СЛОЖНОСТИ ПЕРЕВОДА КОРЕЙСКОГО ЛИТЕРАТУРНОГО ТЕКСТА (ЭКСТРАЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКИЙ И ЛИНГВО-КУЛЬТУРНЫЙ АСПЕКТЫ)

Introduction

This article analyzes the difficulties in translating Korean literary texts regarding linguistic, linguistic-cultural and extralinguistic aspects.

The problems of translating literary works are studied within the frame of a special linguistic science, including linguistic-cultural and extralinguistic aspects. The theoretical base we use had been developed by A.M. Gorky, who founded the publishing house World Literature. In 1919, the first translation manual was published - a brochure entitled "Principles of Artistic Translation", which included articles by K.I. Chukovsky, A.M. Gorky, N.S. Gumilev [2].

Special Linguistic Science, as well as Theory of Literary Translation, specialize in the problems that arise while translating literary texts. They focus on linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects, among others.

In Russia, for the first time, Korean literary texts were translated by Kim Byung-Ok (김병옥), who translated works such as ChunHyanZong (춘향전) and ToSengJon (토생전). In 1896, at St. Petersburg University, he began teaching Korean, Korean classical literature, Korean geography, and translating Korean literary texts for textbooks. He also investigated the issue of the murder of Empress MengSong (명성황후).

Chunhyangjong's work was translated and published in Russia in the 19th century. The Korean teacher Kim Byung-Ok rewrote the text that had been originally written in Chinese characters, which made it too complicated for use in teaching. He edited the book so that it would be easier to read and understand. This edited version was also published in Russia in the 19^th century.

In 1947, after the liberation from Japanese colonialism, a specialist in Japanese language, Alexander Kholodovich, began to actively teach Korean and to compile his first dictionary of the Korean language. Hence, he created a dictionary of the Korean language in 1956, which allowed to translate from Korean into Russian and to publish the books KoRyoGaYo (고려가요), CheYongGa (처용가), Chonsanbyolgok(청산별곡), "Literature of Korean Classical Poetry." After that, some of his capable students, such as Adelaide Trochevich and Marianna Nikitina continued the research. They translated Korean classical literature, including SamGukSa Gi (삼국사기), Hyang Ga (향가), Korean classical poetry [3].

The most popular works, such as GuUnMong (구운몽), sold over 50,000 copies. Monograph by M. I. Nikitina 《Korean poetry in the Sijo genre of the 16th-19th centuries》was a great contribution to the study of the poetic genre. The researcher paid attention to the semantic aspects of the study of texts. The work examined the art space and time in a picture of the world presented in Sijo, the figurative meaning of celestial bodies and the realities of nature.

Ni Natalya [6] considered that Sijo is one of the most perfect poetic forms in the literary tradition countries of the Far East, along with Chinese “Shi” and Japanese tanka and “Hoku”.

In Russian, Korean studies of the Soviet period, L.R. Kontsevich (Л.Р.Концевич) and M.I. Nikitina (М.И.Никитина) dealt with problems of Sijo, that is, of the poetic genre. The Russian readers are familiar with the poetic translations of A. A. Akhmatova and A. A. Kholodovich, A. L. Zhovtis and L.R. Kontsevich, P.A. Pak-Ira [6].

In addition, in 1959 a wonderful Russian poet of the Silver Age, Anna Akhmatova (Анна Ахматова), translated some of the poems from the most famous Korean classical poets of the 15-18th centuries, the so-called collection of “unfading words of the country of green mountains”. In the preface to the collection A. Kholodovich (Холодович) says that classical Korean poetry is being translated into Russian for the first time. The collection consists of four parts. The first part includes works of the early Middle Ages, written in the form inherent to folk poetry and the works of the late Middle Ages, from the 15th century; the second part consists of works written in the form of Ga Sa (가사) of the 16th century; the third part - verses in the form of Schi-Zo (시조) of the 15-18th centuries; the fourth part - verses in the form of Chyang Ga (향가) of the 15-18 centuries [8].

In accordance with the aforementioned, it can be said that in Russia the active practice of translating Korean literary texts for teaching the Korean language had been started and, in 1950, Korean literary texts sijo were translated. The texts translated from Korean into Russian became popular among the Russians as a prototype of the Korean wave in Russia. Proof of this is the sales of the work “GuUnMong 구운몽” at that time. It can also be assumed that the translator, Kim Byeng Ok 김병옥, knew not only the Korean culture, but also mastered the Russian language to translate from Korean into Russian.

In the modern Theory of Literary Translation, such main trends are distinguished as replacing the evaluative approach with a descriptive one. The theory goes to the function of translation as part of the culture of the translated language. It becomes important for the translator to transmit to the readers the culture reflected in the literary texts. Markaryan (Маркарян) [5] considers culture as “a specific way of activity for people and the result of this activity objectified in various products”.  D.S. Likhachev (Д.С.Лихачев) [4] says that “The language of the nation is in itself a concise, algebraic expression of the entire culture of the nation”.

At the same time, we can agree that culture as a social phenomenon is a combination of material and spiritual values that are accumulated by a certain community of people. Culture is a product of the social activity of human groups, it has a historical genesis and plays a decisive role in the formation of a separate human personality.

Thus, linguistic and regional studies research the language in order to identify the national-cultural semantics in it, therefore, it is linguistic (sociolinguistic) in nature. Especially in the literary text, linguistic and regional studies cannot be understood as a simple, mechanical union of language. The fact is that the analysis of national-cultural semantics in the translation of a literary text plays a large role for semantic transmission to readers. [1].

Considering two modern Korean poems from an extralinguistic point of view, it is worth noting that, if the translator does not understand the historical and cultural features of the translated texts, does not take into account extralinguistic and linguistic-cultural factors, it would be difficult for him or her to convey the meaning expressed in the texts that correlates with Korean culture.

Below are given the translated verses “The Hymn of Death 《사의 찬미》 (死 의美)”, created by the first Korean soprano singer Yun Shim Duk in 1926, during the Japanese colonization of Korea. The song on these verses was performed by her to the melody of the song "Danube Ruffle"(by Joseph Ivanovich).

In particular, Yun Shim-dok, who sang this song as a death anthem, contributed to the fact that the theme of death ceased to be taboo in society. When she decided to throw herself into the Hyun-he-than (현해탄) Sea with her lover Kim Woo Jin on her way home to Korea-Joseon, this topic was not hushed up in society. The song became popular after the tragic suicide of Yoon Shimduk and Kim Woo Jin, symbolizing the love of freedom. Kim Wu Jin (수산 김우진) is a brilliant playwright who became a pioneer of contemporary art in Korea. His name was not well known to the world of Yun Shim Deok (윤심덕), who was famous at that time.

Judging by the lyrics, it is clear that young intelligent Koreans, who have lost their homeland and lived under the prohibition of freedom of love in a feudal social system, feel bitterness in 1920 in Joseon, Korea. Usually, the word ‘anthem’ or ‘ode’ expresses the greatness of someone or something, but here, the expression ‘anthem of death’ create and convey to readers a dull and tragic feeling of a person who has lost his or her homeland. The translator is faced with the difficulty of choosing a word, in particular, the words ‘life’ and ’motherland‘ in the text are associated with the use of the word “you”.

The next poem is called "Scarlet Balsam", written by the Korean poet Cho Bok Am, in 1957, in Mongolia.

Cho Bek Am 조벽암 is the nephew of the great Korean writer Posok Cho Myung Hee 포석 조명희, who first emigrated to Russia during the period of Japanese colonization.

 The poems were written by Cho Bek Am during the Japanese colonial period, and are filled with national sadness and sorrow, with love for his native country. He published a collection of poems called "Ji Yol 지열", in South Korea in 1947, but it was banned by the US military government[11].

After emigrating to North Korea in June 1949, Cho Bek Am traveled to Mongolia on his first trip abroad at the invitation of the Party of People's Revolutionary Mongolian Socialism, in 1957. The work written during this journey presents verses called “Scarlet Balsam” [9].

The merit of this verse is that it naturally reaches a poetic form and its aesthetic value without political ideology.

Looking at the scarlet balsam found in the meadows of Mongolia, the poet presents the image of the girl Koryo, who was brought to northern Mongolia during the past Koryo dynasty.

The literary texts reflect ethnic and linguistic-cultural characteristics. For the translator, interpreting equivalent words is certainly the greatest difficulty.

After awakening, the king was so impressed that he wanted to see every woman in the palace. When the king saw the girl, whose nails were painted with balsam, he asked her where was she from. She said she was from Koryo.

Then the King praised a girl who, living in a faraway country, followed the custom of his country. He found out that her father was a supporter of King Chung-son., and for this reason her father was fired from his post, and she was brought to Mongolia. She said that she would play the gayageum for King Chung-son of Koryo.

This song and the sound of the Gayageum brought the wish of the king to return home, to Koryo, safely. The king returned to his homeland Koryo and, with the help of the Yuan dynasty, came to the throne.

After the King returned to the throne again, he tried to call the little girl he had met in Mongolia, but by that time, she had died. The king planted a lot of balsam in the courtyard in honor of the girl [10].

It is not known how and when exactly balsam came to Korea, but it is a friendly flower that can nowadays be found anywhere in Korea. It was also a symbol of sadness when Korea was colonized by Japan. Korean ancestors sang a song in which the balsam flower symbolized the suffering of the soul - Khan, for the lost homeland. When the balsam blooms in summer, the girls use balm's petals, mash them with a small amount of alum or salt, and put it on their nails to color them, wrapping the nails with a cloth to secure the color.

As stated above, a simple balsam flower is very closely associated with Korean culture. If there is no information about extra-linguistic factors, and equivalent vocabulary, the author’s intention cannot be revealed and transmitted in translated texts. There is also a hard-to-translate cultural-specific terms 조선의 장 ’독 in this verse. There is a custom in Korea: every family keeps soya paste and pepper soya paste all year long. And it is also important to use a clay pot to store soybean paste. Traditionally, Korean women put clay pots in the corner of the courtyard, in the place where they pray for the wellbeing of the family. In this verse, the poet Cho Bek-Am uses the clay pot metaphor as an image of a Korean woman and his homeland.

This verse reflected the poet’s sad feelings, he used the image of a Korean flower as a symbol of his homeland reflecting typical Korean customs.

Conclusion

It can be emphasized that the history of the translation of Korean literary texts in Russia. was started by Kim Byung-Ok. After liberation from Japanese colonialism in 1947, Alexander Kholodovich began to teach the Korean language and compiled the first dictionary of the Korean language. In 1956, many of the works of Korean literature were translated, especially classical Korean poetry was translated into Russian by Anna Akhmatova for the first time.

Considering the main trends in the modern Theory of Literary Translation, two modern Korean poems were analyzed from the point of view of the influence of extralinguistic factors. Without an understanding of the cultural background of translated texts, extralinguistic and linguistic cultural factors, it is difficult to convey the meanings expressed in the texts closely related to Korean culture. The poems of Cho Beck Am prove that, in a lean text, linguistic and regional studies cannot be understood as a simple, mechanical manipulation of the words. The analysis of national-cultural semantics in the translation of a literary text plays a paramount role.