Eileen Chang: The Performativity of Self-Translation / Jessica Tsui-yan Li.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Li, Jessica Tsui-yan, author.

Series:

Asian Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2025.

Sinica Leidensia ; 172.

Asian Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2025

Sinica Leidensia ; 172

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Asian Studies.

Literature and cultural studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (316 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2025.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Eileen Chang: The Performativity of Self-Translation by Jessica Tsui-yan Li focuses on the self-translation of Zhang Ailing 張愛玲 (Eileen Chang, 1920–1995), one of the most important Chinese writers of the twentieth century. Although self-translation is overlooked in most studies of her work, Chang’s literary achievements are attributed in part to her lifelong self-translation of her lived experiences and family sagas, as well as her bilingualism. This book enriches current studies of self-translation by proposing a new hypothesis of theorizing self-translation as a performative act, characterized by its in-betweenness and the aesthetic freedom that the self-translator enjoys, contextualized within larger debates about translation and the specific practice of self-translation in Chinese history in comparison to its Western counterpart.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Notes about Chinese Romanization and Translation

List of Illustrations

Introduction: The Practice of Self-Translation in Eileen Chang’s Works

1 Eileen Chang as a Self-Translator

2 Translation History in China

3 Theories of Self-Translation

4 Summary of Each Chapter

Part 1: Translating the Self

1 Rewriting the Self in Memoirs

2 Reimagining the Self in Chang’s Semi-Autobiographical Novels: Xiao Tuanyuan《小團圓》(Little Reunion), The Fall of the Pagoda, and The Book of Change

3 Self-Translation as a Performative Act: Duizhaoji – kan lao zhaoxiangbu 《對照記——看老照相簿》 (Mutual Reflections – Looking at Old Photo Albums)

Part 2: Paradoxical In-Betweenness

4 Interdependence: “Jinsuoji”《金鎖記》 (“The Golden Cangue”), The Rouge of the North, Yuannü 《怨女》 (Embittered Woman), and “The Golden Cangue”

5 Authorship: “Shame, Amah!” and “Guihuazheng – Ah Xiao beiqiu” 桂花蒸——阿小悲秋 (“Steamed Osmanthus: Ah Xiao’s Unhappy Autumn”)

6 Re-Evaluation: “Deng” 〈等〉 (“Waiting”) and “Little Finger Up”

7 Recontextualization: “Stale Mates – A Short Story Set in the Time When Love Came to China” and “Wusi yishi – Luo Wentao sanmei tuanyuan” 五四遺事——羅文濤三美團圓 (“Regret after the May Fourth Movement – The Reunion of Luo Wentao and the Three Beauties”)

8 Metacommentary on “Xiangjianhuan”〈相見歡〉 (“A Joyful Rendezvous”) and “She Said Smiling”

Part 3: Cultural Translation

9 Interpretation: “Demons and Fairies” and “Zhongguoren de zongjiao” 〈中國人的宗教〉 (“The Religion of the Chinese”)

10 Distanciation: “Still Alive” and “Yangren kan jingxi ji qita” 〈洋人看京戲及其他〉 (“Westerners Watching Peking Opera and Other Issues”)

11 Transformation: “Chinese Life and Fashions” and “Gengyiji” 〈更衣記〉 (“A Chronicle of Changing Clothes”)

Part 4: Political Ambivalence

12 Authenticity Reconsidered: The Rice-Sprout Song and Yangge《秧歌》

13 Postmodern Intertextuality: Chidi zhi lian 《赤地之戀》(The Romance of the Redland) and Naked Earth

14 Transcultural Hospitality: “A Return to the Frontier” and “Chongfang biancheng” 〈重訪邊城〉

15 Transgressing Boundaries: “The Spyring or Ch’ing k’ê! Ch’ing k’ê!” and “Se, Jie” 〈色，戒〉(“Lust, Caution”)

Conclusion: The Performativity of Eileen Chang’s Self-Translation

1 Significance of Eileen Chang’s Self-Translation

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

90-04-73005-2

9789004730052

OCLC:

1524425503

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004730052 DOI