Multiply-Translated Modernity in Korea : Samuel Smiles’ Self-Help and its Japanese and Korean Translations
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2011, Vol 16, Issue 2
Abstract
During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the translation of the Western books was closely connected to East Asia’s modernity and nationalism. Choosing which foreign texts would be translated and in what way was also dominated by a “word-power relationship.” I apply the concept of “translated modernity” in China and Japan to the idea of multiply-translated modernity in colonized Korea, because translation of texts originated from relationships between the West and the East, between both China and Japan and Korea, between the colonizer (Japan) and the colonized (Korea), and in the process of translation and re-translation. Trough Self-Help and its translations into both Japanese and Korean, I have examined translators, readers, and the contents of this book, the so-called “modern hero.” The characteristics of multiply-translated modernity in Korea are like this: First, the translation of Western thought, sometimes combining it with traditional texts, was used by translators to invoke Korean modernity. Second, the needs and desires of Korean readers in the1910s were multiple, based on their social status and political opinions. Third, translated books were utilized for competing with imperialism in the spiritual domain as well as in the material domain. The notion of the hero was useful to resist imperialism in the spiritual domain and the notion of a “modern hero” specifically was useful in the material domain.
Authors and Affiliations
Si-hyun Ryu
Keywords
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