Use of Language
- Yuying
- Apr 28, 2025
- 7 min read
Abstract
Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea is a nonfiction book by Barbara Demick, a journalist who has interviewed multiple refugees who had escaped from the city of Chongjin in North Korea. Throughout the book, Barbara Demick utilizes North Korean terms instead of the English tradition for multiple reasons — including to preserve North Korea’s language and cultural identity, to stress the emotional influence in North Korea, and to allow the readers to immerse more deeply in the book and other people’s experiences. In the text, the author keeps multiple untranslated North Korean terms to convey a deeper meaning and depict the refugees’ experiences in a more profound way, rather than just writing down their literal meaning. Simultaneously, Demick also keeps North Korea’s cultural and political identity this way. This essay will analyze Barbara Demick’s use of language and North Korean terms throughout her non-fiction book.
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In an excerpt from Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick, Chang-Bo and Mrs. Song are introduced as two civilians previously living in North Korea. Once, Mrs. Song's husband, Chang-bo, got in trouble because of his casual remark about a shoe factory producing rubber boots. Soon, one of the neighbors who heard his remark reported it to the Ministry for the Protection of State Security. In North Korea, snitching of friends and neighbors became a common thing to do. People were often stopped by the police for the most absurd reasons, such as going against the dress code, not wearing a badge, using more than their quota of electricity, and more. The police often snitched in people's houses without notice, especially after midnight. During his interrogation, Chang-bo's social status and fluent handling of words aided him throughout the whole process, so the investigation went on quite smoothly. Chang-bo's job was to report business stories. As a journalist, he could read uncensored news reports and knew more than most people about the truths behind North Korea's 'fabrications'. He would only talk about his disdain for the government with his trusted friend from the radio station, who shared his opinions. Chang-bo would often tell his daughter, Oak-hee, the truth about the government, confident that she would not spill anything out. Of course, he said all that when his wife wasn't there.
By utilizing and keeping the original North Korean terms, rather than directly translating them, Barbara Demick manages to keep the North Korean cultural and political identity. Preserving the original terms also strengthens Mrs. Song’s character as a “True Believer” as seen in the title of Chapter 3, where she is depicted as someone who was faithful and completely dedicated to the North Korean regime and government. She would often sing revolutionary songs and was extremely prideful in being part of North Korean society. In North Korea, it was required to have a well-maintained portrait of Kim Jong Il in every household, while any other paintings were forbidden. Mrs. Song was so devoted to the North Korean government that she taught all of her children to bow down before the painting of Kim Jong Il in their house. “When the time came, the children lined up in front of the portraits to express their gratitude. In unison, they would bend from the waist, bowing deeply, with feeling.” (Demick, 3). Through Mrs. Song’s actions, the readers can see how deeply dedicated she is to the North Korean regime. Moreover, keeping some terms in the North Korean translation also kept its more accurate meaning. For instance, the term juche, which is introduced in Chapter 3, was the “state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers Party of Korea, typically translated as ‘self-reliance’”, according to an article in Brittanica. (Teekah, 1). Rather than giving it an English translation, keeping the original word conveyed a deeper meaning in North Korea’s political ideology. In addition, seeing that juche was usually translated as ‘self-reliance’ shows that some translations may not always be completely accurate. In reality, the term expresses and means much more than ‘self-reliance’, and keeping the word in its original form helps convey the message more precisely and deeply.
Throughout the book, keeping several words in its original, North Korean translation also highlights the psychological control of language over the people in North Korea. For instance, in the excerpt from Chapter 3, Chang-bo gradually starts to understand the truths behind the government’s ‘fabrications’. When Chang-bo took a new job as a journalist editor for business reports, he had the authority to read uncensored news. As the North Korean regime would only allow censored reports to the public, Chang-bo learned a lot about the government’s true face as a journalist. “For many years, Chang-bo had been fighting off the doubts that would periodically creep into his consciousness. Now those doubts were gelling into outright disbelief. As a journalist, Chang-bo had more access to information than ordinary people.” (Demick, 3). By keeping several North Korean terms, the author stresses the emotional and psychological impact the regime has on its people through the use of language. These North Korean terms are used somehow like a metaphor and emphasize the oftentimes unnecessarily intense governmental power over the public. This governmental power can be seen through one of Chang-bo’s experiences when he was arrested by the Ministry of State Security. Chang-bo got in trouble because of his casual remark about a shoe factory producing rubber boots when a neighbor reported him to the police. The police would oftentimes motivate people to snitch on their neighbors and friends by reporting such things to the ministry. The regime often created unnecessarily secure boundaries, with what people wore, what people said, and even what people had in their houses. In this passage the term inminban was introduced, meaning “neighborhood units”, according to an article in EPFL. By keeping this term in its original translation, the author highlights the impact of the community-based control system in North Korea. In North Korea, the regime, or the government, like multiple other countries, oftentimes used emotional stress and the community as a key factor to influence people.
The reader oftentimes feels more deeply associated with the experiences of the family in North Korea when the original translation for several terms is used. The usage of the original translation of certain words builds the reader’s immersion and empathy for Mrs. Song and Chang-bo, especially when the two characters slowly learn the truths behind the North Korean regime. As a journalist and editor, Chang-bo was able to see uncensored business reports, news, and much more, that the public isn’t normally allowed to see. Before having such a job, Chang-bo already had a doubt for the government, until his suspicions were confirmed: “For many years, Chang-bo had been fighting off the doubts that would periodically creep into his consciousness. Now those doubts were gelling into outright disbelief.” (Demick, 3). Soon, however, Chang-bo gradually comes to understand the true nature of how things worked around the regime. The government would often control the amount of knowledge the public was able to receive, in order to make it seem like they were the best option for them. As Barbara Demick interviewed multiple North Korean refugees to learn about their stories, Chang-bo and Mrs. Song were most likely within the selection of people who later escaped from their hometowns. After the author adds North Korean words and language in selective parts of the book, the readers feel more deeply immersed in the community, as if they are able to feel the emotions of the characters living in North Korea. The unfamiliar North Korean language that was often introduced throughout the book is presented to highlight the emotional influence on everyday life, further strengthening the reader’s association with the community of North Korea. In an article called “Political Ideology and Language Policy in North Korea” by the scholar Jacob A. Terrell, it is stated that North Korea’s language is related to the regime and political ideology. Similarly, Demick mimics the community of North Korea in the novel by utilizing untranslated terms. Using these North Korean terms, the author manages to increase the reader’s empathy and emotional sympathy for the characters and events throughout the book.
Nothing To Envy: Original Lives in North Korea was a non-fiction book written by Barbara Demick that explores the lives of people in North Korea according to Korean refugees who escaped from their hometown. In an excerpt from Chapter 3, Mrs. Song and her husband Chang-bo are introduced as two characters who have lived in a North Korean community before. Due to making a sarcastic remark about a business report, Chang-bo was arrested by the Ministry of State Security, because of the unnecessarily secure boundaries the regime has set up for the public. Throughout the book, Demick repeatedly utilizes some North Korean words without getting translated into the English version for several reasons. For one, doing so may preserve the political and cultural identity of North Korean society. By utilizing and keeping the original North Korean terms, rather than directly translating them, Barbara Demick manages to keep the North Korean cultural and political identity. Moreover, keeping several terms untranslated also highlights the psychological control of language over the people in North Korea. These North Korean terms are used somehow like a metaphor and emphasize the oftentimes unnecessarily intense governmental power over the public both emotionally and psychologically. Furthermore, using unfamiliar words from another language lets the readers associate with the North Korean community more deeply, rather than just reading the story through a third-person perspective. This way, the readers are able to feel empathy for the characters introduced in the book through Barbara Demick’s choice of words.
Works Cited
Demick, Barbara. “Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea”, archive.org
Teekah, Ethan. “Juche: North Korean ideology”, britannica.com
“Inminban”, graphsearch.epfl.ch
Terrel, Jacob A. “Political Ideology and Language Policy in North Korea”
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