Getting started
Do you know the drama “Run On”? It was a drama starring actors Sin Sae-gyeong and Lim Si-wan, and I enjoyed watching it because the female protagonist, Sin Sae-kyung's job was a translator. I don't think I've ever watched a drama about translators, but I started watching it because it was quite interesting, and the drama itself was fun, so sometimes I watch it again on OTT when I think of Fortress. There, to the protagonist, who was thinking about how to translate, the senior translator asked if he would say that there is a perfect transmission to the world and whether there is a saying that translation is rebellious. While I was sympathetic, I just came up with material that I could bring as a letter topic. This is a story about literal translation and paraphrase.
What is the literal translation?
There are times when people say that the result of translation is too bad for translation. If you think about this kind of reaction, you might think that “literal translation” is not all correct translation methods, but in fact, that's not true. You can't say either the literal translation or the paraphrase, that one has a positive meaning and the other has a negative meaning. There is only a choice between paraphrasing and literal translation, depending on the translator's judgment.
Literal translation refers to the faithful translation of a word or text in a foreign language to the meaning of each word. It can be said that it is a translation method that focuses on faithfully transferring the original meaning of the original letter or verse. Usually, when I say “I translated it literally,” I think of sentences that are awkward or misinterpreted by locals. In fact, there are parts where a literal translation is essential. A typical example is scripture translation. Since the direction of understanding scriptures such as Buddhism and the Bible may vary depending on who reads them, there is a risk of misunderstandings, misinterpretations, or distortions in the process, so as a general rule, the literal translation is used in this area. For similar reasons, even in the case of diplomatic documents and legal documents, they stick to the method of minimising paraphrasing and using literal translation as much as possible.
What is paraphracy?
If literal translation means that, what is paraphrase? Paraphrasing refers to translating the entire meaning without being too bound by the words or phrases in the original text, or such a translation. If you only consider the dictionary meaning, I think the paraphrase is considered a slightly kinder translation than the literal translation. I think the intention of paraphrasing itself is to make it easier for readers to read, so I think it's a kinder translation.
However, there is another difficult part of saying that the paraphrase is unconditionally correct. Since the translation is done with the intention of making it easier for readers to read, the translator can translate based on what they understand and what they think. It means that one's own subjectivity is involved to some extent. This means that each person has different ideas, so there is room for the meaning of the original text to change during the paraphrasing process, and this gap also leaves room for readers who understand it differently from the original text.
So what should I choose between literal translation and paraphrase?
If you read this letter, you may have noticed that literal translation and paraphrase are not opposing concepts. It makes more sense to look at both as types of translation. In that sense, I think it would be difficult to just say the literal translation of some types of documents and the paraphrase of certain documents. You can choose between literal translation and paraphrase for the purpose of translating so that the reader can better understand according to the translator's judgment. I hope you enjoyed reading today's letter, and I'll be back with the next one.
Editor l Lee In Hye
inhye.lee@twigfarm.net
