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Access Type
Campus Access
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Comparative Literature
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2012
Month Degree Awarded
September
Keywords
Yun-T'aek Yi, Yountaek Lee, Translation, Korean, Theater, Drama
Abstract
In this thesis, I present a translation of Yun-T’aek Yi’s Faust in Blue Jeans accompanied by an introduction discussing my decision making process. Yun-T’aek Yi’s eighth play for the theater, Ch’ŏngbajirŭl ibŭn p’ausŭt’ŭ, is a Korean adaptation of Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, set in twentieth-century Korea with contemporary Korean characters. Given the English title Faust in Blue Jeans, I consider this text for purposes of a staged performance and point out the difficulties in the replacement of one culture by another, especially in consideration of my personal situation as a Korean born translator living in the United States. I discuss strategies and choices in translation with reference to scholarly works in the fields of translation studies and dramaturgy. I also offer a glimpse into my translation process by attaching a literal crib of the opening act, a preliminary step taken before further shaping the translation for the stage, and a graph comparing my first draft to its revision after a staged reading. Often referred to as a “cultural guerilla” in South Korea for his active work as playwright, producer, writer, and poet, Yun-T’aek Yi colorfully portrays South Korean society and culture of the eighties in this play and I strove to preserve the dynamicism and vitality of the original. The playwright’s foreword, in which he discusses his reasons for creating an adaptation of Goethe’s work, and a brief excerpt on the motif and summary of the play as told by the South Korean playwright have also been translated.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/3280335
First Advisor
Edwin C. Gentzler