Translating Korean manhwa - Examples and challenges of cultural-linguistic translation

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

Translating Korean manhwa explores how words and expressions tied to Korean culture resist direct transfer into English. The study frames manhwa translation as a combined linguistic and cultural process requiring knowledge of history, ethnology, social norms, and shared reference systems. It surveys translation approaches, including literal and communicative strategies, then focuses on practical difficulties such as culture-bound terms, names, interjections and onomatopoeia, charactonyms, and the handling of historical and cultural references across source and target communities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Approaches to translation

Translation procedures and categories

“Sense for sense” vs “word for word”

Jakobson and translation types

Application to manhwa examples

Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies • Vol. 14(63) No. 1 – 2021 [https://doi.org/10.31926/but.pcs.2021.63.14.1.1](https://doi.org/10.31926/but.pcs.2021.63.14.1.1) Translating Korean manhwa Alexandra BÎJA1 When translating Korean literature, we often come across words and phrases that might not have a direct equivalent in the target language. One of the most difficult genres to translate is, in our opinion, the comic, or the manhwa. We try to offer illustrative examples of translation from the source language, which is Korean, into the target language, which is English, with emphasis on translating words and phrases that might pose problems, such as culture bound words, names of places and characters. We will also discuss other linguistic phenomena that are common to graphic novels, such as mots expresifs, onomatopoeia, charactonyms, also tackling issues regarding historical references, cultural references, behaviour and customs pertaining to the source, but also target, social groups. The reason why we are focusing on translating manhwa2 is the fact that it has started to become more and more popular in other cultures/countries. We chose the manhwa called 신과 함께(Along with the Gods), as it is one of the most popular of its kind, and it is one that intertwines Korean folklore, tradition, history and mythical creatures with contemporaneity. Key-words: translation studies, manhwa, untranslatability. 1. Introduction Words encoding cultural information are hard or even impossible at times to translate. Starting from antiquity to modern days, linguists have tried to find a way to explain the idea of transposing a text from one semiotic system into another, concerning themselves with issues like accuracy, equivalency, interpretation, and so on. We base our research on the idea that translating manhwa is not only a linguistic process, in which you just find a word for a signified, but rather a process that combines linguistics with other disciplines as well, such as cultural studies, history, ethnology, and so on. It is our conviction that an accurate translation from Korean into English cannot be done without a vast knowledge of other aspects of 1 Babeș-Bolyai University, [alexandra.bija@ubbcluj. ro](alexandra.bija@ubbcluj. ro) 2 A style of comic books and graphic novels particular to South Korea. the source culture as well, and that translation is both a linguistic and a cultural process. By looking at it in this way, we are bound to capture the “sense” of the source text and to transpose it into the target language. We will begin this paper by listing a few ideas regarding different approaches to translation, and then we will discuss a number of issues that might pose problems when translation from Korean into English is attempted. Lastly, we will offer a few illustrative examples of such translation issues encountered in themanhwa that we have selected. 2. Approaches to translation In order to introduce the topic of translation, we would first like to mention Pardo (2013), who in her study presents a list of translation procedures that have been approached throughout time, and which give us an idea of how much the process of translation can vary. The classification of these translation procedures follows Newmark’s (1988) diagram: Literal: the syntax is translated as close as possible in the TL3. Word-for-word: the SL4 word-order is maintained – the translation of cultural words is literally. Faithful: it implies reproducing the exact meaning of the SL into the TL. Semantic: it differs from faithful translation in the aesthetic, the beautiful, aspect only of the SL. Free: this process consists in paraphrasing the original with longer sentences which is also called “intralingual translation”. Adaptation: it is used for poetry, plays. The main sense is maintained but the cultural words/sense is adapted (re-written) in the TL. Idiomatic: or natural translation reproduces the original sense

FAQs

Why is translating Korean manhwa considered difficult?

Manhwa contains culture-bound words, names, and references that often lack direct equivalents in English. It also includes comic-specific linguistic phenomena that require more than word-for-word substitution.

How does the paper conceptualize the translation process?

Translation is treated as both a linguistic and a cultural process. Accurate results require understanding the source culture’s history, ethnology, behaviors, and customs, not just grammar or vocabulary.

Which translation approaches are discussed in the paper?

The paper reviews procedures such as literal, word-for-word, faithful, semantic, free, adaptation, idiomatic/natural, and communicative translation, drawing on frameworks associated with Newmark and Pardo.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob