Introduction

Book section : Introduction

The relevance of translation to Korea, the Korean language, and contemporary Korean Studies is indisputable. The earliest attestations of the language are word lists recorded by Chinese ethnographers alongside their translations, and the enormously culturally significant and influential genre of eonhae has been characterised as one of translation (Ahn, n.d.). Indeed, the linguistic tradition of pre-modern Korea has even been characterised as overwhelmingly applied (Sasse, 2000), with a special focus on language acquisition and translation made manifest in works such as Pak thongsa (Interpreter Pak) and Nogeoldae (The Old Cathayan). Early encounters with Korea from those outside of East Asia were also marked by acts of translation, both using Korean as a source language (e.g. James Scarth Gale’s 1922 translation of Kim Man-jung’s The Cloud Dream of the Nine) or with Korean as a target language (e.g. John Ross’s 1887 translation of the New Testament).

Authors: Barnes-Sadler, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Host title: Frontiers of Translation in Korean Language Education
• Pages: 1-8
• Publication date: 2025-02-20
• Edition: 1st
• DOI: 10.4324/9781003411291-1
• ISBN: 9781003411291
• Language: English
• Subtype: Introduction