Translation's Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature
FAIN: FA-57836-14
Heekyoung Cho
University of Washington (Seattle, WA 98105-6613)
Translation today is generally considered a lesser form of literary creation. It would sound implausible to us to include translations of foreign literary works into the canon of national literary histories. But the formative period of modern literature in East Asia offers us a different understanding of translation. During this period, around the turn of the twentieth century, translation was considered a creative and authentic activity that stood alongside other forms of prose writing in both fiction and non-fiction. Through examination of Korean intellectuals' translation of Russian prose through Japanese mediation, this project ultimately aims to reinstate translation as a practice that produces new meaning and generates change in society, and to rethink the way that modern literature developed in East Asia. In addition to translation and mediation studies, my research will contribute broadly to humanities scholarship in such fields as the history of writing and authorship.
Associated Products
Translation’s Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature (Book)Title: Translation’s Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature
Author: Heekyoung Cho
Abstract: Translation’s Forgotten History investigates the meanings and functions that translation generated for modern national literatures during their formative period and reconsiders literature as part of a dynamic translational process of negotiating foreign values. By examining the triadic literary and cultural relations among Russia, Japan, and colonial Korea and revealing a shared sensibility and literary experience in East Asia (which referred to Russia as a significant other in the formation of its own modern literatures), this book highlights translation as a radical and ineradicable part—not merely a catalyst or complement—of the formation of modern national literature. Translation’s Forgotten History thus rethinks the way modern literature developed in Korea and East Asia. While national canons are founded on amnesia regarding their process of formation, framing literature from the beginning as a process rather than an entity allows a more complex and accurate understanding of national literature formation in East Asia and may also provide a model for world literature today.
Year: 2016
Primary URL:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674660045Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: ISBN 978067466
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes