasure of the Flesh, and the Polymorphic Self Tue, 11 Oct 2022
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8 - 8. Tao Lin's Mandalas, Repetition Compulsion, and Hofstadter's Labyrinth Tue, 04 Oct 2022
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7 - 7. Chelsea Martin: Tell Me I'm an Artist, Simulacra, and False Consciousness Tue, 27 Sep 2022
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6 - 6. Jordan Castro's The Novelist, Georges Bataille, and the Triumph of Fecality Tue, 20 Sep 2022
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5 - 5. Ottessa Moshfegh, Feline-Borne Illness, and the Evolution of Human Consciousness Tue, 13 Sep 2022
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4 - 4. Jennette McCurdy, Tik-Tok, and the Will to Parricide Tue, 06 Sep 2022
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3 - 3. The Twilight World, Heat 2, and the Economics of the Cinematic Novel Wed, 31 Aug 2022
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2 - 2. William Blake, Golgonooza, and Pathological Narcissistic Space Wed, 31 Aug 2022
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1 - 1. Hanya Yanagihara, Jacques Lacan, and Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty Tue, 30 Aug 2022