The Invisibility of Korean Translators in Missionary Translation: The Case of the Peep of Day (1833)

Abstract

This study attempts to shed light on how missionaries marginalized the role played by local Koreans engaged in the translation of an evangelical tract, The Peep of Day (1833), into Korean by comparing the English source text with its Chinese and Korean translations. The subjects of comparison for this exercise were the translators’ choice of words from the source text for adaptation, addition and omission. This analysis revealed: 1) That the Chinese translation was the source text for Korean version; 2) Chinese translators were more active in acculturating the tract by adapting, omitting or adding to the source text; and 3) Korean translators were for the most part faithful to the Chinese version. In addition to this comparative analysis, research on the translators themselves has been included in this paper to trace how Protestant Christianity was trans-mitted to Korea and the dynamics of early missionary work.