2006, Vol.7, No.2

The Journal of Translation Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.49

pISSN : 1229-795X
https://journal.kci.go.kr/kats

Translating Animation Films: Subtitling as RewritingKang, Ji-Hae(Ajou University) This study explores the subtitling of animation films for children by drawing on the concept of "rewriting" (Lefevere 1992). While subtitling is similar to other forms of translation in many respects, it is also quite different in that subtitling, as a form of audiovisual translation, entails heavy spatial and temporal constraints and is "written to be spoken as if not written." The present paper examines how the subtitling of animation films creates rewritings of original films by providing a comparative analysis of original film dialogues of six American animation films and their corresponding Korean subtitles. The genre of animation films has been described by numerous scholars as involving creative and transformative rewriting of existing narratives. The present paper argues that the subtitling of animation films equally undergoes comprehensive rewriting as a result of the translator's rendering of the source language film dialogues (oral texts) into the target language subtitles (written texts). The process of subtitling creates more overt links among video, sound, and dialogues and strengthens entertainment functions of animation films by exploiting oral features of language, puns, and other linguistic devices. Subtitling also rewrites the film by simplifying and explicitating meaning and domesticating the dialogue of film. The findings suggest that the rewriting observed in subtitling of animation films is a manifestation of the translating agent's intervention to produce a translation that creates new cultural and commercial values in the target culture.

Translation Strategies to Compensate for the Asymmetry of Cultural Elements: Based on the Tourist Guide Posts and Brochures of Busan Kim, Do Hun(Pusan University of Foreign Studies) Built upon previous research on intercultural studies and translation strategies, this paper aims to expand the current literature by exploring the role and importance of cultural elements in the process of translation. Clear understanding of cultural elements is crucial in cross-cultural translation, as communication does not take place in a vacuum, but rather in a world of shared knowledge and experience. Hence, when the source and target text readers are separated by culture and have little or no shared cultural background, there will be a large gap that the translator will have to bridge if the target text reader is to understand the text in a manner similar to the way source text reader would understand it. And this is where the cultural elements in the source text culture must be explained or reestablished in the target text, as communication starts from a shared base. Based on a clearer understanding of cultural elements and the consequences of their asymmetry, this paper seeks to find out how the translator can communicate to the target text reader the equivalent information and connotations as the source text reader understands. To this end, this paper will illustrate concrete compensation or translation strategies that enable source and target text readers to have shared cultural understanding. The translations that serve as the bases for the explanation of translation strategies are taken from tourist guide posts and brochures that contain a number of cultural elements, thereby requiring the translator to employ active and diverse compensation mechanisms.

Translation of Personal Pronouns in English Research Papers into Korean: A Textlinguistic Approach Kim, Youngshin (Keimyung University) One of the most important considerations in the process of translation is to produce a target text which conforms to the norms and conventions of TC(Target Culture) and satisfies communicative needs of TT(Target Text) readers. Using research papers as its data, the present study aims to show how Korean research paper conventions differ from their English counterparts. The identification of such differences, it is argued in the paper, will be of great help to translators, because they can come up with optimal strategies when they are encountered with translational problems. The first part of this paper is devoted to exploring textual differences between Korean research articles and English ones in terms of macrostructure/superstructure, followed by the examination of microstructure. Especially with regard to microstructure, this paper analyzes metalinguistic utterances in which participants in the textual interaction become explicitly manifested. It is argued that personal pronouns such as 'I', 'We', and 'You' appear more frequently in English research papers, thus creating personal involvement between the author and readers. It is also observed that these constructions were usually rendered in passive forms in Korean target texts. Drawing on the concept of text politeness, this study suggests that translation should be carried out in a way to comply with the textual norms of TT.