Reorientation of the English Translation of Korean Theater

Abstract

More than a hundred-year long history of the English translation of Korean literature has resulted in a sharp rise of the number of translation works for the past decades. However, theater translation has been marginalized more than other genres in literature, which leads to the near absence of the study on the English translation of Korean theater. The lack of visibility of the English translation can be attributed to the performance-valued characteristics of theater, postulated by a concept that the aesthetic validity of a play is supposed to be tested on the stage before it reaches readers. This perspective considers theater text as supplementary and incomplete. Under the circumstances, the supremacy of performability, director, commerciality as well as marketability over textuality has marginalized the presence and role of theater translators. Based on these fundamental premises, this paper intends to provide a series of starting points for a future direction of the English translation of Korean theater. First, because of the inherently dualistic structure of theater, theater translators should be, at least, familiar with the theatrical mechanism and stage semiotics. Second, if one of the purposes of translation is to approach target readers and draw their attention, theater translation needs to take a more strategic approach in order to identify the preferences and expectation of target readers while staying current with rapidly changing world theater trend. Third, as publication form is concerned, anthology rather than a single volume of the playwright's works is more feasible for publication in the beginning, suitable as college textbooks. Fourth, once these efforts have succeeded, more attention needs to be directed toward actual staging of the translated plays either by college or professional theater companies. While it is worthwhile critically speculating about whether it is always necessary for every Korean theatrical or literary work be recognized and appreciated by international audience through translation, on the other hand it is important to have a more genre-specific strategic approach to the globalization of Korean theater if that enhances development of Korean theater.