한국고전번역원 고전 대중화 사업의 현황과 과제

Abstract

Korean Classics have received much attention over time, as they are a source of content for various digital media, and also in part because the need for popularization of cultural heritage seems to be continuously increasing. The popularization of Korean Classics serves as a means to spread Korean cultural heritage to the general public and provides an opportunity to familiarize the audience with those classics. In that sense, the organization of original texts, translation of classics, training of competent people, investigation of translated classics, and promotion of information are the main tasks of the Institute for the Translation of Korean Classics (hereafter ITKC)--which eventually build up to the idea of popularization. Even though the main efforts all targeted popularization, if ITKC failed to spread the Korean classics, along with the public who were unfamiliar with the Korean classics, then the project cannot avoid being weakened. ITKC has made great efforts to communicate with the public since the founding of the Korean Classics Research Institute (민족문화추진회), the precursor to the ITKC. In the late 1970's, the ITKC received positive feedback from diverse societies through various actions such as making a classic reading club, publishing classic cultural books, and through the movement for reading Korean classics. ITKC also contributed not only to supplying a fair part of Korean culture--but progressing it as well. After its foundation in 2007, ITKC published classics in translation, served as consultant for classics in Chinese, mailed 'Stroll with the Classics', and published a newsletter named, 'Four Seasons with the Classics,' as a means to popularization. ITKC also promoted domestic and international interchanges for classic texts. Additionally, ITKC made further progress in 2012 by taking charge of developments, and spreading the practice of reading the classics amongst elementary and middle school students. Followed by the increasing demands, the aim of this service is to develop various classical materials and to expand the available texts for both children and adolescents. Classic popularization is divided into two categories: making translated contents and putting the translated contents to use. To make translations, we have to diversify the kind of books, reprocess the results of translation, and make a story bank and expansion of the visual contents. For the usual use of the contents, we need educational programs, book clubs, utilization of digital media, and globalization of the contents. The popularization of Korean Classics (originally in Chinese), is rooted in the popularization of history and culture. It is also a system for expanding sympathy for our very own community. The act of translation is simply changing one language into another, whereas popularization requires changing of methods for categories. This complicated process could include steps such as: collecting classical content, translation, publication, targeting readers and transporting media for a great number of users--not just for a select few. By design, the process should be centered around demand, not the content suppliers. The service of popularization could take root in depth when every department in ITKC works with like-minds, focused on the idea of popularization, and with the system for expansion in mind.