A Case Study of the Korean-English Translation of Culture-Specific Terms in Who Ate Up All the Shinga?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1602.14Keywords:
Korean-English literary translation, culture-specific terms, transliteration, literal translation, semantic translationAbstract
This study examines the translation practices used for culture-specific terms in the Korean-English translation of Who Ate Up All the Shinga?, evaluating their effectiveness in conveying Korea’s historical dynamics. The autobiographical novel recounts the author’s early childhood under Japanese imperial rule and her college years during the Korean War, in which personal memories are intricately interwoven with public history through the reflective perspective of an elderly narrator. Translation practices for culture-specific words are classified into seven categories: Transliteration, Transliteration with Category Word, Transliteration with Functional Addition, Literal Translation, Semantic Translation, Semantic Translation with Omission, and Historical Exonym. Drawing on Skopos theory, the concepts of foreignization and domestication, and post-colonial approaches, this study analyzes the effectiveness of these practices in delivering historical context. It further proposes compensatory methods, such as contextual paraphrases, explicatory notes, a necessary glossary, and informative appendices to promote cross-cultural understanding without compromising reader accessibility or editorial and market feasibility.
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