2017 Theses Master's

Placing the Displaced: Translating the North Korean Characters in Sister Mok-rahn for an American Audience

Lee, Dayoung

No two languages are more different from each other than American English and Korean spoken in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). It goes the same for their speakers. Average theatergoers in New York in 2017 share little with the average North Koreans or North Korean refugees scattered around the world. So how should a translator present North Korean characters for an American audience? This paper discusses dramaturgical issues surrounding translating the North Korean characters in "Sister Mok-rahn" for an American audience.