『위대한 개츠비』 번역본 비교를 통한 공동토론과 문학교육

A Comparative Review of Korean Translations of The Great Gatsby for Collaborative Discussion and Literary Education

This comparative review of Korean translations of The Great Gatsby examines three Korean translations: Kim Uk-dong’s version (2003, 2010), Kim Young-ha’s version(2009), and Kim Seok-hee’s version (2013), all of which are well known to Korean reading public for their own merits. Kim Ukdong’s version was recommended for its fidelity and readability by In search of Good Translations of British and American Classics (2005) written by The Translation Evaluation Project Team of the Scholars for English Studies in Korea. Kim Young-ha’s version attracted considerable attention for its advertising description “‘Young’ Gatsby” (making the sentence final endings in colloquial spoken language in the familiar ‘haera-che’ style [not ‘hashipshiyo’ style]) and for the fact that he is an acclaimed Korean novelist who has already secured readers also for his translation. Kim Seok-hee, who is well known for excellent readability of his numerous translations including The Story of Romans, puts emphasis on his efforts to revive the ‘taste’ of Fitzgerald’s writing style. This paper aims to share the findings of significant discrepancies in details of the Korean translations: the difference in the age of Daisy’s daughter (‘two’ or ‘three’), the military units Nick and Gatsby belonged to, the place names (‘Astoria’ or ‘Long Island City’), etc. Some of them are derived from the differences between American and British versions while others are brought about by Matthew J. Bruccoli’s Cambridge edition in 1991. Bruccoli’s strenuous attempts in ‘getting Fitzgerald’s errors right’ triggered a heated debate over what is ‘getting the writer’s errors right’ in editing. This paper reviews the choices of the translators facing the differences in the different editions of The Great Gatsby and compares the implications of their choices. And then this paper examines the different word choices and expressions between the Korean translations focusing on the relation between Nick and Daisy, Gatsby’s unique term ‘old sport,’ etc. Distinct dissimilarities in the Korean translations can be considered as literary interpretations of the source text.