Translation With Abusive Fidelity: Methodological Issues in Translating Media Texts About Korean LPGA Players

Abstract

In this paper, I use a case study of translation of Korean media golf narratives into English to widen academic discussions on sporting language translation. I employ poststructural and postcolonial theory to analyze historically mediated and translocally grounded Korean golf narratives while elucidating the power relations embedded in these narratives. In my analysis of Korean media representations of women golfers as they are translated into English, I reveal how colonial histories and cultural hierarchies are embedded in sport narratives. The study reveals discursive links between the local and global levels, where global sport is represented in distinct ways depending on local language use even as language moves local sport into a global/transnational context. Finally, this paper invites a rethinking of translation as part of data collection/treatment and data interpretation/analysis using an anticolonial, ethical, and rigorous methodological practice.

Walking for leisure: the translocal lives of first generation Gujarati Indian men and women

“…As Kim (2013: 341) suggest the translation of text and research data especially from a 'peripheral language' to English reveals wider dynamics of power between the Global North and South; and the mechanisms by which colonial, racial and gendered regimes of power are controlled and re-scripted through this process. Thus, translations may alter and abuse intended meanings as well as potentially re-affirm stereotypes (Kim, 2013). But by being cognisant of how language can be both used and abused, extra care was taken to transcribe the participants' words.…”

Not Just Merely Different: Travelling Theories, Post-Feminism and the Racialized Politics of Women of Color

“…This is not to suggest translations from English to other languages are not available, as they are in some sporting journals. But that the translation process can be problematic, ignoring complex cultural differences and subtleties in meaning, which can perpetuate problematic re/presentations (Falcón, 2016;Kim, 2013). I am also reminded of hooks ' (1989) claim that the English language carries the scent of colonial and imperial oppressions.…”

“…This task is problematic though as the desire to capture the identities and sporting experiences of different women of color can never be fully achieved; imaginings of the 'self' are not fixed and evolve across time and space (Grewal, I. and Kaplan, 1994). But further still, Western epistemologies, methodologies and language may never be able to capture the nuances, pleasures and affective possibilities of women of color's relationships to sport (Hayhurst, 2016;Kim, 2013).…”

The Transcoding of “Women Empowerment” as “Empoderamiento de la Mujer”: a Post-colonial Translation Theory for Transnational Feminist Rhetorics

“…According to Kim Kyoung-yim, English is the dominant language in translation traffic. Therefore, the production and distribution of knowledge is asymmetrical, favoring Englishspeaking populations (Kim, 2013).…”