Abstract
The book is a follow-up volume after an earlier volume titled Thinking Chinese Translation by the same authors. In the earlier volume, by using texts on a wide range of themes, such as, law, science and technology, medicine and literature, the authors had emphasised the process of schema development, that is, understanding the text and then restructuring its formal content scheme into the target language. In this volume, there has been an attempt to address the challenges of translation in the area of Chinese culture and arts. In the Introduction, the authors have proposed to ‘look at texts that relate to indigenous Chinese practices and aesthetics, discussing how these practices are executed and how the aesthetics are perceived among Chinese artists, writers and readers, taking into consideration the mode, audience and destination of the translated texts’ (p. 1). While doing so, the authors have also proposed to draw from and apply ideas and concepts from linguistics and translation theory which would be useful for practicing translators.
Continuing from the earlier volume, this book revisits some of the ideas discussed before, such as, uniqueness and untranslatability, linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity and so on. In the process, the authors have raised some very important questions that range from linguistic to cultural to psychological: Do the Chinese think differently? If so, then from what or from whom? Do the superficial differences in language and behaviour give the impression that the Chinese think differently? To what extent is a cultural difference indicative of a difference in cognitive process? There is no clear evidence that the notion of the uniqueness of the Chinese language, and therefore its untranslatability, can be explained either by the theory of linguistic determinism or by the theory of linguistic relativity.
While addressing the above questions, the authors have undertaken an extensive survey of the relevant research on translation studies. In the process, the tricky and complex issue of the ‘culture-specificity’ of a language, as it pertains to a project of translation, is discussed at length to throw light on the specific historical, geographical, social and ideological reflections ingrained in the medium of language. What is more important is that while fully appreciating the interdisciplinary and intercultural aspects of translation as a process, the authors have also thought it relevant to bring into their discussion works such as those by Edward Said, Buruma and Margalit, which posit and counter-posit the issue of bias in studying a different culture.
Subsequently, the authors have focused on the problem of ‘inaccessibility’ as it relates to inexperienced translators on the one hand and to the experts and champions of literature on the other. They point out: ‘While it is possible to look at the theory of translation from a “generalist” non-language-specific point of view, the reality is that all translation, even of aspects such as paratext, is inextricably linked to at least two languages, two cultures, two political systems and probably multiple ways of thinking. When translating into Chinese, the demands of the target audience, the client and monitoring or censoring bodies may be paramount, and require a characteristically Chinese approach. In the case of translating out of Chinese, these demands are parallel, but specifically targeted towards the needs of the “foreign” reader or client’ (p. 5). In other words, the idea of ‘loyalty’ as it applies to translation must balance the interests of the author and the receptor in order to find an effectively ‘correct’ translation.
The volume is divided into nine chapters, each of which focuses on a creative and artistic aspect of Chinese life. Each chapter introduces the reader to the subject matter followed by the original text(s) and possible translation of text(s) chosen from an area of the Chinese culture, such as, painting, calligraphy, poetry, nursery rhymes, drama and film, to highlight the difficulties of translating an expression or a concept that is uniquely Chinese and thus represents the very roots of Chinese national and individual identity. Each chapter also includes one or two exercises that are meant ‘to get the novice translator thinking about ways, means, ends, and not least, subject matter’ (p. 9).
Chapter 1, for instance, deals with the discourse of visual art in China in the last century, as it applies to the twin apogees of Chinese culture, namely, calligraphy and painting. The texts have been chosen innovatively to explore the traditional approach to painting through the words of two most-renowned creators of modern Chinese painting, Qi Baishi and Wu Guanzhong, while the practical exercise is chosen to describe the skill of another great Chinese artist Zhang Daqian. Chapter 2 is devoted to the language of writing and calligraphy to explore the relationship of the script to the cultural identity of the nation and the individual. On the one hand, it traces the continuity of Chinese history and culture through writing and on the other, it touches upon a series of issues, such as, the debate on simplified and traditional characters, the category of ‘women’s writing’ that is historically considered to be a special category, and even the creativity and cultural basis of font designing in contemporary China. Chapter 3 dwells upon the mechanics of calligraphy that includes both manual operations and tools and the spiritual and psychological implications. In this chapter, the authors have discussed the techniques of a Tang Dynasty calligrapher, Liu Gongquan, well known for his skill and virtue, and have concluded with an example of the Buddhist practice of copying scriptures.
In Chapter 4, the authors have addressed the problem of translation of texts relating to clothing and costume in ancient, modern and contemporary China. Traditionally speaking, attire is considered to be the extension of the Chinese ‘self’, as it conveys the power and identity of the individual. Yet, the language of costume also crosses the cultural barrier as it lends itself well to a graphic discourse free of language. In Chapter 5, the authors have attempted the translation of nursery rhymes, a literary genre rich in information on the social and historical condition of the family. They have illustrated that being a comical means of representing the adult world, nursery rhymes require careful treatment for them to succeed in the target language, either as rhymes or as social and historical documentation. Through a review of two innovative translators, Chapter 6 has explored the theoretical approaches to the translation of poetry. The authors have argued that since ‘fidelity’ and ‘accuracy’ are contested notions, transcreation or creative adaptation should be considered as a viable option.
In Chapter 7, the authors take a look at the issues involved in the translation of absurdity and irony in Chinese literature in the contemporary period. The texts have been chosen from diverse sources such as blogs and the published literary works of two bestselling Chinese writers, namely, Wang Meng and Yan Lianke. The exercise highlights that being highly culture specific in content, yet universal in intent, humour and irony pose a challenge to the translators. Chapter 8 is a case study of drama which tells us about the way people think in source culture, and about how a superficial translation can be unsuccessful in recreating people’s thoughts and behaviour in the target language to an extent that even tragedy can become rather comic. In Chapter 9, which is the last chapter of the book, the authors have compared different approaches to film translation. Using two brief examples and a longer case study, it is shown how best to convey information implicit and explicit in images from one frame to another.
This volume is a valuable addition to the field of translation studies which has witnessed rapid movement and growth. The ideas presented by the authors are not necessarily to be agreed with or rejected. That translation of cultural texts is not a mechanical process is well known, but what this volume has helped to establish with authenticity is the intricacy of the problems faced by translators, both expert and novice, in finding the correct note that will create a lasting echo between two cultures. The authors demonstrate convincingly that it is by finding the ‘difference in similarity’ and by finding the ‘similarity in difference’ that arbitrary and imaginary barriers to understanding can be overcome.