Main features of Korean fairy tales' translation using the example (the green frog who won’t listen)

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MAIN FEATURES OF KOREAN FAIRY TALES' TRANSLATION USING THE EXAMPLE OF «ё» ѕИ µеґВ Г»°і±ёё®» (THE GREEN FROG WHO WON'T LISTEN)

Kylymnyk L.M., Applicant for Higher Education “Master's Degree” in Korean Language and Literature and Translation, English

Zhyla V.H.,

Assistant at Languages and Literatures of the Far East and Southeast Asia Department Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Анотація

Килимник Л.М., Жила В.Г. Особливості перекладу корейських казок на англійську мову на прикладі «ё» ѕИ µеґВ Г»°і±ёё®» (Зелене жабеня, яке не слухає того, що йому кажуть)

Ця стаття присвячена дослідженню відомої корейської казки «Зелене жабеня, яке не слухає того, що йому кажуть», а саме основних прийомів та особливостей перекладу корейських казок з корейської на англійську мову. Важливу роль у дослідженні грає аналіз основних прийоми автора для передачі задуманого змісту та моралі казки. У статті висвітлюється питання тісного взаємозв'язку культури та мовних особливостей народу, а також особливостей перекладу казок з урахуванням даних характеристик. Зокрема, досліджено вплив історичних подій та іноземної культури на формування культуро-лінгві- стичного базису певного народу (корейського). Також проведено короткий порівняльний аналіз корейського та англійського варіанту казки, зокрема методів, застосованих для передачі характеру головного героя та моралі. У ході дослідження було з'ясовано, що спосіб перекладу, правильне застосування прекладацьких технік має безпосередній вплив на розуміння моралі казки. Перш за все, це спричинено особливостями та відмінностями між суспільствами та методами виховання дітей двох країн, мови яких піддаються аналізу (акцент на молодому поколінні, адже це головна аудиторія даного виду літератури). Тому завдяки застосованим технікам, переклад казки стає близьким до оригіналу, передає повний зміст та мораль казки, однак основний висновок, який можна зробити, це те - що культурний чиник має найбільший вплив на здійснення перекладу та будь-який переклад має враховувати традиції, сталі вирази та звичаї обох народів. У ході дослідження стало відомо, що такі техніки, як звуконаслідування, дослівний переклад, транслітерація є основними методами, а також додавання та транспозиція як другорядні методи, що застосовуються під час перекаладу корейських казок на англійську мову. На прикладі проаналізованої казки стає зрозуміло, який вплив має історія та культура на мову, а також подальші можливості перекладу літературних творів певного народу Також, проводячи аналіз корейської казки та її перекладу на англійську мову, стало зрозуміло, що ознайомлення з казками тієї країни, мову якої вивчає студент є одним з найдієвіших засобів вичення не лише мови та поповнення словникового запасу, але й глибокого занурення у традиції та звичаї народу.

Ключові слова: етнічна специфіка, ономатопія (звуконаслідування), мовознавство, дослівний переклад, традиції.

korean listen translation green

Summary

This article is devoted to the study of the one of the most famous Korean fairy tales «The Green Frog Who Won't Listen», particularly the basic techniques and features of the translation of Korean fairy tales from Korean to English. An important role in the study is played by the analysis of the main methods of the author to convey the intended content and morals of the tale. The article highlights the issue of close relationship between culture and language features of the specific nation, as well as the peculiarities of the translation of fairy tales, taking into account these characteristics. In particular, the influence of historical events and foreign culture on the formation of the cultural and linguistic basis of a certain people (Korean) is studied. While conducting this research, it became known that such techniques as onomatopoeia, literal translation, transliteration are the main methods applied when translating Korean fairy tales into English language. There was also a brief comparative analysis of the Korean and English versions of the tale, in particular the methods used to convey the character of the protagonist and morals. Thanks to the techniques used, the translation of the fairy tale becomes close to the original, conveys the full meaning and morality of the tale, but the main conclusion that can be made is that the cultural factor has the greatest impact on translation and any translation should take into account traditions, expressions and customs of both peoples. Also, while analyzing the Korean fairy tale and its translation into English, it became clear that getting acquainted with the fairy tales of the country whose language the student is studying is one of the most effective means of learning not only language and vocabulary, but also deep immersion in traditions and customs.

Key words: ethnic specifics, onomatopoeia, linguistics, literal translation, traditions.

Main issue

The aim of this article is to examine the main methods and features of translation of Korean fairy tales or how it is said in Korea «old stories» from Korean into English on the example of «The Green Frog Who Won't Listen» and analyze main techniques of author to convey the intended meaning and morality of the fairy tale. Scientific tasks which we aim to solve by this article are to consider fairy tales as a reflection of the national culture of the people by studying structural features of Korean fairy tales. Structural analysis is necessary to understand cultural, ethnic component of folk tales, which helps understand their meaning and provide accurate translation; describe the linguo- ethnic specifics of the translation and show linguo-ethnic specifics of translation on the material of Korean fairy tales; compare the analysis of translations of English and Korean fairy tales, taking into account linguistic and ethnic specifics.

Analysis of recent researches and publications

The theoretical basis for this article includes such works as Afanasiev (collection "Russian Folk Tales"), Propp ("Morphology of a Fairy Tale" and "Historical Roots of a Fairy Tale"). The author examined Korean fairy tales from the collection of Korean folk tales translated by Vadim Pak and fairy tales from the textbook for foreign students "Learning the Korean language through traditional fairy tales" to comprehend the way of translation of Korean folk tales into mother tongue language and to provide the analysis of translation of Korean fairy tales into English language.

In addition, author took the «Korean Folk Tales; in the old, old days, when tigers smoked tobacco pipes» translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl from Korean into English to analyze how the translation into English is made for further research. One of the interesting articles which the author came across while investigation is by Enzhe Dusaeva, Violeta Lee: “Comparative Analysis Of Russian, English, Korean Fairy And Animalistic Tales” published in 2018. In mentioned work the comparison of Russian, Korean and English fairy tales is made and the most significant result which was made is that cultural factor has a huge impact on first of all, creating of such stories and consequently the translation.

Also, such linguist as Gusev V.E. explains the importance of folklore analysis while translating fairy tales and any other kinds of traditional folk works in his book «Folkloristika v sisteme gumanitarnogo znaniya». So we would like to make a contribution this branch of philology by analyzing ways and methods of translation of Korean fairy tales on the example of «The Green Frog Who Won't Listen».

The purpose of the work is to conduct an analysis of the translation of Korean fairy tale using the example of«The Green Frog Who Won't Listen», taking into account linguistic and ethnic features and clarify which translation techniques are mainly used while providing such kind of translations.

Content. With the globalization and consequently the expansion of international contacts, the study of country's cultural and linguistic aspects plays no less important role than the study of the language itself. And it is a fairy tale, composed by the people themselves over the centuries, can reflect real feelings, moods and traditions of particular nation. When learning a foreign language, especially at the beginning, it is a fairy tale that become a rich source of linguistic and cultural knowledge and a factor in the formation of competent intercultural competence. To a greater extent, fairy tales embody the realities of the subsequent stages in the development of the feudal world with its characteristic social attributes and conflicts. Thus, the characteristic features of the Korean people at different stages of its history were reflected in the artistic form in fairy tales [1,5]. Over the centuries, a natural selection of folklore material took place: plots and style were polished. Here is how the Russian writer and the first collector of Korean folklore N. Garin-Mikhailovsky wrote about the inherent value of Korean fairy tales. According to N. Garin-Mikhailovsky, not only nature is fabulous, but also the cheerful Koreans themselves. The poetry of the fairy tale is so merged with life itself that both the fairy tale and the life of a Korean are inseparable and should be analyzed as one essence [2, 347]. The fairy tale has always been a favorite kind of oral art of Koreans. Some people call its "enmal" - an old story, others - "yeniyagi" - a story about antiquity [3, 6]. In a peculiar form, inherent only in fairy tales, they reflected the way of thinking of primitive people, their naive and sometimes distorted ideas about the world around them, the origins of customs and beliefs. Fairy tales are the works where the roots of many elements of fairy-tale fantasy are hidden, and images and plots widely known in Korean folklore originate from here. Korean fairy tales are an invaluable source for life, customs, traditions and customs' studying, as Belinsky V.G. stated that "the fairy tales reflect the spirit of the people."

Like the folklore of other nations, Korean fairy tales are organically linked to real life. Thus, the characteristic features of the Korean people at different stages of its history were reflected in the artistic form in fairy tales. The proper translation of a fairy tales starts with the heading. There are many variants of translation the heading «|», literally it means «The Green Frog Who Does Not Listen What Is Said to Him», but the translation as «The Green Frog Who Won't Listen» or «The Green Frog Who Does Not Listen To His Mum» is rather suitable here because in the story there is bright emphasize on the importance of following parents' words and advices. Especially it is easy to notice due to huge impact of hierarchy and undoubtable respect of older people in Korea. That is why it is reflected in fairy tale for children as well.

Right after the heading, the first saying, the start of fairy tale takes place. In Korean it is usually |», which literally means «On the old, old day» or «Very long time ago». In English language it is often translated as «Long ago» that actually conveys the main meaning. So the main translation technique applied here is reformulation because the translated part conveys the actual meaning.

One of the main features of Korean language is that it is mellifluous. Along with interjections, onomatopoeic words are often found in Korean fairy tales [4,134]. As a rule, they carry a stylistic effect. Everyone knows that representatives of different nations reproduce certain sounds of animate and inanimate nature in different ways. As S. Vlakhov and S. Florin say, "the difference here is in the national tradition» [5, 232]. So, for a Russian, a dog barks as "bow-wow", and for a Korean - "mon-mon". For instance, considering examples from other Korean fairy tales (laughed). As for «The Green Frog Who Won't Listen» one of the brightest example of onomatopoeic words is the sound made by frogs -» (kaegul-kaegul). And actually the frog in Korean is « 7pB|» (kaeguri), so the sound is following even the animal's name in Korean language. That is why the best translation technique which can be used here is method of literal translation (to transmit the actual meaning). It is totally different in English language - «ribbit» that is why translator of the fairy tale did not even mentioned this part of the story in provided translation.

The connection with Chinese old traditions can also be tracked in Korean fairy tales because obviously the influence of China was impressive in Asian region during long period of time. In Korean, the word chong can refer to both blue and green (as the word ching does in Chinese). For this reason, this story has sometimes been mistranslated as “The Blue Frog,” with the mistaken notion that there must be something unusual about the son frog (i.e., his blue color) that makes him so contrary. But in Korean, there is no confusion of the colors blue and green, even when they are written with the same Chinese character. The chong kaeguri is a typical small green frog. What seems to be the odd specificity regarding its name in the story is due to another kind of wordplay. Another Chinese character, also pronounced chong, means to make a petition or a plea. The Korean term for frog is kaeguri, which is also the sound it makes: kaegul, kaegul. When the frog makes its prayer-its chong-to Heaven, it does so by crying out its own name. So the name of the frog, chong kaeguri, can be read as either “green frog” or “frog who pleads.” [6,15].

In addition to specific of translation in cultural understanding, we would like to emphasize on grammar differences between Korean fairy tale and English translation. From the first sentence it is clear that the original version stresses more on the duration. So the past form «was living» in Korean is translation into «lived». When the little frog was not listening ti his mom, in Korean he literally said: «Maybe will I at least sing a song?». In English it is translated as « How about singing a song?». So the «at least» in this case is omitted because in English it does not convey the original meaning implied by this phrase in Korean. In the episode when the mother from was sick, in Korean version the phrase «in the end» is transmitted by use of grammar, rather than just vocabulary. English translation provides the variant of «eventually she became sick». So the main meaning is conveyed by lexicology. The same method is used in translation of such phrase in Korean that literally sounds like: «the little frog worried a lot that the water would rise so...» which is translated into English as «he was praying to heaven that the water would not rise». These two examples are bright evidence that in Korean language usually the reason or the main stress of the sentence is in the beginning, when in English it frequently mentioned after (in the end of the sentence).

The most important idea and morality of this story is to teach children to be obedient and listen to their parents and older people in general. As Felix Im wrote in his article, frogs and rain has a deep meaning connected with fairy-tale. This is a folktale that offers an entertaining explanation as to why frogs croak when it rains. The real reason, however, is that frogs love moisture, and the humid conditions provided by rainfall offer them the perfect reason to come out. Although the story has origins in China, it has become one of Korea's most well-known tales, often told to children to discourage misbehavior and emphasize the importance of filial piety. In fact, misbehaving Korean children are often called tree frogs, something to keep in mind the next time you encounter a disobedient child.

Conclusion and future perspectives. So, it should be said that the cultural differences between Korea and UK or USA are reflected in fairy tales. Culture, traditions, customs, social life, features of life, facts of history - all this reflect linguo-ethnic realities. Taking into account the linguo-ethnic specificity, the translator must translate correctly and adequately, preserving the unity of the text and national coloring. Language is a kind of mirror reflection of the culture of each individual nation. Linguistic phenomena reflect the facts of the social life of a given speaking community. For a correct translation, it is necessary to approach the language not only as a means of communication, but also to study the social and cultural life of countries and peoples who speak this language. Each foreign word reflects foreign culture: behind each word there is an idea of the world conditioned by the national consciousness.

The main heroes of Korean fairy tales are animals which play particular role and have deep meaning and moral. As for translation techniques and methods, throughout history, the language absorbs the features of the customs and character of the people, the facts of history. After analyzing translation of «The Green Frog Who Won't Listen» from Korean into English, author came to the conclusion that it can be translated by selecting equivalents in the native language, by literal translation, reformulation, transcription or transliteration. If the selection of equivalents is not possible, then replacement should be applied.

We came to the conclusion that the translator must be able to translate correctly and adequately, while taking into account that the translation itself must be of a narrative nature. It should contain appropriate turns and stable phrases characteristic of a fairy tale. In some cases, it is possible to replace some stated phrases by selecting an equivalent, in others it will be better to apply descriptive translation or literal one. The translator must take into account all the nuances when translating. It should be noted that the use of fairy tales in teaching a foreign language not only has a fruitful effect on the student's vocabulary, but also expands his knowledge of the culture, life and traditions of the country of the language he is studying. A fairy tale gives an idea of the rituals, life, traditions, social structure and worldview of the whole country of the language being studied. In conclusion, we would like to note that the study of Korean fairy tales and their translation is just beginning. Their further in-depth study will undoubtedly be of great interest, as well as contribute to a wider acquaintance with the original part of Korean folklore. This article can be further used in the study of the culture and literature of Korea, when giving lectures on Korean folklore. Summarizing all of the above, we came to the conclusion that understanding a foreign text and foreign speech is a complex process that requires not only knowledge of a foreign language, but also background knowledge about the cultural, social and other characteristics of a native speaker of foreign languages.

Appendix 1. The Green Frog Who Won't Listen

Long ago, the green frog lived with his widowed mother in a small pond. The green frog never listened to his mother, and when she told him to do something, he always did the opposite. If his mother told him to play in the hills, he went to the river. If she told him to go up, he went down. If she told him left, he went right. If she told him this, he did that.

The mother frog worried about what she would do with her son--he caused her so much distress and embarrassment. “Why can't he be like other frogs?” she said to herself. “Why can't he respect his elders and do what he's told?” She worried about what would happen to him when she was gone. She knew she would have to do something to break his bad habits.

« - Baby, look how frogs are going to sleep. We better hide and sleep quietly. Like this... - No! I do not want! How about singing a song?»

Day after day, week after week, the mother frog scolded the green frog and tried to teach him the proper way to behave, but he continued to ignore her and did just as he wished. The mother frog was growing old, and she worried so much that eventually she became sick. But even then the green frog did not change his ways.

Finally, when the mother frog knew she was going to die, she called her son to her side. She wanted a proper burial on the mountain, and since she knew that the green frog would do the opposite of what she told him, she chose her words carefully. “I don't have much longer to live,” she said. “When I die, do not to bury me on the mountainside. You must bury me on the bank of the river.”

The green frog looked at her forlornly with his head bowed.

“Promise me,” said the mother frog. “You must promise.”

“I promise,” said the green frog.

Four days later, the mother frog died and the green frog was terribly sad. He blamed himself for her death and he was sorry for all the heartache he had caused her. He knew it was too late to undo all of his past misdeeds, but he could become a good frog for her now. He resolved finally to listen to his mother's instructions. “I always did the opposite of what she told me when she was alive,” he said to himself, “but now I will do exactly as she told me.”

So, even knowing that it was unwise, the green frog buried his mother by the river. And when it rained, he stood watch, praying to heaven that the water would not rise. But when the monsoon rains came that summer, the river rose higher and higher--it flowed over its banks and washed his mother's grave away.

The green frog sat in the pouring rain by the river bank, crying and crying for his mother. And that is why, to this day, the green frogs cry when it rains.

References

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4. Филимонова, Е.Н. Корейские междометия и звукоподражания в русских текстах. Е.Н. Филимонова. Язык, сознание, коммуникация: Сб. ст. Отв. ред. В.В Красных, А. И. Изотов. Москва: Диалог МГУ, 1999. №7. 134 c.

5. Влахов С., Флорин С. Непереводимое в переводе. М.: Международные отношения, 1980. 343 с.

6. Heinz Insu Fenkl «Korean Folk Tales; in the old, old days, when tigers smoked tobacco pipes». P. 15.

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