문학번역에서 L1 번역과 L2 번역이 번역텍스트에 미치는 영향 —이효석의 『메밀꽃 필 무렵』 영역본을 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of L1/L2 translators in literary translation. To assess these impacts I have analyzed three translations of the Buckwheat Season written by Hyo-seok Lee. In an attempt to meet the purpose of the research, three different translations were chosen: TT1 translated by a Korean national translating into L2, TT2 translated by a Korean-American translating into his L1, TT3 by co-translators, one of whom was a Korean national with Korean mother tongue and the other an American with English mother tongue. The three translations were analyzed in three aspects: First, the number of words used; second, translations of idiomatic expressions, third, delivery of implicit information. The findings showed that TT1, translated into the translator’s L2 used more words than the other translations while TT2, translated into the translator’s L1 used the fewest words. This suggests that the more the translator is fluent in the language he/she is translating into, the better the readability of the text while the L2 translator seems to be more faithful to the source text. In terms of the translation of fixed/idiomatic expressions, the L1 translator tended to simplify the ST too often, resulting in a weakening of the implicit meaning of the ST. The co-translated version, in the meantime, stood in the middle. The analysis of textual features showed similar results as in the case of the translation of fixed/idiomatic expressions. My argument is that the directionality of translation is important but it doesn’t necessarily mean that translators should only translate into their mother tongue/L1. What is important in translation is not just readability/linguistic competence in the target language. Particularly in literary translation, a translator’s understanding/comprehension of the source text plays a significant role in producing a good translation.