SHIFTS IN CHARACTERIZATION IN LITERARY TRANSLATION: REPRESENTATION OF THE “I”-PROTAGONIST OF YI SANG’S WINGS

What is it about?

Characterization (i.e., the way a character is lexicogrammatically constructed in a text) introduces and develops the reader’s mental representation of the character. Previous research shows that in fiction various means of characterization have been used to encode the character’s views of the world, the relationship between characters, and the underlying theme of the story. Considering the importance of characterization in fiction, this study aims to find out what effects the translator’s lexicogrammatical choices may have on characterization and the implied reader’s construction of the character. For this purpose, Yi Sang’s Nalgae (Wings) and its three English translations were compared in terms of how the “I”-protagonist is characterized in four key passages of the story. The theoretical framework for this study is transitivity, a Hallidayan system of how experiential meaning is represented in the clause.

Featured Image