Translating Chinese culture : the process of Chinese-English translation / Valerie Pellatt, Eric T. Liu and Yalta Ya-Yun Chen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pellatt, Valerie.

Liu, Eric, author.

Chen, Yalta Ya-Yun, author.

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese language--Translating into English.

Chinese language.

Language and culture--China.

Language and culture.

China.

China--Languages.

Language and languages.

Physical Description:

viii, 191 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2014.

Summary:

"Translating Chinese Culture is an innovative and comprehensive coursebook which addresses the issue of translating concepts of culture. Based on the framework of schema building, the course offers helpful guidance on how to get inside the mind of the Chinese author, how to understand what he or she is telling the Chinese-speaking audience, and how to convey this to an English speaking audience. A wide range of authentic texts relating to different aspects of Chinese culture and aesthetics are presented throughout, followed by close reading discussions of how these practices are executed and how the aesthetics are perceived among Chinese artists, writers and readers. Also taken into consideration are the mode, audience and destination of the texts. Ideas are applied from linguistics and translation studies and each discussion is reinforced with a wide variety of practical and engaging exercises. Thought-provoking yet highly accessible, Translating Chinese Culture will be essential reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students of Translation and Chinese Studies. It will also appeal to a wide range of language studies and tutors through its stimulating discussion of the principles and purposes of translation"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Translating modern and contemporary Chinese art and artists: Art and artists as culture-specific entities 14

Traditional Chinese painting 14

What it means to be an artist in the Chinese tradition: Qi Baishi 15

Tools and techniques 20

Ambiguity and sensitivity in source text and target text: Translating an interview with Wu Guanzhong 22

Icons and concepts in post-liberalisation China 25

Installation: The work of Lin Tianmao 26

Practical 1.1 Talking about art 27

2 Chinese characters: National, cultural and personal identity 29

Chinese characters: 'Handwriting of inordinate importance' 30

Simplified or traditional: The deixis of cultural and personal identity 32

Women's writing 36

Sisterhood and writing 37

Describing linguistic and aesthetic qualities 38

Font design and cultural identity 40

Practical 2.1 Cultural identity and calligraphy 43

Practical 2.2 Avoiding subjectivity in description 44

Practical 2.3 Aesthetic description 44

3 Calligraphy: Physical and spiritual aspects of writing 45

Learning to write: Studying the great masters 45

Translating register and lexis: The specialist terms of history 46

Mind and matter in calligraphy 49

The mechanics of writing 50

Translating visual and tactile aspects of calligraphy 50

The terms used for materials 54

Making the brush strokes 54

Writing as spiritual practice: Copying the sutras - A case study 56

Metaphor, simile and parables in spiritual instruction 58

Practical instruction 60

Practical 3.1 Putting brush to paper 60

Practical 3.2 A workman and his tools 61

Practical 3.3 Building a glossary of materials 61

4 The meaning of clothes: Cultural, political and historical significance 62

Nation, dominance and dress 63

Transliteration, contextualisation and coining 65

Semantic fields 66

Semantic fields and consistency 67

Denotation and connotation 69

Translating dress, behaviour and rank in Chinese history 69

Fashion and celebrity in the twentieth century 73

Contemporary fashion 74

Practical 4.1 Applying semantic fields 75

Practical 4.2 Construction and manipulation of a garment 76

Practical 4.3 Garment care labelling 76

5 The role of the Chinese nursery rhyme in disseminating traditional values in a modern world 78

Nursery rhymes as a poetic genre 78

Family hierarchy and numbers in Chinese rhymes 79

Sub-genre, category and content 81

The discourse of the rhymes 81

Translating numbers in the rhymes 82

The voice of the rhymes 82

Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law 85

Third sister 87

Little Cabbage orphans 90

Brothers at work 92

Thick translation: Aims, readership and the provision of footnotes or an introduction 93

Practical 5.1 Rites of passage for girls 94

Practical 5.2 A new kind of family 95

6 Transcreation as a means of delivering poetry to an Other audience: rap adaptation and sinophonic poetry 96

About transcreation 97

Some critical analyses of poetry translation 98

Translation from Chinese to English: Inevitable adaptation or transcreation 100

Transliteration and found poetry 101

The communicative role of transcreation 103

Anachronism and displacement 104

Register and readership 104

The appeal of rhythm and rhyme 105

Creative features of transcreation 105

Narrative in Chinese poetry 106

Characteristics common to rap and traditional Chinese poetry 108

Practical 6.1 A critical review of Yingelishi 110

Practical 6.2 A critical review of a transcreation of Peach Blossom Spring 111

7 Absurdity and irony in modern Chinese literature

The physical and verbal in comedy 111

The relevance of the joke 117

Black humour as described by Wang Meng 118

Blogging for common sense 120

Absurdism in the twenty-first century 122

Translating chengyu ($$$) 123

Translating metaphor and allusion 125

Translating simile 125

Translating synaesthesia 126

Translating reduplication 127

Translating number expressions 128

Translating cross-purposes dialogue 129

Practical 7.1 Mocking bureaucracy 131

Practical 7.2 Translating for blog readers 132

8 Drama translation: A case study of collaborative translation 133

Culture-specific items, cultural markers and realia in drama 134

Performabilty and speakability 135

Translation, adaptation and collaboration 136

The development of modern Chinese drama as revolutionary tool and political critique 136

Choice of drama 137

The paratext of drama: Translating stage directions 140

Speakability 141

Register in drama 142

Case studies of collaborative drama translation 143

The pilot study: Translating Beijing Ren / Cao Yu Yu, Cao 143

The core project: Translating Poison / Wan Fang ($$$) Fang, Wan, ($$$) 146

Performability in action 147

The challenge of register 148

Stage directions: A hidden tool of control 148

Cultural considerations 149

Reactions to the core project 149

Practical 8.1 Staging a translated play 150

9 Translating films 151

Historic, political and social contexts 152

Dubbing and subtitling 154

To translate, or not to translate? 156

The constraints of subtitling 158

A case study - This Life of Mine 162

A balance among aural, visual, linguistic and cultural meaning 163.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415693136

9780415693127

0415693128

9780415693134

OCLC:

809610739

Publisher Number:

99957347623