Leiden University Student Repository

Elskamp, Danique (2022)

The Cultural Reference of Address Terms: A Study of Translation Strategies for Korean Address Terms in Subtitle Translation

Bachelor thesis | Koreanstudies (BA)

In the last decade, the popularity and consumption of Korean TV series have increased rapidly, thereby also increasing the need for quality subtitle translations for these shows. In 2021, a large debate was held online regarding the subtitle translation of the K-drama Squid Game, as consumers of the show and scholars alike found the subtitles to be of low quality. A key issue mentioned was the translation of so-called Korean address terms, which pose a translation problem as they are specific to the Korean culture. In this thesis, a classification of translation strategies for translating these address terms is proposed, to help translators translate these culture-specific terms. Furthermore, the ability of these translation strategies to convey the relationship between the on-screen characters, as signified by the Korean address terms, through subtitle translation is researched.

K-drama

subtitle translation

translation strategies

Korean address terms

cultural references

Author

Elskamp, Danique

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Jang, S.Y.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en