Radical feminist translations and strategies: A South Korean case

ABSTRACT

In South Korea, a recent wave of feminism has brought about substantial changes in the book industry. Many publishing houses have expanded their list of feminism-related titles to cater for a growing number of women readers who seek awareness-raising. In addition, small-scale ventures dedicated to feminist publishing emerged to serve as a new platform for feminist activism. Among these ventures is Yeolda Books, a radical feminist publisher that openly advocates for “trans-exclusionary radical feminism” (TERF) and its translators use experimental language to emphasize women’s experiences in a creative and disruptive way. Against this backdrop, the present study discusses various textual representations of radical feminist translation, drawing on four translations by Hyedam Yu, one of Yeolda’s translators. The primary focus of this study is a theoretical formulation of feminist writing strategies derived from Yu’s translations. Findings could broaden the scope of discussion of (radical) feminist translation performed in a non-Western context.

KEYWORDS:

• South Korea’s feminist movement
• radical feminists’ publishing houses
• TERF
• translation paratexts
• feminist translation strategies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In this article, I prefer the term strategies to techniques because Koreans may associate “techniques” (테크닉) with low levels of cognitive ability.

2 Pilar Godayol (2020) reviews the history of feminist ideologies. She elaborates on “laSal, edicions de les dones” (the first feminist publishing house [1978–1990] in Spain) and feminist publishing platforms of the second wave.

3 In previous research, the term “radical feminist translation” is sometimes used to emphasize experimental aspects of feminist translation (cf. Furukawa 2017, 85).

4 In fact, 성매매된 여성 is an illogical term. Here, “된” is a contracted verb form with passive properties (cf. Norma 2015, 92).

5 Search results on Yes24’s website (books published between June 2016 and December 2019).

6 Compare this socio-cultural situation with Murray’s (2004, ch. 4) accounts of radical feminist publishing. For Yeolda’s tumblbug page see https://tumblbug.com/yeolda0517/story.

7 The verb 열다 literally translates as “open”, “unlock”, or “hold [an event]”.

8 Yeolda rarely describes itself as “터프” (TERF) – a term almost unknown to the general public. It usually introduces itself using phrases such as a “(radical) feminist publisher” and an “activist group spearheading the efforts to radicalize the [nation’s] women’s movement” (https://www.yeoldabooks.com). 

9 Unless otherwise indicated, all glosses from Korean to English are mine. 

10 On the other hand, an interlocutor’s husband may be called 바깥 분 (usually by the elderly), which literally translates as “a person [as an honorific addressee] outside [their home]”.

11 The translator emphasizes that she carefully chooses terms pertaining to victims of sexual exploitation. In her postface to ‘위안부’는 여자다, she states, “Basically, I focus more on ensuring that my language does not distort the victims’ lived experiences than on ensuring that my translation is natural and readable. … In Translator’s Preface to 코르셋 (my first translation with Yeolda), I made a feeble excuse [about my word choice]: “I had no choice but to use the [conventional] term 성매매 [buying and selling prostitution]. … I hesitated over whether to use new terms such as “페이강간 [paid rape]” and “성착취 [the exploitation of women’s sex]” and concluded that I lacked the ability to use such terms in a readable and coherent manner”. In ‘위안부’는 여자다, however, I [discard the misogynistic term 성매매 and] use the new terms 성착취 and 상업적 성착취 [commercial exploitation of women’s sex], which I owe a lot to feminists on the internet” (Yu 2020, 401). See Example 9 in this article.

12 In South Korea, too, the word 찻집 (“teahouse”) has been used to refer to a brothel.

13 Note that the reversed order of the two characters. 남녀 is 여남, not 녀남. In Korean phonology, the consonants ㄴ and ㄹ may lose their sound value when they are positioned at the beginning of the word in question.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund.

Notes on contributors

Sang-Bin Lee

Sang-Bin Lee is a Professor of Translation Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, where he teaches translation and consecutive interpreting. He is the editor-in-chief of 번역학연구 (The Journal of Translation Studies), a quarterly journal published by the Korean Association for Translation Studies (KATS). His research appears in internationally recognized journals such as The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, Perspectives, The Translator, Translation Review, and Interpreting.