Twentieth-century Chinese translation theory : modes, issues and debates / Leo Tak-hung Chan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chan, Tak-hung Leo, 1954-

Series:

Benjamins translation library ; v. 51.

Benjamins translation library, 0929-7316 ; v. 51

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Translating and interpreting--China--History--20th century.

Translating and interpreting.

Linguistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (293 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Past attempts at writing a history of Chinese translation theory have been bedeviled by a chronological approach, which often forces the writer to provide no more than a list of important theories and theorists over the centuries. Or they have stretched out to almost every aspect related to translation in China, so that the historical/political backdrop that had an influence on translation theorizing turns out to be more important than the theories themselves. In the present book, the author hopes to devote exclusive attention to the ideas themselves. The approach adopted centers around eight key issues that engaged the attention of theorists through the course of the twentieth century, in the hope that a historical account will be presented that is not time-bound. On the basis of 38 articles translated into English by teachers and scholars of translation, the author has written four essays discussing the Chinese characteristics of this body of theory. Separately they focus on the impressionistic, the modern, the postcolonial, and the poststructuralist approaches deployed by leading Chinese theorists from 1901 to 1998. It is hoped that publication of this book will make possible cross-cultural dialogue with translation academics in the West, although the general reader will find much firsthand information on Chinese thinking about translation.

Contents:

Twentieth-Century Chinese Translation Theory

Editorial page

Title page

LCC page

Table of contents

List of contributors

Preface

Part I

Chapter 1. The traditional approach: Impressionistic theories

Notes

Chapter 2. "Modern" theories of the 1920s and 30s

Chapter 3. Theories from a postcolonial perspective

Chapter 4. End of the century: The impact of "new theories"

References for Chapters 1-4

Part II

A: Responses to Yan Fu

A1. Preface to Tianyanlun (1901)

A2. How to translate literary texts (1921)

A3. Literary translation and sensitivity to language (1983)

A4. Debunking claims of Xin, Da and Ya: The afterlife of translations (1994)

Notes to Articles 1-4

B: Spiritual resonance

B5. On translation (1929)

B6. Spirit and fluency in translation: An addendum to Chen Xiying's "On translation" (1929)

B7. Preface to the retranslation of Le Père Goriot (1951)

B8. The translations of Lin Shu (1963)

Notes to Articles 5-8

C: Art vs. science

C9. On translation (1944)

C10. Fragments of my translation experience (1957)

C11. Review of Si Guo's Studies of Translation (1974)

C12. Translation and linguistic knowledge: On Lin Yiliang on Translation (1974)

C13. The debate of art vs. science (1987)

Notes to Articles 9-13

D: The language of translation

D14. On translation - A letter to Lu Xun (1931)

D15. A reply to Qu Qiubai (1931)

D16. Again on translation - A reply to Lu Xun (1932)

D17. Letter to Lin Yiliang on translation (1951)

D18. Translation and creative writing (1969)

Notes to Articles 14-18

E: Literal translation vs. sense-translation

E19. On Mr. Lu Xun's "stiff translation" (1929)

E20. "Stiff translation" and the class nature of literature (1930).

E21. On translation and language reform: A response to Liang Shiqiu (1931)

E22. Literal translation, smooth translation, and distorted translation (1934)

E23. On translation (1937)

Notes to Articles 19-23

F: The untranslatability of poetry

F24. Some thoughts on translating poetry (1922)

F25. On translating poetry (1923)

F26. Translation and its positive/negative impact on modern Chinese poetry (1987)

F27. On multiple complementary norms and the translation of poetry (1990)

Notes to Articles 24-27

G: Translation theory for China

G28. On building our translation theories (1951)

G29. Chinese translation theory, a system of its own (1984)

G30. The basic paradigm of Chinese translation theory (1990)

G31. Some thoughts on building our nation's translation theory (1998)

G32. On theories in translation studies (1998)

Notes to Articles 28-32

H: Creativity and translation

H33. Virgins and matchmakers (1921)

H34. Letter to Zheng Zhenduo (1921)

H35. The "matchmaker" and the "virgin" (1934)

H36. Miscellaneous thoughts on translation (1995)

H37. Verbal translation and literary translation: On reading Fang Ping's "Miscellaneous thoughts on translation" (1995)

H38. For the sake of our common cause: A summary of readers' feedback on the Chinese translations of Le rouge et le noir (1995)

Notes to Articles 33-38

Index

The series Benjamins Translation Library.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612160585

9781282160583

1282160583

9789027295675

9027295670

OCLC:

70773829