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Translation and Cultural Barriers between “The Place Where the Harmonium Was” and “The Blind Calf”

  • DONAM OHMUNHAK
  • Abbr : 돈암
  • 2020, 38(), pp.169~200
  • DOI : 10.17056/donam.2020.38..169
  • Publisher : The Donam Language & Literature
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > History of Korean Literature
  • Received : November 25, 2020
  • Accepted : December 28, 2020
  • Published : December 31, 2020

Lee Young-Jun 1

1경희대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This essay examines how Korean literary works are transformed by the cultural context and customs of the English­speaking country. In order for Korean novels to be translated into English and published, it goes through the editing process of a local publishing editor. The publishing practices of Anglo­American are very different from those of Korea, so editors frequently correct original works. In this editing act, the cultural customs and traditions of the society, which are accepted as natural norms in the publishing practices of English and American novels, operate. These cultural customs and traditions are naturally thought by locals, but Korean writers and readers with different cultural customs and traditions can take it shockingly. In order to understand these cultural barriers and the scene of conflict, this paper examines a case in which Shin Kyung­sook’s short story “The Place Where a Harmonium Was” was translated into English. Among the three translations selected as examples, the versions published in domestic magazines generally tried to preserve the content and form of the original, but the work published in local American magazines severely deleted and transformed the original. Above all, the overall volume was reduced, and detailed devices of emotional expression were thoroughly ignored. Particularly, in the part where the volume is reduced, cultural differences are revealed decisively. The context of the important decision the protagonist makes comes from respect for the family, but the deletion from the original work from an individualistic point of view in English­speaking culture seems to be a serious problem even considering cultural differences. This editing act, which may be called cultural vandalism, is determined unilaterally without understanding the characteristics of Korean literary works by cultural differences. Therefore, the situation that the emphasis on the family community in Shin Kyung­sook’s work is pointed out as sentimentalism by American critics or is largely deleted by editors of the Harvard Review is reconsidered a factor that should be seriously considered in the publication of English translations of Korean literature. Without careful consideration of the unique characteristics of Korean literature, many parts of Korean literature could be deleted or rejected by cultural barriers.

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