• Original research article
  • April 18, 2025
  • Open access

Representation of original cultural meanings in translation (based on two translations of a Korean author’s poem in English)

Abstract

This work is devoted to the study of explicitly and implicitly expressed cultural meanings of a poetic text, which determine the unique unity of its form and content. The article discusses two main strategies of cultural and pragmatic adaptation in the translation of a poetic text (with a focus on the author of the original and with a focus on the reader of the translation). The aim of the work is to identify the potential of both translation strategies for transmitting cultural meanings encoded in the text. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the article offers modern translation studies new scientific data on poetic translation in the Korean-English language group. The ways of overcoming the cultural and linguistic barrier in translation from Korean into English have not previously been the subject of a separate study in Russian translation and cultural linguistics. The author of the article for the first time establishes trends in the linguistic and cultural transfer of Korean cultural references into English by two translators, that is, two taxonomic models of cultural and pragmatic adaptation of Korean cultural symbols to the perception of English-speaking readers are presented, with an obvious difference in the cultural perception grids of Western (English) and Eastern (Korean) linguistic cultures. The results showed that in the process of translation, the extralinguistic part of the cultural content of the text is transmitted either by using a strategy of orientation to the author of the original (lack of explanations, additional information in translation) or by targeting the reader when national and cultural specifics are explicated (intra-textual explanations, linguistic and cultural comments).

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Author information

Natalya Valeryevna Timko

PhD

MGIMO University; Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow

About this article

Publication history

  • Received: March 17, 2025.
  • Published: April 18, 2025.

Keywords

  • перевод южнокорейской поэзии
  • культурные решётки восприятия
  • культурно-прагматическая адаптация
  • стратегии перевода
  • культурно-языковой барьер
  • translation of South Korean poetry
  • cultural perception grids
  • cultural and pragmatic adaptation
  • translation strategies
  • cultural and language barrier

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© 2025 The Author(s)
© 2025 Gramota Publishing, LLC

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)