This study follows my previous study 『Translation and Reception of Literary Canon by period: Focusing on the paratexts of 『The True Story of Ah Q』 (1972-2018)』. The previous study analyzed the reception phenomenon of translation in Korean translations of literary canon 『The True Story of Ah Q』, based on the examination of the paratexts, and demonstrated that literary canon is time and again received differently in the diverse sociocultural context through translation.
Drawing on the previous research result, this study analyses the rewriting phenomenon of translation in Korean translations of 『The True Story of Ah Q』, based on the examination of actual translated texts, as an another aspect of reception of literary canon by period through translation.
The analysis draws on the translated texts material published in Korea during the period 1978 to 2018. In total, the translated texts in 16 books of the Korean translations of 『The True Story of Ah Q』 has been analysed into two main periods, focusing on a temporal frame and providing a comparative perspective. The first period starts in 1978 and ends in 1994 in the publication of Korean translations of 『The True Story of Ah Q』. The second period starts in 2003 and ends in 2018.
After examining the data and the paratexts closely, I confirmed a hypothesis that the Korea publication market’s literary canon ‘rewriting’ context in the early 21th century would have an important influence on the different rewriting patterns in the translated texts of Korean translations of 『The True Story of Ah Q』. The literary canon ‘rewriting’ context can be referred to as “new translation for the new generation.” Its key aspect is the easily readable translation for teenagers, who have become the major recipient of literary canon of Korea publication market in the early 21th century.
During the second period, the empirical analysis of the translated texts of Koreans translations of 『The True Story of Ah Q』 illustrates that the linguistic rewriting can be characterized the realization of readability in translation. During the second period, from 2003 to 2018, compared with the first period, from 1978 to 1994, the noticeable features of the vocabulary rewriting in the translated texts are the change of vocabulary by period, the decrease in usage of difficult Sino-Korean, the increase in usage of Korean native words, coupled with a number of onomatopoeic words and mimetic words, and the trend toward domestication in the translation of cultural elements.
The findings in this study demonstrates that constant translation of literary canon is a linguistic rewriting in the diverse sociocultural context. 『The True Story of Ah Q』’s case proves that translation leads a literary canon to a new rewriting pattern in linguistic change with which translated canons become associated in target culture.