A study of classical Korean narratives described in French: On the writings of Seo Young-hae

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the identity of classical Korean narratives in French, and based on this, to explore the possibility of expanding the field of Korean literature research and to refine the research methodology. This study focuses on three classic Korean narrative texts written in French by Seo Young-hae: Autour d’une vie coréenne(1929), Miroir, cause de malheur (1934), and La fille d’un cordonnier (unknown). The last text, in particular, is the first to be introduced in this study and translated that Seo Young-hae has been writing Korean classical narratives in French throughout her stay in France. This book, described in French by a Korean native author, has classical narratives as its main object of description. The classical Korean narratives, reinterpreted from Seo’s perspective, represent Korea as he interpreted it, or Korea as he translated it. The pursuit of Korean independence, which was consistent with his stay in France with a clear purpose, and his understanding of the Korean tales based on it, are the fundamental elements that constitute Seo’s rewriting, or translation. Therefore, this paper will examine how Seo interprets and translates Korean classical narratives by focusing on the external and internal relationships surrounding writing. To do so, I will analyze the three texts interactively and examine the adaptation of classical narratives and the linguistic and cultural translation of Korean classical narratives through them. While Seo emphasizes the inheritance of folk traditions and customs, he also emphasizes that it is not simply an inheritance without transformation, and that existing traditions can be reconstructed within an expanding network rather than closedly linked. This is Seo’s interpretation of the classics, tales, and oral tradition, and his hope for a post-modern Korea.