라 퐁텐의 『우화시선집』의 국내수용양상 연구 - 아동문학 작가로서의 라 퐁텐

Abstract

Fables in verse of Jean de La Fontaine are narrowly accepted as a children’s literature in Korea. While French literature is being widely translated since the late 19th century(the so-called modern enlightenment period in Korea), La Fontaine’s works were hardly introduced in Korean. According to the existing data, his fable in verse included in the anthology for educational purposes in 1930 is the first and only translation before the independence of Korea in 1945. This study therefore deals with various translations of La Fontaine’s Fables published from mid 20th century to nowadays. As a literature genre, fable is considered to be appropriate for children mainly because of its entertaining and instructive characteristics. Similary La Fontaine’s Fables in verse are accepted generally as an educative story for kids. Even though his works were originally written in verse, a considerable number of translations changed the structure to facilitate the understanding of the text. It is therefore necessary to go back to the original in French to measure how severely modified their meanings were. Additionally, several translations done by French literature specialists do not faithfully reflect the findings of modern studies. They mostly refer to the old, insufficient version of Fables as an original script. The following studies and translations need to consider the modern perspectives of many researchers so that they put into light the diversity of La Fontaine’s Fables in verse. Accordingly, it requires that we research Classicism in the French Poetry of the late 17th century and the poetics of the Fables in verse.