The purpose of the study is to explore the examples of domestication and foreignization in translations of English literature read by Korean readers. Further, the paper will analyze whether there is a difference in translation decision, particularly o...
The purpose of the study is to explore the examples of domestication and foreignization in translations of English literature read by Korean readers. Further, the paper will analyze whether there is a difference in translation decision, particularly of domesticating and foreignizing strategies, resulting from translator's priorities such as target reader's familiarity and original author's respectability, then discuss which strategy might be a better approach to render a source text into Korean.
In order to define what factors influence translation strategy, chapter two of the study introduces the basic concepts of domestication and foreignization as well as their definition made by previous scholars including Schleiermacher, Venuti, and Nida. And also, it deals with the issue of the translator's invisibility which is closely related to that of foreignization and domestication. With all that, the chapter comes to the conclusion that familiarity with a target text, both linguistic and cultural, target language naturalness, readability and fluency, and acceptability for target readers are key components for translator's decision on domesticating translation strategies; on the other hand, acceptability and respectability for foreign culture and faithfulness to an original author affect translators' choice to adopt foreignizing techniques. Considering those factors mentioned above, the chapter further analyzes previous studies on these two contrasting translation methods to come up with a new set of translation techniques for the text analysis in the following chapter. Such techniques include cultural adaptation, the use of generalized word, omission, addition, inserting translators' notes, borrowing words or phrases from the source text and so forth.
Based on those translation strategies, chapter three shows the examples of three translated texts of “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” from the domesticating and foreignizing perspective. It particularly pays attention to the cultural references like word-play and culture-bound elements such as proper names, food items, measures of length and currency, historical figures, etc., which reflect the otherness of the original story. And then, it draws a parallel between different translation methods taken by the three different translators to see if there are inconsistencies and, if so, which technique might be suitable under certain circumstances.
In conclusion, a translator needs to be encouraged to keep the cultural-bound elements the same as in the original in order to keep the foreign cultural elements the plot is set. Proper names, for example, are subject to foreignization techniques like either transliteration or literal translation, to avoid creating completely new one. However, it might be desirable to consider domestication techniques in translating puns to help target readers have the same humorous effects as close as source readers have.