A Poetics of Translation: Between Chinese and English Literature

303 Pages·2016·2.476 MB·English

by  David Jasper, GENG Youzhuang, WANG Hai

Between Chinese
and English Literature
David Jasper
Geng Youzhuang e d i t o r s
Wang Hai
A Poetics of Translation
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A Poetics of Translation
Between Chinese and English Literature
David Jasper
Geng Youzhuang
Wang Hai
Editors
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS
© 2016 by Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas 76798
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
in writing of Baylor University Press.
Cover Design by Hannah Feldmeier
Cover Art from The Chinese Classics: With a Translation, Critical and Exegetical
Notes, Prolegomena, and Copious Indexes, by James Legge, D.D. (Hong Kong: At
The Author’s; London: Trübner, 60, Paternoster Row, 1800).
9781481304207 (Web PDF)
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Jasper, David, editor. | Geng, Youzhuang, editor. | Wang, Hai, 1977–
editor.
Title: A poetics of translation : between Chinese and English literature /
David Jasper, Geng Youzhuang , Wang Hai, editors.
Description: Waco : Baylor University Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015026596 | ISBN 9781481304184 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Translating and interpreting—Social aspects. | Chinese
literature—History and criticism. | English literature—History and
criticism. | Chinese literature—Translations into English. | English
literature—Translations into Chinese. | East and West. | Written
communication in literature.
Classification: LCC P306.8.C6 P64 2016 | DDC 418/.020951—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015026596
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
PART I
READINGS IN THE EAST AND WEST
1 Poetic Desire and the Laws of Heaven 11
James Legge’s Shi- jing and the Translation of Consciousness
—David Lyle Jeffrey
2 The Tale within a Tale as Universal Theme 37
A Comparative Reading of Hamlet, Don Quixote, and
The Journey to the West (Xiyuoji)
—Eric Ziolkowski
3 Pilgrimage to Heaven 59
Timothy Richard’s Christian Interpretation of
The Journey to the West
—John T. P. LAI
v
vi CONTENTS
PART II
STUDIES IN TRANSLATION: CHINA AND THE MISSIONARIES
4 Revisiting the Missionary Stance 75
Conversation and Conversion in James Legge’s
The Religions of China (1880)
—Trevor Hart
5 A Study of the “Preface” and “Introduction”
to James Legge’s The Texts of Taoism 93
—ZHAO Jing
6 The Hermeneutics of Translating Christian Theology
for the Evangelization of Chinese School Children
in Late Imperial China 113
—B. H. McLean
7 The “Ishmael” of Sinology 139
H. A. Giles’ History of Chinese Literature (1901) and
Late Victorian Perceptions of Chinese Literature and Culture
—Elisabeth Jay
8 Two Nineteenth- Century English Translations of The
Travels of Fa- hsien (399–414 AD) 159
An Episode in the Translation of China in England
—David Jasper
PART III
TRANSLATION AS DISLOCATION
9 Poetically Translating Chinese Texts into the West 177
Ezra Pound’s Translation of Chinese Poetry
and Confucian Classics
—GENG Youzhuang
10 The Power of Powerlessness 195
Rediscovering the Radicality of Wu Wei in Daoism
through Blanchot
—WANG Hai
CONTENTS vii
11 What Is Lost in the Chinese Translations of
The Merchant of Venice? 205
A Comparative Reading of the Texts
—YANG Huilin
12 Translation as Trans- Literal 215
Radical Formations in Contemporary Chinese Art
—Andrew W. Hass
Notes 239
Contributors 283
Credits 287
Index 289
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INTRODUCTION
This book of essays is the result of academic conversations between schol-
ars in China and the West relating to issues in translation. These essays
have their beginnings in a series of conferences hosted by Renmin Uni-
versity of China in Beijing. “Issues in translation” refers not only to the
linguistic challenges of translating from Chinese into English or English
into Chinese but also to the wider questions of cultural translation at a
time when China is in a period of rapid change and the world is having
to adjust in response; and scholars within the humanities are required
to learn very quickly to live within the exchange of ideas often with few
precedents to guide or advise them. Of necessity, some of the thinking
in these essays is therefore experimental and tentative, as in the case of
Wang Hai’s work on the idea of wu wei (lit. “doing nothing”) and radi-
cal passivity in the reflection of Western thinkers like Maurice Blanchot.
We do not apologize for this spirit of experimentation and for the variety
that marks these essays. “Translation” is a widely used and disputed term,
and it always has been. The deliberately wide range of essays indicate that
translation can aspire to being a precise and highly technical science, or
it can be broad and visionary— and each has its place. We can therefore
include the highly scholarly work of James Legge, or the poetic vision of
1