문학번역가의 과제 — 한국문학 영어번역가를 중심으로 —

Abstract

The scholarly discussion on the task of literary translators has been significantly bound by Benjamin’s critical essay in 1923 with a similar title. However, the discussion on Benjamin’s essay could face limitations in its application in translation practice due to its conceptual and metaphysical dimension. This study intends to discuss and analyze the major tasks, roles and qualifications of the English translators of Korean literature, focusing on the strategies and patterns of the successful English translations in order to raise social and scholarly recognition and identification of the remarkable achievements made by the literary translators who are already acclaimed abroad but frequently become subject to the harsh public condemnation and scorn by domestic critics and media. It is an immutable truth fact that there is always a reason for every successful translation, and this paper aims to categorize the ten most notable roles of those successful English translators of Korean literature, identifying their unique and critical strategies and characteristics and highlighting the due recognition of the successful translators’ significant achievements, which will remain as a genuine and invaluable task of the literary translators of Korean literature.