데보라 스미스의 번역관과 ‘결여-향상’과 ‘해석-다양성’ 재번역의 관점에서 본 The Vegetarian

Abstract

Since The Vegetarian won the International Man Booker Prize, a great deal of attention has been paid to the English translated text from literary critics and Translation Studies researchers. Although it is widely known that the translator Deborah Smith takes translation as a creative rewriting, to what extent her translation is creative and in what sense it is have been barely discussed in detail. In this paper we discuss her approach to translation based on her paper (2018) in which she mentions the possibility of retranslating the original 『채식주의자』: she considers retranslation as an act of ‘failure in a different way.’ We argue that her view of retranslation as failing in a different way is based on an interpretive approach to literature. In the second part of this paper we have reanalyzed her translation of Younghye’s, the main character of the novel, italicized monologues from the perspectives of two retranslation paradigms, focusing on one of her dreams and her recollection of how her dog was dead, both of which deal with how violent humans are. Based on Massardier-Kenny (2015)’s presentation of two paradigms of retranslation - Paradigm of Lack and Paradigm of Multiplicity - we have critically discussed some of the critical reviews which see Smith’s first translation as a translation of deficiency to be improved in a later version. It was also argued that Smith’s first translation is a product of her singular and inventive reading of Han Kang’s original 『채식주의자』.