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Forms of Rewriting in Chinese-Korean Translation for Publication

김혜림 1

1이화여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Translation is the product of rewriting. Considering acceptability of the text to the target audience, rewriting is a feature of the translation process from the selection of the source text till the finished book reaches the readers’ hands. This paper analyzes Korean-Chinese translated publications that have gone through this process of rewriting to identify characteristics in the form of those publications when compared to the original text, and to identify the differences in form and their causes. Through comparison and analysis of 21 translated publications including Nunmul 1 (Tears I) and 13 original Chinese texts including Binu (碧奴), differences of form were identified and organized according to type. According to analysis of the differences, the major forms of rewriting appearing in Chinese-Korean translated publications are 1) publication of one book in two (or more) volumes 2) omission, 3) creativity on the part of the translator in dealing with the signifiant and 4) cases of re-editing according to the formation of the genre of a particular text in each culture. In the broad framework, through publication of one book in multiple volumes to increase acceptability to the target audience, works translated from Chinese to Korean generally become longer than the original text due to linguistic characteristics and book publication practices. These are characteristics generally found in Chinese-Korean translated publications. On the other hand, in the case of omission, for certain translators (Yu So-yeong, Shim Gyu-ho) partial omission resulting in an incomplete translation is carried out on the condition of the author’s prior permission, as specified in the contract. This suggests that active intervention on the part of the translator is not yet common in Korea. In addition, in novels where there is a close relationship between the names and the story active rewriting on the part of the translator is necessary in dealing with signifiant such as the name of the main character. In particular, when there are forms distinct to each culture such as found in dictionaries, rewriting is carried out in such a way as to make the text acceptable to the target culture.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.