Die Gedichte von Kim Sowŏl: eine Übersetzungsanalyse. Äquivalenzrelationen in deutschen Übersetzungen koreanischer Lyrik

Abstract

The growing interest in Korean culture caused by the Hallyu-Wave has led to an increasing number of literary translations into the German language. Based on the data from the Digital Library of Korean Literature (DKDL) it is evident that poetry translations have a lower publishing rate compared to other literary styles. The purpose of this research paper is to discover whether a relationship of equivalence between the Korean source-language (SL) text and the German target-language (TL) text is achievable, or whether “free” translation techniques would be more appropriate in order to make Korean poetry more attractive for German readers. In order to answer this question eleven poems by Kim Sowŏl have been selected and analyzed in comparison to their German translations by H. J. Zaborowski. The method used in this process is based on Koller and Henjums equivalence theory, as well as Venutis and Wittbrodts adaptation theory. The results of the research show that a complete equivalence between the Korean and German poems is impossible due to the large discrepancies between the languages and cultures and can thus not be achieved in practice. Therefore, the ideal translation strategy would be a balance between abiding to strict equivalence norms and implementing the adaptation theory where such equivalence cannot be obtained.