James Scarth Gale as a Translator

Abstract

Broadly historical and descriptive in approach, this article aims to situate James Scarth Gale, an early Canadian missionary to Korea, as one of the remarkable translators in the early twentieth century. He devoted himself to translating the Bible into vernacular Korean. Unlike other Protestant missionaries, Gale argued not only for indigenous Korean words rather than Sino-Korean words, but also for a free or liberal translation strategy over a literal translation. For example, he translated the name of the God of the Bible as Hananim, which refers to both Oneness and Greatness, thus enabling the Koreans to accept the Christian idea of God within their own religious framework. This article also claims that Gale, with his strong cross-cultural mindset, acted as a cultural ambassador on a more secular level. In order to bridge Korea and the Western world, he not only translated John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress into Korean, but also classical Korean novels like Guunmong and Okjunghwa (Chunhyangjeon) into English.