Devour or Nourish? Rethinking Picture Rewriting through Cannibalistic Translation in the Korean Versions of Red Gourd

Abstract

Drawing on cannibalistic translation theory, this study examines two Korean versions of Cao Wenxuan’s Red Gourd (红葫芦): the short story collection Sea Cow (바다소) and the picture book adaptation Red Gourd (빨간 호리병박). It explores how textual reduction and image rewriting function as cross-cultural strategies to reconstruct meaning and mediate cultural values for Korean readers. The short story collection exemplifies a “weak devouring” approach, simplifying poetic expressions while preserving core metaphors. In contrast, the picture book demonstrates “strong devouring” through bold visual transformation, symbolic substitution, and cultural reconfiguration, thereby creating a “third space” for intercultural negotiation. This study argues that picture rewriting in translation not only fulfills a narrative role but also performs cultural work through localized visual language. By extending cannibalistic translation theory to visual narratives, the paper contributes to multimodal translation studies and offers both theoretical and practical insights into cross-cultural adaptation in children’s literature.