Seung-eun Sung  Soyoung Park  Jai-Ung Hong  Yoo-jung Kim  Hyejin Kim

10.18399/acta.2022.25.1.004

literature translation intralingual interlingual and intersemiotic translation paratexts

This study explores paratextual transformations in the translation of Kobal [inline-graphic 01] by the North Korean writer Bandi (Pandi [inline-graphic 02]) in terms of intralingual, interlingual, and intersemiotic translation. The manuscript was originally smuggled out of North Korea and published in South Korea by a right-wing publisher as a book on anti-communism. It has since been translated in 28 countries, gaining worldwide attention and winning the English PEN award. It was also republished in South Korea, with a focus on human rights through paratextual transformation. Paratexts act as powerful packaging instruments largely influenced by socio-cultural context. As a publication written by a North Korean writer, the paratexts in translations of Kobal are directly related to how the receiving country sees South and North Korea. We examine six translations in different languages centering on the paratextual changes, including the title, cover image, prefatorial material, and epitext to explore the perspectives inherent in them and the ways they interact with each other. This analysis of paratextual shifts involves not only translators, publishers, and editors, but also a much wider variety of agents such as literary agents, critics, journalists, and reviewers. This study thus seeks to demonstrate the possibility of expanding the links between translation studies and Korean studies, and also of broadening the horizons of translation studies.