earticle

영어

This study aims to identify conceptual characteristics of ‘transcendental translation1)(초월번역)’, a term increasingly used by the general public in Korea to refer to a translation that ‘transcends’ the source text in the sense that it either significantly deviates from, or is superior to, the source text. Despite the relatively frequent use of this new term in Korea, no academic attempt has been made to explore the distinctive features of the concept. By examining news articles and online community comments on transcendental translation and relevant examples, this study identifies the defining features of ‘transcendental translation’ and compares them with those of the similar concept ‘transcreation’ to elicit precise and systematic features of ‘transcendental translation’. Findings are as follows: 1) ‘transcendental translation’ involves less dramatic transformation of the original text than ‘transcreation’ due to its fidelity to the original text; 2) It is used to refer to process, products and reception compared to ‘transcreation’ which only applies to process and product; 3) It covers interlinguistic, intralinguistic and intersemiotic translation which is wider than interlinguistic and intersemiotic translation for ‘transcreation’. As the first attempt to explore conceptual characteristics of ‘transcendental translation’, this study can both expand and deepen Translation Studies and foster active discourse between translation studies and popular culture studies. It can also promote a more systematic and sophisticated understanding and accurate use of the term among the general public while enhancing the public perception of the competencies of translators engaged in the complicated translation work.