earticle

영어

The aim of this study is to address issues in the Korean translations of Chanson de Roland, the most typical chanson de geste in French literature. After comparing the original Chanson de Roland to its translations through a review of the translation texts, explanations, and translators’ notes, I propose a new approach to translating western medieval literature.
In carrying out this research, I examine the current status of Korean translations of Chanson de Roland, the translators’ interpretations of the text, the main translation strategies, and the translated texts themselves. I also investigate the major translation characteristics required for the rendering of Chanson de Roland into Korean. In addition, I point out that the prestige attached to Chanson de Roland is not only due to literary reasons, but to the political background of modern Europe. Furthermore, I assess the challenges of translating medieval French literature by presenting interpretation errors in two Korean translations of this work. I conclude that we must abandon older methods and adopt a radically different approach to the Korean translation of western medieval literature, or even of ancient works. To this end, the translation of such works should develop into a form of literary research that transcends the mere rendering of texts into Korean.