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Translating Korean Beauty YouTube Channels for a Global Audience

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When Translation Goes Digital

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting ((PTTI))

Abstract

In this study, five YouTube Korean beauty creator channels that provide English subtitles are examined. These channels were selected based on the number of channel subscribers (popularity) and uploaded videos (sufficient content volume). The chapter presents and categorizes translation strategies that differ from existing audiovisual translation strategies. Although the subtitles of the YouTube videos do reflect conventional audiovisual translation strategies, especially the use of metaphorical expressions, new and different translation strategies are also present. These new translation strategies include: use of neologisms, phonetic transcription, frequent use of swear words and slang, intentional repetition of spelling, use of Internet terminology (chatting abbreviations/emojis/use of social media slang) and novel punctuation. Furthermore, new strategies appear to be related to other YouTube characteristics: multimodality; intertextuality; and heteroglossia.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://youtube.googleblog.com/2013/03/onebillionstrong.html.

  2. 2.

    https://www.alexa.com/topsites.

  3. 3.

    https://www.youtube.com/intl/en-GB/yt/about/press/.

  4. 4.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/04/14/despite-gains-with-streaming-youtube-is-still-how-the-world-listens-to-music/#8bd45de7a8f9.

  5. 5.

    A Korean mobile research agency, Opensurvey (2019) reported through its independent survey that, as of 2018, YouTube had grown to be a social media platform with higher active user rates than those of naver.com (Korea’s largest portal site) or Facebook Korea (https://www.opensurvey.co.kr/opensurvey_trend_socialmedia_2019.pdf).

  6. 6.

    http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150923001178.

  7. 7.

    https://opendict.korean.go.kr/dictionary/view?sense_no=1280870&viewType=confirm.

  8. 8.

    Kress (2010) stresses that translation should be “looking at the field of meaning as a whole and see how meaning is handled modally across the range of modes in different societies” (p. 11).

  9. 9.

    https://youtu.be/tosv_v_K3IE.

  10. 10.

    http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/11/682_258443.html.

  11. 11.

    The term “meme” is used by Dawkins (2016) to denote a word “that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation” (p. 192).

  12. 12.

    Nordquist (2018), quoting Wilson (1993), define vogue words as “perfectly good Standard English words that suddenly become modish, so that for a time we hear them being used everywhere, by everyone, until we are utterly sick of them.”

  13. 13.

    One of the best-known K-Beauty creators, SSIN (1.64 million followers to date) presents dramatic makeup inspired by K-pop singers. She does not hold back from giving critical comments on cosmetics she uses, which makes her videos popular among users looking for honest product reviews.

  14. 14.

    Sunny (with 1.02 million subscribers to date) currently lives in New York City, and is best known for her celebrity makeovers and makeup tutorials. In addition to her makeup tutorial videos, Sunny showcases her daily routines through “Sunny’s no jam vlogs” on her channel.

  15. 15.

    Cover makeup videos are popular tutorials on K-beauty YouTube channels where the creators demonstrate makeup looks that follow the style of famous celebrities.

  16. 16.

    According to the Korea Herald, Pony has gained “beauty guru” status with a huge following around the world with more than 5 million subscribers on YouTube. She also launched her own cosmetics line “PONY Effect” in Asia and the United States in 2018.

  17. 17.

    Since first launching her YouTube channel in 2011, lamuqe has accumulated more that 1.3 million subscribers. She shares her skincare secrets and her lifestyle on her YouTube channel. Her videos feature not only English but also Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese subtitles.

  18. 18.

    Risabae, a former makeup artist to popular K-pop artists with more than 2.27 million subscribers to date, is well-known for recreating celebrity looks with precision. Her makeup tutorial videos that teach the basic steps are hugely popular among young K-beauty enthusiasts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea

    Sung-Eun Cho & Jungye Suh

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  1. Sung-Eun Cho
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  2. Jungye Suh
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Correspondence to Sung-Eun Cho .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Translation, Université de Saint-Boniface, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Renée Desjardins

  2. TransCrit, Université Paris 8, Paris, France

    Claire Larsonneur

  3. Departamento de Filosofia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil

    Philippe Lacour

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Cho, SE., Suh, J. (2021). Translating Korean Beauty YouTube Channels for a Global Audience. In: Desjardins, R., Larsonneur, C., Lacour, P. (eds) When Translation Goes Digital. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51761-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51761-8_8

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