Difference between revisions of "20220630 Culture 5"
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*[[20220630_Culture_8]] papers 71-80: 71 日语笔译 胡梦琪 Hu Mengqi 202170081633, 72 日语笔译 张白鹭 Zhang Bailu 202170081634, 73 朝鲜语笔译 刘安莉 Liu Anli 202170081635, 74 朝鲜语笔译 王思佳 Wang Sijia 202170081636, 75 朝朝鲜语笔译 徐盖 Xu Gai 202170081638, 76 朝鲜语笔译 徐文慧 Xu Wenhui 202170081639, 77 外国语言文学 Akira Jantarat 202121080009, 78 比较文学与跨文化研究 Mahzad 202021080004, 79 英语语言文学 Mimi 2020GBJ002301 | *[[20220630_Culture_8]] papers 71-80: 71 日语笔译 胡梦琪 Hu Mengqi 202170081633, 72 日语笔译 张白鹭 Zhang Bailu 202170081634, 73 朝鲜语笔译 刘安莉 Liu Anli 202170081635, 74 朝鲜语笔译 王思佳 Wang Sijia 202170081636, 75 朝朝鲜语笔译 徐盖 Xu Gai 202170081638, 76 朝鲜语笔译 徐文慧 Xu Wenhui 202170081639, 77 外国语言文学 Akira Jantarat 202121080009, 78 比较文学与跨文化研究 Mahzad 202021080004, 79 英语语言文学 Mimi 2020GBJ002301 | ||
| − | ==英语笔译 | + | ==英语笔译 刘唱 Liu Chang 202170081583== |
| + | <center>'''Analysis on Localized Translation of English Games Based on Skopos Theory | ||
| + | --Taking League of legends as an Example'''</center> | ||
| − | + | <center>Liu Chang</center> | |
| − | + | ===Abstract=== | |
| + | At present, with the vigorous development of information technology, basing on information technology and internet platform, online games gradually get rid of the name of electronic heroin, and gradually industrialize and systematize. It can be seen that e-sports has now become a relatively mature industry, but the problem is that most online games on the market are imported from abroad. Therefore, one of the inevitable problems in the introduction process is the localization of the game. Language, as an important carrier of information transmission, plays an indispensable role in game localization. Not like the traditional text, the translation of game text pays more attention to the main position of the reader and its adaptability in the target market. Taking the game League of Legends as an example, this paper explores how to better combine the game with Chinese culture in the form of language from the perspective of Skopos Theory of Translation, so as to make Chinese players accept the games better and more likely to be infiltrated by traditional Chinese culture during the process of enjoying the game. | ||
| + | In this thesis, the author analyses the textual material of League of Legends from the perspective of Skopos Theory. Through the analysis of the lines, titles and names of the champions of this game. The author finds that the translators of the game mostly take the domestication strategy, and use several translation methods such as transliteration, amplification, free translation and so on to achieve their goal: making this game more acceptable for Chinese player and helping the Chinese players have a better game experience. However, during the process of analysis, the author analyzes the mistranslation and corrects the translation based on Skopos Theory. After the analysis of the material, it can be seen that with the guidance of Skopos Theory, translators can have specific rules to obey in order to achieve the goal and come out good translation. However, the related research in china is still very few, so the scholars should pay more attention to this field and make it a systematic discipline. | ||
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===Key words=== | ===Key words=== | ||
| − | + | Skopos Theory; Game Translation; League of Legends | |
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===Introduction=== | ===Introduction=== | ||
| − | + | (1)Research Background | |
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| − | + | With the increase of the power of consumption of Chinese consumers, the game market of China is also thriving now. According to the statistics, China now is the largest game market in the world, with the number of game player more than 600,000,000 (Dai Jie:2019,100-101). However, since most e-sports games in China are introduced from abroad, localized translation is very important. Currently, all large-scale e-sports games have specialized localized translation teams (Liu Chang & Yang Weixiu:2019,30-32). Their job is to translate the foreign games into Chinese in the way that can meet the need of Chinese player. During this process, the translators face a lot of difficulties, so they have to do the job with the instruction of various kinds of translation theories. In this thesis, the author takes the online game League of Legends, which is hot all around the world, as an example, and analyzes the translation of names and lines of the characters in the game based on the Skopos theory of Translation put forward by Hans Vermeer to discuss the principles of the Skopos theory showed or missed in the textual material. | |
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| − | + | (2)Brief Introduction to League of Legends | |
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| − | + | League of Legends (LOL) is developed by the United States game company Riot and operated by Tencent game. It is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game (Cai Qiqi & Huang Yanjie:2018,84-88). In the game, the player takes on the role of a summoner and chooses your trusted allies to enter the Summoner’s Valley to battle with your enemies, fighting for the justice of Varoran. There is only one rule: Victory is everything! | |
| − | + | In the eyes of the game players and game developers, LOL is not just a game, but a fantasy world with a complete and huge world view. Every champion (the character manipulated by the players) possesses his or her own name, title, background story, lines and so on, which does not only enrich the content of the game, but also put forward a lot of challenges for the translators, for all of these names, titles and lines are the textual material which needs to be translated. | |
| − | + | (3)Purpose and Significance of Game Translation | |
| − | ' | + | As foreign games have thrived in Chinese market, the paradox between fast development and a relative shortage of research about game translation has become apparent. In the process of the translation of the material of the game, the quality of translation has a great influence on the player's game experience, which is very important. However, domestic research on game translation is still in its infancy, and relevant scholars and translators may face the embarrassing situation that there is no theoretical knowledge as reference. Therefore, the research on game translation is a must-to-do and has certain practical significance. This thesis discusses how to better combine the game with Chinese culture in the form of language from the perspective of Skopos Theory of Translation, so as to make Chinese players accept the games better and more likely to be infiltrated by traditional Chinese culture during the process of enjoying the game. |
| − | + | ===Literature Review=== | |
| − | === | + | (1) Review on Research of Skopos Theory of Translation |
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| − | + | Foreign studies on functional translation start very early. Andrew Chesterman collects famous articles by Vermeer and Nord in Readings in Translation Theory (1989). Jeremy Munday introduces the main connotation of functional Translation theory in Introduced Translation Studies, and he believes that the functional translation school and communicative translation theory born in Germany promoted the innovation of translation theory, turning it from a static linguistic category into a cross-cultural communication behavior (2001,73-80). In Contemporary Translation Theories (2nd Revised Edition), according to Edwin Gentzler, the birth of the functional school of translation theory is an important moment in the history of translation theory. It puts an end to the two-thousands-long struggle between faithfulness and freedom in translation circles. According to functional translation theory, both faithful and free translation can be regarded as the correct choice as long as it conforms to the communicative purpose of the target text (2001,71). But at the same time, there are also some scholars have a skeptical or even negative attitude towards the functional Skopos theory. Peter Newmark, a famous translation theorist, thinks that functional translation theory was “dogmatism”. He comments in his book that “translation is a fractured discipline, and it is especially inappropriate to use a single integrated theory, dogma or general expression covering any text type. In this kind of process and practice, one must consider many issues at the same time... there is not any well-considered theory can cover all translation problems (1990,105).” | |
| + | There are four stages of the development of the Skopos Theory of Translation: | ||
| + | The first stage: Katharina Reiss introduces the functional category into translation criticism for the first time (1999). The second stage: Hans Vermeer proposes Skopos Theory, which frees translation studies from the bondage of textual centralism (1987). The third stage: Justa Holz Manttari, proposes the theory of translation behavior. The fourth stage: Christiane Nord comprehensively summarizes and improves the functionalism theory (1991,30-32). He has proposed that translators should follow the guiding principle of “function plus loyalty”, and then perfected the theory (1996). | ||
| − | + | (2)Review on the Research of Game Translation | |
| − | + | With the rapid expansion of the video game industry, there have been more and more researches on game translation in recent years. Trainor introduced game translation from two aspects of game content and text (2003,14). Yan Mingle analyzes the translation process in the process of the localization of games, and summarized some characteristics (2009). | |
| + | Xiao Zhiyan believes that as a kind of cross-cultural communication behavior, the name of game has a very strong purpose, and it bears the task of spreading the game information and facilitating the purchase in the cultural environment of the target language (2011). | ||
| − | + | (3)Summary | |
| − | + | The development of the Skopos theory of translation now is already very mature now, however, the domestic research about game translation is still on its preliminary stage now. So translators and scholars should do the research of game translation based on the mature theory and make it the guidance of the practical translation. Only with the help of developed theory, translators are able to make the research of the game translation more systematical and standardized. | |
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===Methods and Theories=== | ===Methods and Theories=== | ||
| − | + | (1)An Introduction to Skopos Theory | |
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| − | + | Skopos Theory, which is developed by German linguist Vermeer, is the core of functional translation theory. It breaks through the bondage of equivalent translation theory centered on original text. | |
| − | + | Vermeer believes that “translation is a human behavior”, and “any behavior has a purpose”, so “translation is a purposeful behavior”, thus translation is “a discourse produced for a certain purpose and target audience in certain situation of the target language” (1996). | |
| + | Vermeer believes that translation should follow the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule, among which the skopos rule is the supreme principle. Vermeer completely breaks out of the equivalence theory of the textual center and focuses on the function of the text. In his opinion, translation strategies and methods must be flexible, and the translation should be carried out according to the situation and the purpose of the text, so as to realize the function and purpose of the text. | ||
| − | + | (2)Basic Rules of Skopos Theory | |
| − | + | (2.1)The Skopos Rule | |
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| − | + | In the system of the Skopos theory of translation, the Skopos rule is the primary principle guiding all translations, which usually refers to the communicative purpose of the translation. That is to say, Skopos rule is the primary principle of Skopos theory. Because all texts are inevitably created with a certain purpose and ultimately to achieve this purpose, so the means to achieve the purpose should be determined by the purpose (Nord,1997,15). | |
| − | + | (2.2)The Coherence Rule | |
| − | + | Coherence rule refers to intralingual coherence, which means that the target text audience should be able to understand the content of the target text according to the context set by the translator. | |
| − | + | (2.3)The Fidelity Rule | |
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| − | + | The fidelity rule refers to interlingual coherence, which reflects the relationship between the original text and the target text. It emphasizes that the content of the target text should be faithful to the content of the original text, but the degree and form of such fidelity depend on the translator's understanding of the original text and the specific requirements of the translation purpose. | |
| − | + | (3)Summary | |
| − | + | After understanding the basic meaning of the three rules of the Skopos Theory of translation, it can be found that in this theory, the most innovative point is the first and primary rule——the Skopos rule. It is the core of this theory and also it serves as the basic norm during the process of translation if someone is going to translate something based on the Skopos Theory. And the rest of the rules make up the void of the theory and improve the quality of the product to some extent. | |
| − | + | ===Translation Under Skopos Theory=== | |
| + | (1)Translation Under Skopos Rule | ||
| − | + | LOL is developed by western game company, so the original content is based on the combination of western culture and the fictional world. However, in the Chinese version, the Skopos rule has been precisely followed and many Chinese features and elements are added in the content in order to cater to the expectations and tastes of Chinese players (Zhang Yiyang:2016). During the process of the translation of the material, the translators mostly use the translation strategy of domestication and several translation methods such as transliteration, free translation, and so on, to achieve their goals. | |
| − | + | Example 1: | |
| − | + | Original version: Xayah, Rakan | |
| − | + | Chinese version：霞、洛 | |
| − | ( | + | In the background story of the game, “Xayah” and “Rakan” are both from Vastaya, where lives the half-bird, half-human creature. And they are enviable couple that can never be divided. According to this background information, here is the Chinese version “霞” and “洛”. The names are originated from a famous Chinese quatrains: A Tribute to King Teng’s Tower. In this quatrains, the author Wang Bo uses “落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色” to describe the beautiful scenery of the sky (Tang Jiawen:2019, 127-129). So it can be found that this quatrain is suitable for the translation of “Xayah” and “Rakan”. There are three reasons. The first one is that in the quatrain, “落霞” and “孤鹜” together form a harmonious scenery and they seem to unite as one, also “Rakan” and “Xayah” are intimate lovers which is also a harmonious images. In this way, it can be considered as a kind of domestication. The second reason is that “Xayah” and “Rakan” are both half-bird creature, which correspond to “与孤鹜齐飞” in the quatrain. They are half-bird, so they can fly. The third reason is that the pronunciations of “Xayah” and “Rakan” are similar to the Chinese words “霞” and “洛”. In this way, the translator uses transliteration to achieve his goal. From three perspectives, the author thinks that the translation of this textual material is accord with the Skopos rule, for the translation does not only convey the information of the original text, but also meet the need and expectations of Chinese players. |
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| − | + | Example 2 | |
| − | + | Original version: Here’s a tip and a spear behind. | |
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| − | + | Chinese version: 一点寒芒先到，随后枪出如龙。 | |
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| − | + | In this case, it is the lines of a champion named Zhao Xin in the game. Zhao Xin is a loyal warrior with a spear as his weapon. His prototype is the famous military officer in the three kingdoms period, Zhao Yun. So during the process of translation, the translator also takes the domestication strategy and uses the translation methods of free translation and amplification to cater to the taste of Chinese player. In this sentence, “先到” and “如龙” are both amplification to make the sentence more neat and orderly in Chinese. Also the translator uses free translation to make the sentence more readable in Chinese. In this way, the translator achieves the goal of making the translation more acceptable for Chinese player. | |
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| − | + | (2)Translation Under Coherence Rule | |
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| − | + | The coherence rule means that there must be intra-textual coherence in the translation, that is to say, the target text should be readable and acceptable. It enables the recipient to understand and make sense in the culture of the target language and the communicative context in which the target text is used. Thus, the Chinese player usually make some nicknames for the champions in the game (champion is the character manipulated by the player in the game) to make it easy to read and accept for Chinese player (Gong Lei:2018). During the process of translation, the translator mostly takes the domestication strategy and uses the translation methods such as free translation, literal translation and so on. | |
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| − | + | Example 1: | |
| − | + | Original version: the outlaw | |
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| − | + | Chinese version: 法外狂徒 | |
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| − | + | Nick name: 男枪 | |
| − | + | The outlaw is the title of a male champion named Graves in the game (every champion own his title in the game, which is considered as another name of the champion)， he is a criminal with a big rifle. In Chinese version , official translators translate the title of Graves, the outlaw, into “法外狂徒” literally. However, for the sake of convenience, the Chinese players further simplify it into “男枪”, which means the man with a rifle. In this case, the players can also be considered as the translators, they just combinate the image of this champion and his gender, and use literal translation to get a nick name for this champion. In this way, the name of this champion is more easily to read and widely accepted by Chinese player. | |
| − | + | Example 2: | |
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| − | + | Original version: The Deceiver | |
| + | Chinese version: 诡术妖姬 | ||
| − | + | In the background story of the game, Leblanc is a beautiful lady and she is a great magician who likes to cheat other by her tricks, so she gets his title “The Deceiver”. In this case, the translator does not translate “The Deceiver” into “欺骗者” or “骗子” literally. Instead, the translator translates it into “诡术妖姬” in the way of free translation and amplification, which combinates the features and gender of this champion. In this way, “诡术妖姬”, obviously, is a better choice than “骗子” or “欺骗者”. Also, for Chinese, the title of four characters is usually more readable. | |
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| − | + | (3)Translation Under Fidelity Rule | |
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| − | + | The fidelity rule means that there must be inter-coherence between source text and target text, which is equal to the principle of faithfulness in other translation theories, that is to say, the translation must ground on the information given by the source text. Thus, during the process of translating the game, the translator uses various strategies to translate certain terms (Xin Yue: 2019). During the process of translation, the translator mostly takes the domestication strategy and uses the translation methods such as free translation, literal translation and so on. | |
| − | + | Example 1: | |
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| − | + | Original version: Monkey King | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 齐天大圣 | |
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| − | + | In this example, the title of Monkey king belongs to the champion named Wu Kong, whose prototype is the monkey in the ancient Chinese novel, The Journey to the West. However, the translator does not just translate monkey king into “猴子王” literally, but translate it into “齐天大圣”, which conforms to the source text. Because almost all the Chinese know the story of Wu Kong and his title “齐天大圣”. In this way, based on the translation strategy of domestication and the translation method of free translation, the translator makes it more corresponding to the original text. So the author considers this version as a successful translation which obeys the fidelity rule. | |
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| − | + | Example 2: | |
| − | + | Original version: The fist of Shadow | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 暗影之拳 | |
| − | In | + | In this case, the translator just uses the literal translation to translate the title, also there is |
| − | + | one point has to be mentioned. During the translation of the material, the translator uses literal translation in many places as long as there is correspondence between English and Chinese in that material. In this way, the translation obeys the fidelity rule. | |
| − | === | + | ===Mistranslation in League of Legends=== |
| − | + | During the process of translating the material, though most of the translation is in accord with the Skopos theory. However, the author also finds there are some mistranslation from the perspective of Skopos theory. | |
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| − | + | (1)Mistranslation Against Skopos Rule | |
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| − | + | In the process of translation, it is inevitable to meet some material which is difficult to translate in the way conforming to the Skopos rule. | |
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| − | + | Example 1: | |
| − | + | Original version: Minotaur | |
| − | + | Chinese version：牛头酋长 | |
| − | + | In this example, originally, Minotaur is the monster with human’s body and the head of cow in Greek myth, however, in the Chinese version, the translators simply translate it into “牛头酋长”, which means the chieftain of cow. In this way, it violates the Skopos rule. Because according to the Skopos rule of the Skopos theory, the translator to translate the original text into the target language in a way that suits his purpose. In the process of translation of games, the purpose is to make the gamers experience the game in a more immersing way. That is to say, translators should take Chinese culture into consideration during the process of translation. However, the word “酋长” is rarely used in Chinese. So in this case, maybe “牛魔王” is a better choice. The first reason is that it has the same image with the champion in the game. The second reason is that Chinese players are familiar to this name. | |
| − | + | Example 2: | |
| − | + | Original version：The Lady of Clockwork | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 发条魔灵 | |
| − | + | In this case, the author thinks the Chinese version is a kind of overtranslation, for here the translator translates “lady” into “魔灵”. However, “魔灵” is a word of western style and not usually seen in Chinese. In Chinese, the word “魂” usually be used to express the meaning of “灵”. Also, the translation does not show the gender of this champion. So here the author thinks “发条魔姬” may be a better version. In this version, both literal translation and amplification are used. “姬” is a Chinese style word which is equal to lady. In this way, it can be more easily accept by the Chinese players. And “魔” can show the essence of the champion. | |
| − | + | (2)Mistranslation Against Coherence Rule | |
| − | + | During the process of translating the game, the translators sometimes have to violate the coherence rule in order to cater to the Skopos rule or the fidelity rule. | |
| − | + | Example 1: | |
| − | + | Original version: The might of Demacia | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 德玛西亚之力 | |
| − | + | In this case, the translator translates “The Might of Demacia” (Demacia is a city-state in the game) into “德玛西亚之力” in Chinese. That is a kind of literal translation, however, few names of place are longer than three words. “德玛西亚” may not be easy to read and accept by Chinese players. In this way, it violates the coherence rule. As a result of it, the players usually call it “德玛” for short. And there is a good example for the translation of the name of place. In this case, the city Piltover is called “皮城” in Chinese. Also, there is a title of a champion called The Seneschal of Demacia. Its Chinese version is “德邦总管”. According to these two example, it can be known that in the translation of the name of some place, the translator may take the initial as the first character of Chinese version, then use a word which is equal to the meaning of “city”, such as “城”、“邦”. It is a kind of free translation. In this case of “The Might of Demacia”, the authors takes “德邦” from the case of “德邦总管” and translate it into “德邦之力”. In this way, it is easier for the players to read and accept. | |
| − | + | Example 2: | |
| − | + | Original version: The Defender of Tomorrow | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 未来守护者 | |
| − | + | In this case, the translator translates the defender of tomorrow into “未来守护者”. apparently, here the translator extends “tomorrow” to “future”. The author thinks here the translator does a great job and comprehends the champion in a good way. It is an indication of amplification and free translation. Because it is universally known that tomorrow can be comprehended as future. But the problem is that, usually, the Chinese titles of the champions in this game are made of four characters. Because it is more easily for Chinese player to read. So in this case, “未来” can be retained, it is a good free translation, but “守护者” should be changed into “守卫”, there is a title of four characters ,which is more readable for Chinese players. In this way, it is in accord with the coherence rule. | |
| − | + | (3)Mistranslation Against Fidelity Rule | |
| − | + | During the process of translating the game, the translators may have to violate the fidelity rule in order to obey the other two rules. | |
| − | + | Example 1: | |
| − | + | Original version: The Rabble Rouser | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 酒桶 | |
| − | + | In this case, originally, the Rabble Rouser means the person who instigates the masses, however, in Chinese version, it is simply translated into “酒桶”, which means the man with a wine bucket, for the image of this champion in the game is a man with a wine bucket. But according to the background story of this champion, he is a reckless and impetuous drunker. So the author thinks the Chinese version does not obey the fidelity rule. It does not follow the original meaning of its English version. In this case, the author thinks “肇事酒徒” may be a better translation for the title of this champion. It does not only conform to the background story of this champion, but also fit his image. | |
| − | + | Example 2: | |
| − | + | Original version: The Hexplosive Expert | |
| − | + | Chinese version: 爆破鬼才 | |
| − | + | In this case, the translator uses omission to translate this title, in this way it seems to be more readable for Chinese players. However, the translator dose not obey the fidelity rule here, because the translator just takes the word “Hexplosive” as “explosive”. Actually, “Explosive” is derived from Hex, which is a top science study in League of Legends, and the champion uses the “Hextech Engine” when making bombs, he is named after this. So the author thinks that the title should be translated in a literal way to obey the meaning of the original text. So the author’s version is “海克斯爆破专家”. | |
| − | + | (3)Summary | |
| + | After analyzing the translation of the textual material of the game, it can be found that there are some places violating the Skopos Theory, but they are just a part of the translation of the whole game. One thing have to be admitted: there are many excellent translation in the game that cater to the taste of expectations of Chinese player. Also this is primary rule of Skopos theory. | ||
| − | + | ===Conclusion=== | |
| + | Video game, known as the ninth art, is a booming and potential industry. As China's opening up and the e-sports industry thriving, the game market of China is expected to expand dramatically, but the demand for high-quality games also increases. As an crucial medium for domestic players to have better game experience, the quality of game translation has a direct influence on the players’ game experience (Qiao Dan:2020). However, because of the development of online games, traditional ways of game translation is not able to meet the requirements of players now. Skopos Theory focuses on the communicative purpose of translation, which offers a theoretical basis for the translator to use various ways to achieve the goals. The translator of the game should firstly figure out the role of the original text in the original context, then analyze the requirements and acceptance ability of the target recipients, and finally reproduce the meaning of the original text smoothly with words in line with the game style. | ||
| + | In this thesis, the author analyzes the textual materials of lol from the prospect of Skopos theory. Through the analysis of the lines, titles and names of the champions of this game. The author finds that the translators of the game mostly take the domestication strategy, and use several translation methods such as transliteration, amplification, free translation and so on to achieve their goal—making this game more acceptable for Chinese players and helping the Chinese players have a better game experience. However, during the process of analysis, the author also finds that there are many mistranslation from the point view of Skopos theory. So the author analyzes the mistranslation and corrects the translation based on Skopos theory. After the analysis of the material, it can be seen that with the guidance of Skopos theory, translators can have specific rules to obey in order to achieve the goal and come out good translation. However, the related research in China is still very few, so the scholars should pay more attention to this field and make it a systematic discipline. | ||
| − | + | ===References=== | |
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| − | + | Nord, C. Text Analysis in Translation: Theory, Methodology, and Didactic Application of a Model for Translation-oriented Text Analysis[M]. Amsterdam: Atlantic, GA. 1991. | |
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| − | + | Cai Qiqi,Huang Yanjie蔡齐齐，黄焰结. MOBA类型游戏的本地化翻译研究——以《英雄联盟》为例[J]. 青岛农业大学学报(社会科学版)，2018，30(03)：84-88. | |
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| − | + | Liu Chang, Yang Weixiu刘畅，杨维秀. 网络游戏本地化翻译研究——以《英雄联盟》为例[J]. 海外英语，2019(12)：30-32. | |
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| − | + | Zhang Yiyang张逸洋. 功能学派目的论视角下的电子游戏翻译[D]. 福建师范大学，2016. | |
| + | ==英语笔译 刘乐乐 Liu Lele 202170081584== | ||
| + | Chinese Online Fantasy Novels：A comparison Between Dragon Raja and Harry Potter | ||
| + | Liu Lele | ||
===Abstract=== | ===Abstract=== | ||
| − | + | Harry Potter and Dragon Raja, two famous fantasy novels, are similar in many ways including plots, character settings and so on. Since the former is famous across the world while the latter have not been translated from Chinese into English yet, we can learn a lot sentence patterns, phrases, and words from Harry Potter when translating Dragon Raja into English. | |
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===Key words=== | ===Key words=== | ||
| − | + | Dragon Raja; translation material; communication; fantasy | |
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===Introduction=== | ===Introduction=== | ||
| + | There is no superior culture, but there are strong and weak ones. According to Toury's multiple systems theory, Chinese culture is relatively weak compared with British and American culture. Chinese literature has been marginalized in the world literature system for a long time, so when entering the field of English literature, it is usually dominated in the field of English literature. In the past few decades, the translation of contemporary Chinese literature to the English world has not been very successful. Readers in the English-speaking world object to translated literature from any culture, and it is very difficult for translated literature to enter the English world. Although there were two large-scale translation and introduction activities of Panda Series and Great China Library with a lot of material and human resources invested, but the result was not ideal. Although Dragon Raja, as an online literature, can not represent Chinese culture, its exciting plot and low barrier of readers would make it a good guide in achieving the "go global" strategy. | ||
| + | Both Harry Potter and Dragon Raja are a series of fantasy novels that have achieved great success, and both their main characters Harry Potter, Lu Mingfei and their storyline shares many similarities. One is popular across the world, and one is popular in China. So when translating Dragon Raja into English, we can learn many useful words, expressions and sentence patterns from Harry Potter. | ||
| + | ===Similarities=== | ||
| + | Harry Potter starts from the family of Mr. Dursley, the husband of the main character Harry Potter’s aunt, and Dragon Raja also starts from the family of Mr. Lu Gucheng, the uncle of the main character Lu Mingfei. | ||
| − | + | There is a special academy in both Harry Potter and Dragon, the Hogwarts College in Harry Potter and Kassel College in Dragon Raja, which are places where the main characters learn corresponding knowledge. Both colleges are extremely special. Hogwarts is about magic, kassel is about dragons, and both colleges are different from real universities. Neither college is known to the general public, and both have some mysteries. | |
| − | + | In "Harry Potter" the headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard, numerous honors, proficient in all kinds of high order magic, and is also the backbone of Hogwarts and even the whole magic community. In The Dragon Clan, The principal of Kassel Academy, Anger, is also a powerful dragon slayer. Kassel Academy, with Anger as its seat, has a great say in the mixed-race society. Both headmasters act as guides for the main characters in their respective works. Dumbledore loves Harry very much, while Angers loves Lummingfield even more than his pocketknife. | |
| − | + | Both works depict a grand worldview that is different from the real world. Harry Potter describes an imaginary magical world in which all sorts of magical things are fascinating. Dragons also portrays the magical world of the dragon clan, attracting many fans with its whimsical ideas about various characters and historical events. | |
| − | + | Neither Harry nor Lu Mingfei, who played the leading role in "Harry Potter" nor "Dragon Raja", was the best in the academy. In Harry Potter, Harry is not good either in actual combat ability or in school, while Lu Mingfei is a loser in Dragon Raja. But they both have extraordinary fates, Harry is the chosen one, and Lumingfei is also the key to ending the history of the dragon race. | |
| − | + | In both books, there is a special race that has special abilities that ordinary people do not have. Magic in Harry Potter and speech and Spirit in Dragons are both powerful special abilities. Those who possess these special abilities are divided between wizards and hybrids. Wizards and hybrids are difficult groups for ordinary people to reach, and they don't want them to. | |
| − | + | Before entering the academy, both Lumingfield and Harry stayed in their uncle's house, and neither of them was very popular. Both grew up in very similar environments, with few friends and often being bullied. Both men met their best friends after attending special schools. Harry meets Hermione and Ron on the train to Hogwarts, and Lummingfield meets Fingal at the station. | |
| + | ===Differences=== | ||
| + | As mentioned above, Harry Potter has a lot in common with Dragons, but that doesn't prevent both books from being excellent fantasy novels. Although there are many similarities between the two works at first glance, there are fundamental differences between the two works | ||
| + | "Harry Potter" is mainly based on the British or European wizard culture as the creation, describes an imaginary magical world. The Dragon Race, on the other hand, mainly creates a dragon world based on Nordic mythology. While Harry Potter is full of wizarding legends and English history, Dragons is based on Norse mythology, but mostly borrows from names and allusions. | ||
| − | + | Most of the stories in harry Potter take place at Hogwarts, so the rest of the books are very brief. Dragons takes place everywhere, not just at Castle College. | |
| − | + | In both books, there are special groups with superpowers, wizards and dragon hybrids. But their lifestyles are totally different. Wizards are more isolated and do not generally interact with Muggles; Hybrids, on the other hand, are hidden in the secular world and hold impressive secular power. And when dealing with enemies, wizards can only use magic, which means that only magic can defeat magic in the Harry Potter worldview. In Dragon Race, the hybrids are very willing to use the power of technology. Science is very important in Dragon Race, and the hybrids are always looking for the combination of dragon power and science. | |
| − | + | The ultimate villains in Harry Potter are pure-blood believers led by Lord Voldemort, but they still belong to wizards. As far as dragons are concerned, the villains are dragons. Simply put, the villains in Harry Potter are wizards, while the villains in Dragons are other races. Those who are not of our kind have different hearts. So Dragons as a whole reads more murder and hatred than Harry Potter. | |
| − | + | Harry Potter is a fairy tale with strong religious significance in essence. There are many fairy tale elements and religious metaphors in it, and more of them are religious thinking to persuade people to be good. "Dragon Raja" is a secular novel for young people from the beginning, most of which is about the discussion of common people themselves. | |
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| − | + | In Harry Potter, because it is the essence of fairy tale, the protagonist is naturally good, while the villain is naturally evil. The definition of good and evil is very simple and crude. In The Dragon Clan, it seems that the dragon clan is the villain, but the dragon clan described in the book is not necessarily evil. The confrontation between the hybrid and the dragon clan is more for survival status than good or evil. | |
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| − | + | In fact, there are many differences between the two works. For example, Lumingfield is more close to ordinary people and easier for us to relate to, while Harry is more like imaginary characters. | |
| − | + | ===Borrowing from Similarities=== | |
| − | + | Since the two novels share many similarities, when translating Dragon Raja, we can learn some useful words, expressions from Harry Potter. | |
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| − | + | 3.1Sentence Patterns | |
| + | (1)The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. | ||
| + | 德思礼夫妇有一个小儿子，名叫达力。在他们看来，人世间没有比达力更好的孩子了。 | ||
| + | 婶婶觉得路鸣泽聪明，好读书，求上进，还特热爱文学，路鸣泽看《小说绘》在婶婶的嘴里也是“我们家鸣泽在学习”。 | ||
| + | In Dragon Raja, it is the same case. So we can translate the above sentence into: | ||
| + | In Mrs. Lu’s opinion, her son Lu Mingze was smart and diligent with enthusiasm in literature. Even when Lu Mingze read Fiction and Draw, she thought he was doing some serious work. | ||
| − | + | (2)Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Harry hadn’t known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so... | |
| + | 这也许是杜斯礼一家搞的恶作剧？ | ||
| + | 也许“夕阳的刻痕”的真实身份给路鸣泽发觉了？路鸣泽想办法报复他玩呢？ | ||
| + | When receiving the letter from their respective special college, Harry and Lu Mingfei both showed confusion and doubt. So we can translate the above sentence into: | ||
| + | Might this not all be some huge prank that Lu Mingze cooked up since he found out about the secret of “sunset”? | ||
| − | + | 3.2 Phrases | |
| − | + | (1)A deafening shout：震耳欲聋 | |
| + | Both in Harry Potter and in Dragon Raja, there’s people like shouting at the main characters, so we can use this phrase to make a vivid description of it. | ||
| + | (2)Questions exploded inside Harry’s head like fireworks. | ||
| + | These two words , “Explode” and “Fireworks”, together constitutes an lively description of the scene. Lu Mingfei was loaded with questions in his head when starting to know everything about dragons, which sounds unbelievable in the real world. | ||
| + | |||
| + | (3)The rattling cart火车咔嗒响。 | ||
| + | Both Harry Potter and Dragon Raja have their special trains lead to the schools. So when depicting the sound a train makes in its way, we can use this phrase. | ||
| − | + | 3.3 Words | |
| − | + | Since both of the two are novels, when doing translating, we can meet a lot dialogues, which means the Chinese character--”说(said)” will need various substitutions. Besides, there are many descriptions of movements and expressions. Both these words can be very tricky when doing translating. Fortunately, Harry Potter offers various translations of them. | |
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| − | + | 3.3.1 Words to describe the act of speaking(说） | |
| − | + | (1) ...Harry asked urgently. | |
| − | + | 急忙问道，急切问道。 | |
| − | + | (2) ...said the boy, with a slight sneer. | |
| + | 男孩冷笑道(3)...said the pale boy carelessly, | ||
| + | 男孩面色苍白，漫不经心地说 | ||
| + | (4) ...he began | ||
| + | 他开始说到 | ||
| + | (5)...asked politely | ||
| + | 礼貌地问 | ||
| + | (6)...asked Seamus with great interest. | ||
| + | 饶有兴趣地问 | ||
| + | (7)...he said coolly | ||
| + | 他冷冷地说 | ||
| − | + | 3.3.2 Movements and Expressions | |
| + | (1) waves merrily at him | ||
| + | 开心地朝他招手。 | ||
| + | (2) sneaking to the kitchen for some food | ||
| + | 溜进厨房找东西吃 | ||
| + | (3) collapsed into a chair | ||
| + | 一屁股坐下 | ||
| + | (4) made both of them jump | ||
| + | 两个人都吓了一跳 | ||
| + | (5) hamming on the door to wake you up. | ||
| + | 捶门叫她起床 | ||
| + | (6) drumming their fingers on the glass | ||
| + | 手指在玻璃上敲击 | ||
| + | (7)his stomach rumbling with hunger | ||
| + | 肚子咕咕叫 | ||
| + | (8) Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed | ||
| + | 哈利叹了口气，在床上躺成“大”字形 | ||
| + | ===Application in translating=== | ||
| + | 大脸猫头像跳闪，“诺诺”上线。 | ||
| + | The profile of a big-face cat flickered, which means NONO got online. | ||
| + | 路明非犹豫了一下，“是你？” | ||
| + | “Is that you?”hesitated a little, Lu Mingfei asked | ||
| + | “嗯，陈墨瞳。”诺诺的回答显得懒洋洋的，“没事上来打两盘。” | ||
| + | “Yeah,it’s me, Chen Motong.”She said carelessly,”Got no better things to do than some gaming.” | ||
| + | “你怎么知道我的ID？” | ||
| + | “How did you get my ID?” | ||
| + | “人肉搜索啊，嘿。你居然用‘明明’这种ID，像女孩似的，还有‘夕阳的刻痕’……你是人妖么？” | ||
| + | “Cyber manhunt. Hey, you took Mingming as your ID. Girlish! And “sunset”,are you sure you are not a ladyboy? | ||
| + | “这都能人肉到？千万保密，那是我来逗我弟玩的。” | ||
| + | “You even knew this?! Please keep this secret for me. That’s for playing some little tricks on my cousin.” | ||
| + | “开玩笑的啦，诺玛搜索到的，这对诺玛小菜一碟。你星际打得不错。” | ||
| + | “Just joking. It’s Noma, our intelligent computer, that got all this information. It’s a piece of cake for her. By the way, you are good at Starcraft.” | ||
| + | “行了，我都输给你了。” | ||
| + | “Come on, I lost to you.” | ||
| + | “是我输，诺玛和我一起打的，我们两个控制一家。最后我知道你在升三级基地，因为诺玛偷偷开了地图，看见了。” | ||
| + | “I should be the loser. I played the game with the help of Noma. | ||
| + | “作弊死全家！”路明非打出这句话。 | ||
| + | “Cheaters will have his family completely died.” Lu Mingfei type this sentence. | ||
| + | 只是随手，这话在群里大家随便说，没谁真的往心里去。 | ||
| + | It’s just an online phrase that were often used and no one would take it seriously. | ||
| + | “我家只有我一个人。”诺诺回复。 | ||
| + | “I’ve already got no family to lose.”answered Nono. | ||
| + | 路明非愣了一下，“对不起。” | ||
| + | Lu Mingfei was stunned a little, and said,”sorry.” | ||
| + | “这有什么对不起的？”诺诺答得很平淡，“玩一盘？” | ||
| + | “Nothing to feel sorry about.”Nono said carelessly still,”Want a game?” | ||
| + | “没心情。” | ||
| + | “not in the mood.” | ||
| + | “失恋了？” | ||
| + | “Broke up with your girlfriend?” | ||
| + | 路明非浑身一个激灵，诺诺像是个小巫婆似的，看穿了他的一切，叫他完全无处容身。 | ||
| + | “Lu Mingfei was shocked. Nono’s like a little wizard, seeing through everything of him.He could hide nothing in front of her. | ||
| + | “还没有……我没有女朋友，当然不会失恋了，姐姐你想怎样啊？”他输入。 | ||
| + | “How can I break up with my girlfriend when I don’t have a one? So what do you want? Big sister!”He typed. | ||
| + | “姐姐叫得还蛮甜的，”诺诺扔出一个龇牙咧嘴的笑脸，“来吧，说说到底怎么回事，我也许能帮上忙。” | ||
| + | “That’s sweet.”Nono sent him a grinning smile,”Alright, let’s hear it.Maybe I can help you.” | ||
| + | “你帮什么忙？你又不认识她。” | ||
| + | “I doubt that.You don’t know about her.” | ||
| + | “我是不认识陈雯雯。”小巫婆诺诺回复得极快。 | ||
| + | “Yeah, I do know nothing about Chen Wenwen.” | ||
| + | “你到底知道多少？”路明非忽地很惊恐。 | ||
| + | “How much do you know?”Lu Mingfei suddenly got frightened. | ||
| + | “太多了。” | ||
| + | “too much.” | ||
| + | “你们……到底是谁？”路明非手有点抖。 | ||
| + | “Who are you?”Typed Lu Mingfei with trembling fingers. | ||
| + | (1) 路明非在屏幕上无奈地打出“GG”（“GG”，指“Good Game”，在竞技类游戏中称赞对方玩得好，也是认负的意思），而后切出了游戏。屏幕上显示的最后一个场景，是十二艘人类巡洋舰以华丽的大和炮聚焦射击，把他的母巢化作了一滩血水。 | ||
| + | Lu mingfei reluctantly typed "GG" (" GG "refers to" Good Game "in a competitive Game) on the screen before cutting out the Game. The final scene shown on the screen was twelve human cruisers firing in focus with their magnificent Yamato guns, turning his brood into a pool of blood. | ||
| + | (2) 他输掉了今天的第六局，胜负比例是零比六，这一次他坚持到了22分23秒才被拿下，不过最终还是被拿下了，对方的微操很好，用的又是人类，人类的机枪兵在这个游戏里是个变态的兵种，出枪速度为零，站住了拔枪就射，收枪就跑，路明非的小狗追不上，在路上就一只只被打爆了。 | ||
| + | He lost his game for today 6-0，with round 6 hanging/lasting for 22 minutes 23 seconds. His opponent is very good at micro control, with the use of Terran whose riflemen，capable of shooting in an instant，is extremely strong in the game. stood still pull out a gun shoot, gun ran, Lu MingFei's puppy can catch up, thus getting beaten up one by one. | ||
| + | 路明非没啃声儿，切到QQ上，那个戴棒球帽的女孩头像还是灰色的，一动不动。对方没上线，又白等了。他抓了抓脑袋，有点失望。另一个头像倒是跳了起来，是个长得很欠的熊猫。 | ||
| + | Lu Mingfei did not answer. Switch into QQ, the profile of a girl wearing a baseball cap stayedgray and quiet there. She wasn't online, and he was just waiting for nothing. Scratching his head, he felt a little upset. The other profile was active though，a very disturbing panda. | ||
| + | ===Conclusion=== | ||
| + | Both Dragon Raja and Harry Potter are great fantasy novels. Dragon Raja has only been enjoyed in China, which to some extent is because it has no other versions than Chinese ones. Harry Potter has both attracting languages and similar plots with Dragon Raja, so there are things can be learned from it. | ||
| + | ===References=== | ||
| + | [1]封寿炎.中国网文何以成为海外读者新宠[J].上海采风,2019(03):96. | ||
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| − | The | + | ==英语笔译 刘双英 Liu Shuangying 202170081585== |
| + | <center>'''The Devlopment and Dissemination of Chinese Ceramic Culture'''</center> | ||
| − | + | <center>Liu Shuangying</center> | |
| − | |||
| − | + | ===Abstract=== | |
| − | + | This article is divided into four parts. The first part analyzes the connotation of Chinese ceramic culture; the second part discusses the development of ceramic culture in various dynasties, mainly the Neolithic period, the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods, the Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty and other periods; the third part discusses the spread of ceramic culture, mainly from two aspects, namely, two films "China Flower" and "A Porcelain Vase" and the transnational trade of ceramics; the last part is a summary of the whole text. | |
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| − | The | ||
| − | + | ===Key words=== | |
| − | + | Ceramic Culture; Cultual Dissemination; Cultural Confidence | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | ===Introduction=== | |
| + | As China's national strength continues to rise, its economy is growing rapidly, but traditional Chinese culture has not yet been well spread. China was one of the first countries to make pottery, and the birthplace of porcelain. From the current archaeological excavations, the earlist ceramics may be the porcelain products created by primitive people when they found that clay was pounded into mud and coated on a container consisting of grass and wood, and the mud would no longer dissolve in water after firing, and soon they started learning to make objects using only clay.(Guo Yue&Song Lili 2022, 31） | ||
| + | The ceramic culture explored in this paper has a long history, but with the development of the times, today's Chinese ceramic culture is far less flourish than in the past. At a time when the country is vigorously promoting cultural outreach and enhancing cultural confidence across the board, it is especially important to reinvigorate ceramic culture and strengthen the development and dissemination of Chinese ceramic culture. People from other countries in the world do not yet know much about traditional Chinese culture, especially in some specialized fields, such as the pottery-making techniques in ceramic culture, and sometimes the knowledge and terminology in these fields are not well understood by our own Chinese laymen as well, who only know some very basic and superficial things. Foremostly, we have to understand its intrinsic cultural connotation and unique historical value before we can plan for its way out and prepare for its revitalization. Therefore, the dissemination of these traditional cultures requires more effort, time and energy to get out of the country, catering to the strategy of "Chinese culture going out" as stated by General Secretary Xi Jinping, which is also of great practical significance to the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Only when the economy and culture develop together, and the most characteristic industries of the nation are exported to the outside world, so that more people can understand its unique characteristics, can a country be truly strong and respected by the world. | ||
| − | + | ===The connotation of ceramic culture=== | |
| − | + | Ceramics is a general term for pottery and porcelain, and ceramics itself is a kind of arts and crafts, as well as a folk culture, which can be seen in folk and temple in ancient times. Mr. Chen Yuqian combined the practicality and aesthetics of ceramics, the unity of science and technology and plastic art and regional factors to define ceramic culture: the essence of ceramic culture actually refers to the various types of cultural connotations embodied in the process of production to display and sale of ceramics.（Hong Lin 2018, 07）Traditional ceramic culture, commonly speaking, is the way of inheritance preserved by the ancestors of the Chinese nation in the production of ceramics, making objects. It is the evolution of ancient Chinese traditional thought, with local folk customs as the core, reflecting the aesthetic ideas of the people, the pleasure of life and the laws of formal beauty at that time.（Wang Fang 2017, 163） | |
| − | + | In the light of the above opinions, I believe that ceramic culture includes not only the crafts of making various kinds of fine ceramics, but also the various ideas incorporated into porcelain by ancient working people when making ceramics. From the very beginning, ceramics were only designed for daily use, but later on, various carving techniques were developed, colors were enriched, painting and calligraphy were incorporated into ceramics, and so on, making ceramics more and more exquisite. And in different periods, ceramics show different appearance, and people's preferences for thier appearances and colors, for each stage of the unique image reflects the social landscape of the period, reflecting the rich historical stories behind the characteristics of the historical form of special periods, such as the famous ceramics of different historical periods, such as the Tang Dynasty’s "Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramics", the rich colors of the ceramics had changed the style of plain porcelain in the past, reflecting the openness and inclusiveness of the Tang Dynasty to a certain extent. There are many other famous ceramics of other dynasties that reflect the special connotation of the times and the temperament of the people. This is the ceramic culture hidden deeply in the ceramics, which is worthy of our study and learning, and should be vigorously inherited and developed, which is what our country has been advocating that we should stay true to cultural confidence, requiring the Chinese people to adhere to the excellent Chinese traditional culture and faith. It’s the pride of the advanced culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Ceramic culture is also something that should be spread vigorously in the new era, so that we can let more people obtain more specific information about China and enhance its the international status. | |
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| − | + | ===The development of ceramic culture in different dynasties=== | |
| − | + | Ceramic culture has been an important part of Chinese more than 5,000 years culture, and ceramics have been produced for thousands of years since the ancient times.（Shao Changzong 2022, 01）Ceramic culture began in the Neolithic period, and each historical period has shown different characteristics. During the Tang Dynasty, there is the famous " Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramics " ceramic culture, which reflects the characteristics of the pottery skills of the Tang Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, there is the famous "Jingdezhen blue and white porcelian" ceramic culture, and many people know about Chinese ceramics because of the blue and white porcelian. Black pottery, colored pottery, etc., all reflect the characteristics of unique aesthetic skills. Just like our modern life, the things that are popular in different periods will be different, which to a certain extent can also reflect the current social customs and mainstream thinking, so the different types and colors of ceramics presented in different historical periods reflect the ceramic culture, but also reflect the thinking of the people in the society at that time. | |
| − | + | ======Neolithic Period====== | |
| − | In | + | The ancestors living in mainland China during the Neolithic period had already learned to fire pottery for daily use, and some data even show that early wine vessels had already appeared.（Yang Xiao 2020, 43） |
| − | The | + | The distribution and phasing of Neolithic ceramics in China are often divided according to two major basins: the Yellow River basin is divided into Yangshao culture, Majiayao culture, Qijia culture, Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture and other small branches according to the historical development, and the Yangtze River basin can be divided into Daxi culture, Qujialing culture, Hemudu culture, Majiabin culture, Songze culture and Liangzhu culture. Neolithic pottery is mostly decorated with geometric patterns and red and black colors, which indicates that people have mastered the theory of red and black color change of hematite. According to the information found, the following is a brief introduction to the pottery of the Yangshao and Longshan culture periods. |
| − | the | + | The Yangshao culture period is dominated by sandy red pottery, brown pottery and clay red pottery, with less gray and black pottery. Color pottery is the most representative kind of pottery in Yangshao culture. Shaoyang culture early pottery production method is mainly done by hand, to the middle and late stages "rotating method" slowly appeared. The surface of the pottery is mainly plain and polished, and the decorations have rope pattern, scratch pattern and so on. Pottery is mainly used for daily life, such as food and drinking utensils. Long Shan culture pottery is dominated by sandy gray and black pottery and clay gray and black pottery, black pottery, brown pottery and red pottery second. During this period, the rotating method has been quite common, hand-made and coil method is still seen in use. The surface text of the ware is mainly rope pattern, chevron pattern, etc., and the types of pottery are also more abundant than during the Yangshao culture. |
| − | + | ======Xia, Shang and Zhou Periods====== | |
| + | Xia Shang Zhou pottery is the pottery in the bronze age, so the appearance of the pottery in this period mostly imitate the bronze’s. Early pottery-burning kilns appeared in the Xia Dynasty are similar in appearance to the dome kilns in the north. Although the Shang Dynasty did not stand out in the quality of ceramics, but was the first one created the earliest "glaze", which is applied to the pottery, playing a beautiful and clean role, in addition to slowing down the speed of water seepage of pottery, laying the foundation for the emergence of porcelain. Chinese working people mastered the art of glazing on pottery and invented the real sense of porcelain. Compared with the previous pottery, porcelain is solid and durable, with smooth and beautiful body. The emergence of porcelain techniques is a great progress in the history of the world’s porcelain.（Wang Lun 2021, 44）The primitive porcelain made in the Shang Dynasty, also known as glazed porcelain, with features of bright glaze, bright colors, high hardness, and low water absorption.（Jia Binqiang 2017, 24） | ||
| + | The primitive porcelain of the Shang dynasty is made of kaolin clay, firing above 1200 degrees Celsius, whose color of the clay body is mostly off-white, and the glaze is even and bright, emboding a charming color. These characteristics are basically similar to the conditions that porcelain should have. However, its clay body material is not fine enough, and what’s worse, there is a certain degree of water absorption, no light transmission, poor combination of clay and glaze, and easy to flake. | ||
| + | ======The Qin, Han and North-South Dynasties====== | ||
| + | The Qin Dynasty saw the emergence of large terracotta figurines, and the most famous of which is what we know today the life-size terra-cotta soliders ans horses in Chin tomb. They are very realistic and tall, and very delicate, which shows that the pottery making technique in China reached a very high level in the Qin Dynasty. During the two Han dynasties, pottery was still dominated by gray pottery, with a variety of shapes, and in addition to living pottery, there were also burial ware and architectural pottery. Most notably, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the successful firing of celadon ware was another brilliant achievement in the history of Chinese ceramics. In the Han Dynasty, the use of Long(dragon) kiln and the emergence of high-temperature glaze ceramic are most typical. Dragon kiln is the kiln whose roof is closed, the kiln body inclined, the lowest section for the fire chamber, the highest end as a smoke vent, because the kiln body built on the mountain, like a dragon coiled from top to bottom in the mountainside, so named dragon kiln. （Yang Xiao 2020, 44） | ||
| + | Dragon kiln temperature changes quickly, so it can be used to do rapid firing. After solving the problem of raw materials, people can fire more than 1200 degrees Celsius high-temperature glaze porcelain through the dragon kiln. The surfaces of ceramics produced in the Han dynasty usually together decorated by flowing clouds and vivid birds and animals. The decorations are full but not chaotic, and the decorative patterns represent the unique style of the Han dynasty, making ceramics look rustic not dull, such a decorative style has a lot to do with the Han dynasty's strong state power and open cultural mentality.（Hong Lin 2018, 11） | ||
| + | Although the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties is a more turbulent period in anicent China’s society, but the ethnic groups are living in groups, so they can communicate with each other, achieving ethnic integration, and promoting the development of agriculture and handicrafts around the country to varying degrees. Because from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, China appeared last 400 years of division situation, resulting in the decline of handicrafts, especially ceramic handicrafts in a long-term standstill. During the Northern Dynasty, the greatest achievement was the emergence of white porcelain. The emergence of celadon and white porcelain paly a significant role in the appearances of porcelain of the Song Dynasty and the "five famous kilns". White porcelain is based on the development of celadon, the main difference is that the raw materials of white porcelain contain lower content of iron than that of celadon.（Jia Binqiang 2017, 25）This shows that at that time there was an understanding of metal coloring agent, which is a major breakthrough in the history of porcelain in China, laying a foundation for the development of color porcelain later. There are several outstanding decorative features during this period: pile molding, piercing techniques, lotus decoration, etc., all of which show the prosperity of ceramic craftsmanship and decoration in this period. | ||
| + | ======The Tang Dynasty====== | ||
| + | The Tang Dynasty is more powerful and all the people begin to communicate and exchange more frequently. Compared with the ceramics of the Han Dynasty, the ceramics of the Tang Dynasty are more refined. The " Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramics " of the Tang Dynasty is also the most well-known ceramics nowadays, but the Tang Tri-color glazed ceramics is not porcelain but pottery. The word " Tri-color " means colorful, including green, yellow, brown, ochre, red, white, blue, black and other colors. Tri-color glazed pottery is made of white clay, glazed with low-temperature glaze containing lead and using iron, copper, manganese, cobalt and other metals as coloring agents, and baked at a low temperature of 750-850 degrees Celsius. This period the surfaces decoration of ceramics began to focus on humanistic pursuits and life spirit, and the ceramic artisans liked to use plants that are closely related to life to decorate ceramics, such as lotus, linden, peony, etc.. Since the travel of Zhang Qian to the West during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, Buddhist ideas have been introduced to the Central Plains and have had a great impact on Chinese history and even modern social development. （Shao Yu 2022, 89） | ||
| + | The elements mentioned above as the decorative patterns of the wares are the usual elements used by Buddhists. During the Tang Dynasty, along with the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, camels gradually became a favorite subject for artisans and craftsmen, and this preference can be reflected in the production of the Tang Tri-color glazed ceramics, which is the best proof of the cultural openness during the Tang Dynasty. In addition, most of the porcelains of the Tang Dynasty were full and round, which indirectly reflected the aesthetic characteristics of the Tang Dynasty with fat as the beauty. This colorful and splendid artistic expression of the Tang Tri-color glazed ceramics can be seen that the Tang Dynasty had a strong power, advanced economy and frequent foreign exchanges at that time (Sun Jingyi 2016, 31). The fact that ceramics of the Tang Dynasty could develop to such a high level is inseparable from its strong national power. In general, from the Northern Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the domestic porcelain production pattern of "Southern Celadon and Northern White porcelain" was formed, with the South mainly producing celadon, which was light and delicate, and the North mainly producing white porcelain, which was solid and fair. | ||
| + | ======The Song Dynasty====== | ||
| + | The Song Dynasty is the peak of ceramic development, with a rich variety of products. The famous "Five Famous Kilns", namely the Ru, Jun, Ge, Guan and Ding kilns, each had its own characteristics, and the Ru, Jun and Guan kilns are successively monopolized or designated by the royal family to fire imperial porcelain. The Ru kiln originated in the area of Ruzhou and Baofeng. Ru kilns are mainly cyan in color, mostly for civilian life porcelain. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the government monopolized the Ru kiln which was originally engaged in the production of printed celadon for the civic as the official kiln, exclusively for the palace firing imperial goods. Therefore, the Ru kiln consists of two parts: one is official Ru kiln, dedicated to the court to burn imperial porcelain, the other part is for the common people to burn porcelain to meet the needs of the people at the time. The glaze of Ru porcelain is warm and moist, deeply loved by the emperor of the Song Dynasty. The emergence of the Ru kiln unveiled a new stage of ancient celadon techniques in China, changing the previous statement of "southern celadon and northern white porcelain". （Jia Binqiang 2017, 26） | ||
| + | Jun Kiln, the site of which is located near Juntai and Bagua-dong in the north of Yuzhou City at present, is named for its proximity to Juntai. During the Huizong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was designated as an imperial treasure. The glaze colors presented by Jun porcelain can be roughly divided into: rose purple, begonia red, eggplant purple, etc. Jun porcelain has an important place in the history of the development of science, technology and art of ceramic craftsmanship in China. The fine "opening pieces" of the Ge and Guan kilns have brought ceramic aesthetics to a new level. The white porcelain of Ding kiln is rich in decorative techniques, and the layout of the decoration is rigorous and well-defined. | ||
| + | The main achievement of porcelain production process in the Song dynasty was improved the quality of porcelain, reaching a high level of no one before or since, with a rich variety of shapes. It also applied the scraping and scratching and other techniques, enriching the decorations of Song porcelain. During the Song dynasty, Jingdezhen fired, in addition to, high-quality Yingqing (misty blue) porcelain. The misty blue decorative patterns are clear and vivid, creating an elegant and fresh appearance, with a sense of refined artistic style. | ||
| + | ======The Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties====== | ||
| + | The Yuan Dynasty was a period when China was ruled by the grassland people, and a large number of grassland people entered the Central Plains during this period. The Yuan Dynasty inherited the pinnacle of ceramics from the Song Dynasty and gave birth to a richer variety of ceramic wares, such as the familiar blue and white porcelain and blue-glazed porcelain. The craftsmanship of this period is characterized by heavy body, not fine enough texture, thick glaze, and most of the wares the Yuan Dynasty are large porcelains, which also reflects the Yuan Dynasty people's rugged and unrestrained characteristics.（Sun Jingyi 2016, 31） | ||
| + | The Ming Dynasty’s porcelain painting skills are neat and delicate, with concise patterns, decorated by birds and flowers. Figures, moutains and lakes, and a variety of animal subjects emerged in large numbers, with a strong artistic impact. The Ming Dynasty’s craftsmanship attached great importance in practical, as well as elegant technical characteristics. Compared with the Tang and Song dynasties, the Ming Dynasty period is not focused on the use of engraving, scratching, stamping methods, but mainly with painted flowers, to maintain the glossy surface of the glaze, presenting a plain and bright style, reflecting the subtle characteristics of people in the Ming Dynasty.（Hong Lin 2018，12）During this period, it also absorbed foreign ceramic firing techniques, thus making the emergence of distinctive enamel wares. | ||
| + | During the Qing Dynasty, ceramics made great progress in both modeling and decorative techniques, and the creation of famille rose porcelain in Jingdezhen was influenced by enameling. The low firing temperature of famille rose porcelain also took use of the rendering painting method of Chinese painting, making the ceramic floral surface pink and soft. The brightly colored famille rose porcelain produced in the Qing Dynasty reflects the great enthusiasm of the people in this period. | ||
| − | + | ===The spread of ceramic culture=== | |
| − | + | Times are changing, and history is developing, while ceramics has lasted for thousands of years and has not decayed, which also shows that ceramic culture has a profound connotation, and its cultural charm is worth passing on and carrying forward from generation to generation. Cultural confidence is the endogenous force of cultural heritage and development. Traditional ceramic culture requires continuous innovation and development in order to maintain vitality, the closeness will only accelerate the decline and even extinction. (Wang Fang 2017, 164) In order for the country to have a comprehensive development, economic development and cultural development need to be kept in harmony and balanced. In the current era of such rapid development, especially in the current Internet era, the network makes the communication between different cultures more convenient and faster, and the propaganda is also unmatched by traditional media, like the short video shared Li Ziqi about her residential life on several platforms before, which attracted the love of domestic and foreign audiences, and the content shared in her video is of some significance to the spread of Chinese culture. In addition to that, ceramics foreign trade will be easier than other ways for spreading ceramic culutre, because commodity trading is a more frequent activity between countries. Therefore, in this high-tech era, we have to use modern technology to make ceramic culture continue to flourish, to let more people know about it through more understandable ways, such as movies, documentaries, etc., to experience the beauty of ceramic crafts, to export more elegant and exquisite ceramic products, and to let more people experience and marvel at the greatness of Chinese ceramic culture. | |
| − | + | ======The role of film in the dissemination of ceramic culture====== | |
| − | and | + | Film and television media, as the propaganda carrier, depend on television, film and network and otthers for information dissemination.（Li Chunning 2011, 70）Film and television media can give people visually watch and enjoy the contents showed in them, so that people can feel intimate, vivid images. With vivid content displayed in front of audience, they are easy to be accepted and recognized by the audience. The film "China Flower" and "A Porcelain Vase " exemplify the perfect combination of film and ceramic culture. |
| − | + | The story of " China Flower" is very small, mainly talking about a pair of blue and white porcelain bottles, but although this pair of bottles is ordinary on the surface, its life's glory and humiliation is closely related to the ups and downs of Chinese history.（Zhang Wenjing 2020, 16）The story unfolds in three parallel times, connecting the three pairs of main characters by the blue and white porcelain bottles as the pivot to start its the narration. Although the story unfolds with the blue and white porcelain bottles, it is not limited to the description of the bottles, but also tells the story of the loyal love between two people, national sentiment and even national honor. The pair of blue and white porcelain carries the unrepentant vow between kiln maker of the Yuan Dynasty and his wife, and carries the fearlessness of scholars returning from foreign countries for study in the late Qing Dynasty in the face of the waning dynasty's helplessness and dedicating to defend the interests of the nation, presenting the sacrifices made by patriots in that era to preserve the country's cultural relics. The zeal of our forefathers is not only to save the bottles, and to defend the backbone and fortitude of the Chinese nation, but also displays their eagerness for a bright future of this nation. Although the film does not show a lot of footage about the manufacturing of ceramics, but intersperses with a lot of authentic ceramic knowledge, such as the film in the choice of different porcelain in different scenes, which are very good to promote the ceramic culture. | |
| − | + | The film " A Porcelain Vase ", shot in 1979, has distinctive features of that era, and the most striking of which is the ceramic elements. The film begins by telling the audience a poignant legend related to Ji Hong(sacrificial red, intepreted literally), a kind of porcelain, which also sets a tragic tone for the whole story. Sacrificial red is not gaudy, red with a slight purple, no cracked texture in the glaze, is the treasures in color glaze porcelain.（Zhang Wenjing 2020, 17） | |
| − | + | The story of the film " A Porcelain Vase " happened in the Ming Dynasty. The emperor asked Jingdezhen porcelain workers to fire the porcelain within 3 days, or all workers would be beheaded, which was obviously a great challenge for the craftsmanship at the time. When everyone was desperate, Linglong, the daughter of an old worker, jumped into the kiln and sacrificed herself to create thel red porcelian vase. There are several versions of this legend about the sacrificial red, but the one in this film is the most widely circulated. Some versions call this red glaze "beauty drunk"(美人醉), but the general content is the same. Ceramic folk tales, although most of them are fictional, some of them also add a certain mythological color, but they all express the good wish of ancient working people and porcelain workers. It is their pursuit of ideal and faith under the historical conditions at that time. At the same time, it also reflects the spirit of struggle of the people at that time to defy hardship, tenacity and unyielding, not afraid of sacrifice.（Wang Lun 2021, 45） | |
| − | and | + | Many of the more professional traditional culture is difficult to carry forward and spread out, because its professionalism is too strong, away from people's daily lives, so it is difficult for people to resonate. And ceramic culture is a regional culture, requiring a high degree of professionalism, a lot of professional background knowledge and skills, which can not be easily get obtained by the ordinary people. But the film can lead people together to appreciate the shape, color and historical connotations of Chinese ceramics This is an aesthetic activity that the public can participate in, which is also the advantage of film and television in the dissemination of ceramic culture. |
| − | and | + | ======Cross-border trade for the dissemination of ceramic culture====== |
| − | + | In a sense, artifacts are much easier to spread across national borders than culture.（Chen Shali 2019, 181）Chinese ceramic has tri-status in society, that is, at the intersection of daily life, commerce and art, and is both a practical object, a commodity, and a work of art and a collection, closely related to social behavior, long-distance trade and upper-class taste, providing the world with a unique perspective on world history. Whether for political purposes or commercial interests, trade has become an important vehicle for Chinese cultural exports, and each ceramic object exported to the outside world carries the ideas and emotions that Chinese culture seeks to express. According to statistics, China ranks first in the world in terms of the value of ceramic production and export each year, with daily-use ceramics accounting for about 70%, artistic porcelain for 65%, and architectural porcelain for 50%.（Wang Fang 2017, 165） | |
| − | In | + | The famous Italian traveler Mark Polo appreciated Dehua porcelain in his travelogue: "The porcelain are plentiful and beautiful!", and after he returned to his country, the Dehua porcelain was brought back to be treasured in St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, which was known to the world as "Marco Polo porcelain" and became the first piece of Chinese porcelain arrived in Europe in the written record. |
| − | + | Another high point in the spread of Chinese ceramic culture in Europe came during Zheng He's voyage to the West during the Ming Dynasty, when large quantities of fine Chinese porcelain entered the European public's view and the message of Chinese culture it carried was widely disseminated. （Tan lijun 2020, 80）On their return voyage, the fleet also carried a large number of foreign goods, including the important pigment for blue and white porcelain, smalt, which was produced in West Asia. The vigorous development of Sino-foreign trade and commerce greatly promoted the circulation of Chinese ceramics around the world and the extraterritorial spread of Chinese culture. It is probably not unfamiliar for the people about the blue and white porcelain, which has been the leading porcelain type in China for more than a century. But the blue and white porcelain is not a completely local product, but the result of the collision between Chinese culture and Islamic culture. The Chinese do not have the national psychological tendency of white and blue, but the merchants in the Persian region of West Asia know that China's Jingdezhen can produce high-quality white porcelain, and they love blue.With the combination of the smalt of Persian region and Jingdezhen quality white porcelain, porcelain decoration in addition to the traditional landscape, figures, flowers and birds, etc., but also adds the decorative patterns with Islamic cultural characteristics, thus creating the world-renowned blue and white porcelain. | |
| − | === | + | Chinese ceramics influenced by the outside cultures, but while Chinese ceramics in the sale to Europe, it also cast influences on the outside world, such as the 18th century Rococo art, an European art style, characterized by flamboyance, elegance, and Chinese blue and white porcelain is rich in rustic, fantasy and elegant features, these characteristics just in line with the European aesthetic orientation during the "Rococo art" period. This influence can be bluntly said to be the product of the borrowing and integration of Western and Chinese culture and art.（Hong Lin 2018, 19）This reflects the two-way influence of cultural transmission, that is, Chinese ceramic culture in the process of spreading will accept the influence of the outside world, and in turn it will also have a certain influence on the outside world. |
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===Conclusion=== | ===Conclusion=== | ||
| − | + | Chinese ceramic culture has a long history, from the beginning of the Neolithic period of household ceramics, but then with increasingly rich types of ceramics, and ceramic skills are more and more exquisite, glaze colors are also more and more rich, creating a lot of prestigious ceramic products. Film and television have brought ceramic culture to the audience in a more interesting and intuitive way, making it easier for ceramic culture to enter the hearts and minds of the public. Transnational trade in ceramics allows Chinese ceramics to go beyond the borders of China, allowing people around the world to experience and appreciate Chinese ceramic culture and its beauty together. Chinese ceramics culture is profound and long-standing, and is a representative and symbol of the soft power of traditional Chinese culture. From the perspective of spiritual culture, ceramic culture contains a rich social connotation, and different periods of social development represent different Chinese cultural spirits. Ceramic culture has been continuously inherited, developed and innovated in the long history. Nowadays, in the new century when Chinese and Western cultures are colliding with each other, how to protect these traditional cultural resources and pass them on permanently requires the efforts of all people. To maintain the vitality and vitality of Chinese culture, we need to take the initiative to go out and interact with the excellent cultures of the world's ethnic groups. Continuously learning, borrowing and absorbing the excellent cultures of the world's ethnic groups is a must for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. | |
| − | + | Promoting the dissemination of ceramic culture helps the innovative development of ceramic culture and art in the new era. For ceramic culture to develop in the long run, it is necessary to not only keep the tradition, but also to focus on the actual needs of modern society and achieve innovation. The creative transformation and innovative development of traditional ceramic culture will enable the Chinese nation to participate in world cultural exchanges with a stronger cultural confidence. | |
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| + | [6] Hong Lin洪琳. (2018). 景德镇陶瓷文化对外传播研究[Research on Foreign Communication of Ceramic Culture in Jingdezhen]. Jinagxi: Jingxi Normal University]. Jiangxi: Jiangxi Normal University江西师范大学. | ||
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| − | + | ==英语笔译 刘婷 Liu Ting 202170081586== | |
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===Abstract=== | ===Abstract=== | ||
| − | The | + | Science fiction, Sci-fi for short, is defined as a novel that makes reasonable assumptions on the basis of respecting scientific conclusions. Chinese science fiction originated from the West and came into being under the influence and inspiration of translation. The translation of science fiction in China dates back to the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Since the beginning of the new century, many translated Chinese science fictions have been recognized by the international science fiction community, winning many awards such as the Hugo Award. Therefore, its translation and dissemination has become a phenomenon worthy of attention. However, in the field of translation studies, research on Chinese science fiction translation and dissemination is still insufficient. Therefore, this paper aims to study and analyze the contents, subjects and reception of contemporary Chinese science fiction translation and dissemination, summarize the problems involved, and look into the future, hoping that more attention could be paid to its translation and dissemination, so as to promote Chinese science fiction to go global. |
===Key words=== | ===Key words=== | ||
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| − | + | Chinese science fiction, translation, dissemination, go global | |
| − | + | ===Introduction=== | |
| − | + | Science fiction originated from the Industrial Revolution in the West, and is a reflection of the development of technology and the demand of human beings to understand and transform nature in the field of literature and art. Science fiction is a product of the advent of the scientific century, a necessary reflection of the spiritual civilization after the integration of science and technology and the promotion of industrialization, a new and novel cultural phenomenon worthy of study and attention. It is generally believed that in 1818, Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" pioneered science fiction. | |
| − | + | The translation of science fiction follows the general rule of translating to convey the meaning of works, transmits the bizarre and transcendental storyline, reflects the narrative content and artistic value of the original text in translation, and generates a unique science fiction reading effect, so that the artistic connotation and expression value of science fiction can be reflected and extended in the language and culture of the translator through the reading and appreciation of the translated text, and continues to play its role of entertaining and influencing readers. This allows the artistic connotation and expressive value of foreign science fiction to be reflected and extended in the language and culture of the translator's country through the reading and appreciation of the translated text, and to continue to play its equivalent role of entertaining and influencing readers, thus releasing its scientific and cultural educational function. | |
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| − | + | Chinese science fiction has a history of more than 100 years. The translation of science fiction has not only provided sustenance for Chinese science fiction literature, but also witnessed the development of local science fiction literature from its infancy to its development. In recent years, the publication of Liu Cixin's trilogy, "The Three-Body Problem", has become a landmark event in the Chinese science fiction industry, attracting not only strong reactions in China, but also great interest from foreign readers and enthusiastic reviews and praise from professional critics. Since then, Chinese science fiction novels have been translated into the Western world and have frequently won international science fiction awards, becoming a thriving part of Chinese culture that has "gone global". | |
| − | + | Nowadays, the competition between different countries in different fields has become more and more intense and complex. Cultural communication and development is always one of the hot topics. The universal and contemporary nature of Chinese science fiction literature has positive significance for the construction of Chinese cultural image. However, in the field of translation research, there is still much room for research on science fiction translation, and there is a particular lack of systematic research on foreign translation of Chinese science fiction works. Therefore, this paper will provide an overview and analysis of the research on foreign translation of Chinese science fiction literature on the basis of the basic situation of foreign translation of local science fiction novels, in order to provide some reference for the "going global" of Chinese science fiction literature and the translation of Chinese science fiction literature. | |
| − | + | ===Chinese Science fiction=== | |
| − | + | Science fiction | |
| − | + | Science fiction or Sci-fic is a literary genre that originated in the West in modern times. which is based on scientific conclusions and reasonable assumptions. It is a form of fantasy that represents the material, spiritual and cultural life of human beings in the future world and the vision of science and technology. It is generally believed that a good science fiction novel must have three elements: "logical self-consistency", "scientific elements" and "humanistic thinking". | |
| − | + | Science fiction originated in the West and is a literary genre that emerged with the booming development of science and technology in modern times. It is generally believed that Mary Shelley was the first to introduce science fiction elements into the creation of novels. Her "Frankenstein", published in 1818, is considered by many critics and enthusiasts to be “the world's first science fiction novel”. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were two important European novelists: Jules Verne (French) and Herbert George Wells (English). The former is known as the "father of science fiction", and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Mysterious Island" and "Captain Grant's Daughter" are his representative works. What is unique about Verne is that his novels show an unprecedented spirit of "scientific optimism," that is, the belief that "thanks to the development of science and technology, nothing is impossible," or that "with science the world will be more exciting in the future. The world of the future will be more exciting with science." The British author Wells pointed out all the paths that future generations of science fiction writers could continue to explore. His masterpieces include "The Time Machine", "The First Man on the Moon" and "When the Sleeper Wakes". Wells himself was also a prominent social activist who was critical of the capitalist system and always held the political view that "capitalism will lead to disaster". His works always allude to the society and politics of the time through a fantasy society. His works as a whole are full of concern for the future fate of human society, and both he and his works had an important impact on the social system and morality of the time. After the Second World War, science fiction took root in the United States. A pioneering figure in American science fiction was Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the famous series of adventure novels, Tarzan of the Apes. American science fiction inherited the same kind of stylistic tradition as Wells, and became mainstream popular literature along with fantasy and adventure stories. | |
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| − | + | As science fiction continued to develop, many movies based on science fiction have been produced, which have more profoundly influenced the entertainment life and way of thinking of modern human society. | |
| − | + | The science fiction community has also established many prestigious awards, such as the Hugo Award (which honors Hugo Gainsbourg, the founder of the first American science fiction magazine), the Nebula Award (the most prestigious award among science fiction awards), the Galaxy Award (the highest honor in Chinese fantasy fiction), and so on. | |
| − | + | 1.2 Origin and Development of Chinese Science Fiction | |
| − | + | As a product of industrial civilization, science fiction is the only literary genre that has never existed in traditional Chinese literature (c.f: Han Song 2010, 28). Western science fiction was introduced to China through translation, beginning in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period, more than a hundred years ago. At that time, Western science and technology was developing rapidly, and it aroused the curiosity of the Chinese. Far-sighted individuals understood that the idea of science fiction was like a reflection on the backward economic, political, and technological system of society, and that it could lead us into a better future; otherwise the country would be impoverished and weak, and the massive popularity of science and technology was what China needed at that time, and this need was based on imagination. The fatal weakness of Chinese science and technology at that time was precisely the fear of imagination. | |
| − | + | From the initiative to translate and study science fiction, to the creation and feeding of science fiction, the development of Chinese science fiction over the past hundred years can be roughly divided into four periods. | |
| − | The | + | The first stage is the period from 1900 to 1919, the rise of science fiction translation, when Chinese science fiction was born. In the late Qing Dynasty, science fiction entered China with the Western scientific and cultural trend. According to the data, the first science fiction translation was French novelist Jules Verne's classic "Around the World in Eighty Days" (then titled《八十日环游记》in Chinese translation) (c.f: Guo Yanli 1998, 168). Since then, science fiction literature began to take root in China, spreading and introducing advanced Western scientific knowledge through fantastical storylines in the form of novels, and attracting the attention of advanced intellectuals. According to current data, the first two writers who began to advocate science fiction in China were Liang Qichao and Zhou Shuren, who in 1902 opened a column on "Philosophical and Scientific Fiction" in his own magazine, New Novel. The following year, Zhou Shuren translated Verne's novel "From the Earth to the Moon" and wrote a preface to it. From 1900 to 1919, more than 40 Western science fiction novels were translated into Chinese and introduced to the Chinese public (c.f: Jiang Qian 2007, 227) |
| − | German | + | The early translations of Western science fiction directly contributed to the birth of the new genre of Chinese science fiction. In 1904, the author whose pen name was 荒江钓叟 influenced by "Five Weeks in the Balloon" and wrote "The Moon Colony", one of the earliest science fiction novels in China. In 1905, Xu Nianci published "The New Mr. Fallo Tan", which was actually a sequel to the German "Mr. Fallo Tan". Science fiction in this initial stage was created with the same purpose as translation, and fantasy was more closely integrated with reality, that is, with the theme of saving the country, hoping to save China in distress by spreading the knowledge of natural science. |
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| − | The | + | The second stage, from the early days of the founding of the PRC to the Cultural Revolution, was a new era of science fiction translation and creation. After the liberation, influenced by the political environment, Soviet science fiction became the main source of science fiction translations. Due to the political and ideological need for translation prosperity, the standardization of language and translation was also gradually improved. Science fiction translations in this period increased fidelity to the original text while taking into account readability, mainly adopting a combination of literal and free translation strategies, preserving the stylistic quality of the original text without limiting the syntax and sequence of the original text, and adding new footnotes to help Chinese readers understand. Influenced by Soviet science fiction, science fiction writers of this period had a consistent and clear goal: to convey as much scientific knowledge as possible to young people and children through science fiction, and to portray the bright future of the socialist country, so that young readers would be filled with hope and aspirations for the future of the motherland. "From Earth to Mars", written by Zheng Wenguang in 1954, was the first true science fiction novel in the history of New China. Zheng's work represents the overall characteristics of Chinese science fiction writing in the same period, that is, a distinctive sense of science popularization and children's literature, directly serving the popularization of science. |
| − | + | The third stage was from the end of Cultural Revolution in 1976 to the Ideological Rectification Movement in 1983, a brief spring of science fiction translation and creation. The development of science and technology in the country provided a good support for the development of science fiction. During this period, a large number of science fiction journals emerged, such as "Science Fiction World", which was founded in 1979, and "Science Fiction Ocean", which was created in 1981. In the early 1980s, the creation of Chinese science fiction reached an unprecedented boom, and science fiction frequently appeared in important literary journals such as People's Literature, Beijing Literature, Shanghai Literature, Contemporary Times, and Novel World, And Ye Yonglie, Zheng Wenguang, Tong Enzheng, and Liu Xingshi were called the "four great masters" of Chinese science fiction (c.f: Kong Qingdong 2003, 42). In 1980, Ye Yonglie was elected as the only director of the World Science Fiction Federation (WSF) in Asia, which was the first time for Chinese science fiction to go global. Zheng Wenguang's The Flight to Sagittarius was the first full-length science fiction novel in China. Tong Enzheng's Dead Light on Coral Island was published in People's Literature in 1978, the first time a science fiction novel was published in China's highest literary journal. | |
| − | + | The fourth stage, from the 21st century to the present, is the feeding of Chinese science fiction into world science fiction. (c.f: Wang Xueming, Liu Yi 2015, 30). Entering into the 21st century, with the advent of globalization and the era of all-media, and the increasing exchanges between China and the international community, science fiction translation has entered a new era. A large number of excellent science fiction writers emerged in this period, such as Liu Cixin, Hao Jingfang, Han Song, and so on. It also witnessed the birth of many excellent works, such as Liu Cixin's "Wandering Earth", "The Three-Body Problem", and "Supernova Era", Hao Jingfang's "Beijing Folding", Han Song's "High Speed Rail", and "Subway". After the 21st century, the number of Chinese science fiction translated into other languages has increased dramatically, proving the great potential of Chinese science fiction development. | |
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| − | + | ===2. Status of Translation and Dissemination of Chinese Science Fiction=== | |
| − | + | The overseas export of Chinese original science fiction novels has a long history. The earliest record that can be found now is the translation of Lao She's long science fiction novel "The Tale of the Cat City" by James E. Dew into English in 1964. However, in the first three stages, the translation of Chinese science fiction was fragmented and did not form a scale. From 2000 to 2020, the number of English translations of Chinese science fiction (including only the first publication) totaled 214 titles, including 10 full-length novels and 204 short and medium-length novels. (c.f: Gao Xi 2021, 58). In November 2014, Tor Books, one of the world's leading publishers of authoritative science fiction literature, published the first book of The three-body Problem, translated by Chinese-American science fiction writer Liu Yuqun, which subsequently won the Hugo Award. 2016, Hao Jingfang's In 2016, Hao Jingfang's Folding Beijing won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story. | |
| − | + | From 2015 to 2020, there will be a large increase in the number of translations of long novels, including Liu Cixin's "The Dark Forest" (2015), "Death's End" (2016), "Ball Lightning" (2018), "Supernova Era" (2019), "Of Ants and Dinosaurs" (2020), Wang Jinkang's "Fourth Degree Panic" (2016), Chen Tulufan's "Waste Tide" (2019), Baoshu's "The Redemption of Time" (2019), and Hao Jingfang's "Vagabonds" (2020). Four short and medium-length science fiction novels from this period were published in the form of multi-person collections, including "Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation" (2016) and "Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation" (2016), edited by Liu Yukun. There are three personal collections, including "To Hold Up the Sky" (2020) of Liu Cixin’s works, Han Song's "A Primer to Han Song" (2020) and Xia Jia's "A Summer Beyond Your Reach" (2020). The publishers of Chinese full-length science fiction and fiction collections include Tol Publishing, Head of Zeus Publishing, Saga Press, Wyrm Publishing, Dark Moon Books, Amazon Crossing, and Columbia University Press, of which the first two account for the majority. With the growing public interest in Chinese science fiction, these British and American publishers have seen the market potential of Chinese science fiction and have taken the initiative to bring outstanding Chinese science fiction works to the English-speaking world. | |
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| − | + | Since the 21st century, China has surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy in the world, and its influence in international affairs has been growing. The English-speaking world, led by the United States, wants to understand the rising of China and literature has become a more appropriate path. Specifically in the category of science fiction. | |
| − | + | And there are three influential factors in the boom of Chinese science fiction in translation and dissemination that cannot be ignored. | |
| − | + | In terms of Chinese science fiction itself, the quality of the original works and translations is excellent. This is the basis for the successful entry of Chinese science fiction into the English-speaking world, and it is also the basis for the "going abroad" of Chinese science fiction. While the main reason is that the western countries are becoming more open to Chinese science fiction. The important opportunity for the translation and dissemination is the increasingly frequent exchanges between the Chinese and foreign science fiction communities. In addition, China actively supports the creation of science fiction and the "going abroad" of Chinese culture at the national level especially after Liu Cixin and Hao Jingfang received awards, the science fiction boom continued to ferment, and local Chinese publishers and local publishers and science fiction culture enterprises have taken advantage of the favorable policies to actively expand their overseas overseas businesses and explore effective export models. | |
| − | + | ===Currents Problems in Translation and Dissemination=== | |
| − | + | Since the 21st century, there has been a boom in foreign translations of Chinese science fiction, and Chinese science fiction works have been translated into various languages at an unprecedented speed and scale, becoming a new calling card for Chinese literature “to go global". | |
| − | + | The rapid development and continuous innovation of Chinese science fiction, as well as the attention and recognition of the world science fiction literature community towards Chinese science fiction, have pushed this literary category to gradually escape its own long-standing marginalization and begin to move closer to the center of literature. But while Chinese science fiction and translation are flourishing, we must also look at the problems that exist. Only by overcoming these problems can Chinese science fiction "go global" achieve further success. | |
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| − | + | First, although science fiction literature is increasingly moving to the "center" of literature, the creation of science fiction literature and the boom generated by its research have not generated the same interest and attention in the field of translation studies. Professor Guo Jianzhong's "Science Fiction and Science Fiction Translation: Theory, Techniques and Practice" is a must-read for anyone involved in science fiction translation and research. He was instrumental in establishing China's first "Institute of Science Fiction Literature" in the Department of Foreign Languages at Hangzhou University, but the Institute did not exist for long and its impact as a research unit was limited. Dr. Jiang Qian's doctoral dissertation, "Fantasy and Reality: Twentieth-Century Science Fiction in China" (2006), focuses on the translation and reception of twentieth-century science fiction in China, with a macro-historical overview and a micro-analysis of typical science fiction works from different periods, revealing the delicate interaction between translation and history and society in the process of translation. Apart from the above two monographs, most of them are fragmentary research papers. The lack of research on the translation of Chinese science fiction will not allow scholars to understand the new trends and characteristics of translation, and the lack of theoretical guidance will lead to the lack of good translation works. | |
| − | + | Secondly, from the perspective of translation subjects. The subject of translation refers to "who" translates, and it is the problem of the translator that is explored. The most important issue in the foreign translation of Chinese science fiction is the quality of the translation. It is true that there are many excellent science fiction writers in China who have created a large number of excellent works, but there are not many excellent translations. The translation is an important medium for Chinese science fiction to go out, and without excellent translations, the excellent works will only be left in the dust. The reason for this is the lack of science fiction translation talents. Nowadays, the main translators of Chinese full-length science fiction novels are Liu Yu Kun and Zhou Hua. The former is known as "the first person to translate Chinese science fiction into English", and his first translation, The Fish of Lijiang, won the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Award in 2012. His translations of The Three Bodies and The Beijing Fold have won successive Hugo Awards, and his translations have been instrumental in winning the Hugo Awards in the competition for original works in foreign languages. As a native English speaker who has lived in China for many years, Zhou Hua is well versed in Chinese language and culture. He not only translates science fiction, but also pure literature and non-literary works, and his translation skills should not be underestimated. On Amazon.com, the vast majority of readers have positively evaluated the translations by Yuquan Liu and Hua Zhou, saying that the translations are fluent without losing fidelity and readable, while retaining Chinese cultural characteristics well. Therefore, attention should be paid to the cultivation of science fiction translation talents, without which the world will not be able to know the real status of Chinese science fiction. | |
| − | + | In addition, from the perspective of the translation route. The translation route explores the issue of how to promote and disseminate works. The foreign translation of Chinese science fiction lacks a complete industrial chain. "The Three-Body Problem" is a successful example of China's science fiction "going out". In 2014, the first English translation of "The Three-Body Problem" was published in the United States by the American publisher Tor Books. Founded in 1980, the publisher is the world's largest publisher of fantasy literature and a dream publisher for the world's top science fiction writers. Second, when the English translation of "The Three-Body Problem" was published in the United States, it was promoted in major media. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly and other mainstream newspapers and magazines all promoted and reported on it. Compared with American science fiction, Chinese science fiction has not been marketed enough. American science fiction has formed a complete industry chain from periodicals to books to films and games, and a large number of science fiction novels and films based on them have been translated and introduced to other countries with great momentum, while the Chinese science fiction market is still a long way from it. Therefore, we should continue to explore a complete, mature and diversified science fiction industry chain, so as to provide a constant impetus for science fiction translation. | |
| − | + | Finally, from the perspective of the translation audience. The audience of translation refers to the question of "who is the reader". As the mainstream ideology, the national culture of the English-speaking world has swept the world with a strong export attitude, and its people also use its mainstream culture as the value standard to examine the culture and literature of other countries. Therefore, in the process of Chinese literature dissemination to foreign countries, there is a problem of inequality between the weak culture and the strong culture. The proportion of translated literature in Western countries is extremely small. China has made active efforts to promote the foreign dissemination of Chinese culture, but if China does not make efforts to explore the best way to communicate with foreign audiences, the utility will only be half the effort. It should be said that in the process of going global, Chinese literature must understand the translation audience and adjust the translation behavior according to the needs of the translation audience in order to achieve better translation results. | |
| − | + | Considering the above-mentioned problems, we should look for positive strategies to deal with them, so as to promote the dissemination of Chinese science fiction in the global arena. However, we should pay the most attention to good original works and translations. "Wine is not afraid of a deep alley", and good translations can help science fiction works to spread better in other countries. | |
| − | + | ===Conclusion=== | |
| − | + | At present, the translation of Chinese science fiction in the English-speaking world is getting better and better, and it has become an important vein of Chinese literature "going out". We should actively use the existing achievements and resources to bring into play the unique advantages of science fiction translation. On the one hand, we should insist on the commercialization of Chinese science fiction literature translation. Relevant enterprises should take advantage of their knowledge of domestic science fiction resources, cooperate with publishers such as Tor Books, and use their mature distribution channels to market their translations. Through these mainstream science fiction magazines and commercial publishers, Chinese science fiction has really come closer to the mass English readers, and even once became a hot topic in the translation-into-language society. On the other hand, according to the characteristics of the writers' works, we adopt suitable translation methods. For writers with high recognition in the English-speaking world, such as Liu Cixin and Chen Lvfan, long novels and individual collections are published; while for new writers or writers at the initial stage of translation, we mainly start with short and medium stories, and gradually cultivate readers' interest in the writers' works through science fiction magazines and multi-person collections. | |
| − | + | At the same time, we should pay attention to the problems in the translation process and make timely adjustments to ensure the sustainable and stable export of Chinese science fiction to the outside world. First, we should pay attention to the balance and representativeness of translated works. We should not translate only one writer's works just because he is particularly popular in overseas markets, but should select works suitable for translation according to readers' preferences, translate and introduce more excellent works of different writers. We should pay attention to the sustainability of science fiction literature and industry development. The prosperity of science fiction English translation is fundamentally dependent on the continuous development of Chinese science fiction literature and industry. Both creation and film and television adaptations require sustained policy support and financial investment. The government should clarify the value of science fiction literature and help the long-term development of science fiction industry. In the process of translation and mediation, it should pay attention to and foster local Chinese publishing houses and science fiction culture companies, and reward all kinds of overseas promoters engaged in translation, publishing, criticism, and research work. Only if the literary, translation and publishing communities form a synergy, can Chinese science fiction stand in the world's forest of science fiction. | |
| − | + | ===References=== | |
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| − | + | [2] 姜倩. 幻想与现实：二十世纪科幻小说在中国的译介[D].复旦大学,2006. | |
| − | + | [3] 黄唯唯.《三体》的英译研究——让中国式科幻走向世界[J].湖北第二师范学院学报,2016,33(09):125-128. | |
| − | + | [4] 孔庆东.中国科幻小说概说[J].涪陵师范学院学报,2003(03):37-45. | |
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| − | + | [10] 吴赟,何敏.《三体》在美国的译介之旅:语境、主体与策略[J].外国语(上海外国语大学学报),2019,42(01):94-102. | |
| − | + | ===Terms and Expressions=== | |
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| + | Science Fiction 科幻小说 | ||
| − | + | Late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China 晚清民初 | |
| − | + | The Hugo Award 雨果奖 | |
| − | + | Scientific elements 科学元素 | |
| − | + | Humanistic thinking 人本思维；人道主义思想 | |
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| − | + | Translation subject 翻译主体 | |
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| − | + | The Three-Body Problem 三体 | |
| − | + | Folding Beijing 北京折叠 | |
| − | + | Marginalization 边缘化 | |
| − | + | Publishing house 出版社 | |
| − | + | Mainstream culture 主流文化 | |
| − | + | ===Questions=== | |
| − | + | 1. What is considered by many critics and enthusiasts to be “the world's first science fiction novel”. | |
| − | + | 2. What is the first true science fiction novel in the history of New China. | |
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| − | + | 3. In 2014, the first English translation of "The Three-Body Problem" was published in the United States by which publishing house? | |
| − | + | ===Answers=== | |
| + | 1. "Frankenstein" | ||
| − | + | 2. "From Earth to Mars" | |
| − | + | 3. Tor Books. | |
| − | + | ==英语笔译 刘瑶 Liu Yao 202170081587== | |
| − | + | <center>'''On the Transmission of Contemporary Chinese Literature in English-speaking Countries: A Case Study of ''Red Sorghum'''''</center> | |
| − | + | <center>刘瑶 Liu Yao</center> | |
| − | + | ===Abstract=== | |
| + | In the globalization pattern of cultural pluralism and coexistence, it is the top priority of cultural construction and reform to enhance the global influence of Chinese culture and spread and promote Chinese culture to the world. It is our goal to promote Chinese culture to go global, and the translation of Chinese literature into foreign languages is an important means to achieve this goal. However, this process is not always smooth, and as the process of "going global" in China is hindered, people gradually realize that many factors other than the act of translation are affecting the "going global" of Chinese culture. | ||
| − | + | Mo Yan is a leading figure in contemporary Chinese literature, and after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, the attention and sales of his works abroad have increased dramatically. At a time when translations of Chinese contemporary literature have repeatedly suffered setbacks, the successful translation of Mo Yan's novels has sounded the trumpet of victory. This paper analyzes the importance, current situation and reasons for the "going global" of contemporary literature with reference to Andre Lefevere's theory of "three elements" (patronage, ideology and poetics), and studies the successful translation of Mo Yan's masterpiece ''Red Sorghum'' overseas. The study of the successful translation of ''Red Sorghum'' overseas, and the exploration of the effective translation mode of contemporary literature in China, are hoping to contribute to Chinese contemporary literature's going global. | |
| − | === | + | ===Key words=== |
| − | + | contemporary Chinese literature; transmission; ''Red Sorghum'' | |
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===Introduction=== | ===Introduction=== | ||
| − | + | With the further development of globalization, it is no longer a pure economic phenomenon. What accompanies economic globalization is political globalization and the exchange, collision and integration of "soft power" with cultural ideas, ideologies and values as its basic connotation across national borders. Culture is an important symbol of a country's soft power and plays an increasingly prominent role in the competition for comprehensive national power. The globalization of cultural communication has become a social reality that cannot be ignored. (Xu Wen 2013: 96) Different countries, nationalities and cultures want to communicate with each other, so that cultural communication can break through the original national boundaries and geographical restrictions, and eventually get out of the narrow and prejudiced national culture and gain recognition in the global scope. | |
| − | + | The "going global" of Chinese culture has been elevated to a national strategic level, and the translation of contemporary Chinese literature, as an important carrier of culture, has assumed the primary task. However, it must be admitted that Chinese literature in general is still in a marginal position in the field of world literature. From the overall situation of translation and dissemination of Chinese contemporary literature, the problems of poor quality of translation, few number of publications, and low overseas acceptance are very prominent. According to statistics, during the nearly 110 years from the beginning of 1900s to the beginning of 2000s, China translated and introduced about 100,000 Western books, while the West introduced less than 500 Chinese books. In recent years, China has introduced about 150 American books in a year, while the United States has imported less than 10 Chinese literary works. (Bao Xiaoying 2015: 80) There is an obvious imbalance between the export and import of literature. Thus, it is clear that there is a long way to go for Chinese contemporary literature to "go global". | |
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| − | + | On October 11, 2012, Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Since then, the popularity of contemporary Chinese literature in the world literary scene has increased dramatically, more readers from abroad have begun to pay attention to the works of contemporary Chinese writers, and the attention of overseas academic circles has also begun to focus on Chinese literature. This has offered a good opportunity for Chinese contemporary literature to go global, and also put forward new ideas for the study of translation and dissemination of Chinese contemporary literature overseas. | |
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| − | + | Since 1988, Mo Yan’s works have been translated into English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, Japanese and other languages. As Mo Yan’s masterpiece, ''Red Sorghum'' was earlier translated and introduced to other countries, and is also the most translated and reprinted Mo Yan’s work. At the same time, as the first novel to be translated overseas and immediately gain acclaim and access to Western commercial channels, ''Red Sorghum'' has set a model for the translation and transmission of contemporary Chinese literature. | |
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| − | ''' | + | This paper takes Howard Goldblatt's translation of ''Red Sorghum'' as a case study to examine the overseas transmission and acceptance of this translation on the basis of previous studies, so as to provide some inspiration for the transmission of contemporary Chinese literature. Due to the limitations of language, this paper will only talk about the translation and transmission of contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking countries. |
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| − | + | ===The Importance of Contemporary Chinese Literature Going Global=== | |
| − | + | Culture has always been an important factor affecting national competitiveness. All major countries in the world have made the improvement of their culture an important national development strategy. Every country, nation and culture wants to exchange with each other, so that their culture can break through the original national boundaries and geographical restrictions and achieve a wider and deeper dissemination. At present, "Chinese literature going global" is flourishing, and the translation of Chinese literature has become an important part of spreading Chinese culture (Bao Xiaoying 2013: 62). Since the 21st century, China has devoted itself to the translation and interpretation of Chinese literature, and has launched a series of publication projects on the translation and dissemination of Chinese literature. At the same time, many journals of Chinese literature in English translation have been established to promote contemporary Chinese literature to the English-speaking world (Yu Hong 2021: 112). | |
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| − | + | Culture is an important symbol of a country's "soft power" and a symbol of its influence and cohesion. Culture as a soft power plays an increasingly prominent role in the competition for comprehensive national power. Culture has always been an important factor in national competitiveness. Having a strong "cultural soft power" means being able to win the initiative in the fierce international competition. Without cultural soft power, a country has no connotation, no support, and cannot become a real major country. | |
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| − | + | The strategy of "going global" of Chinese culture was first proposed in the mid-1990s. The "going global" strategy is a major initiative in the new stage of opening up to the outside world. Since then, the "going global" strategy has been expanded from the economic field to the cultural field, and relevant documents have been issued one after another. | |
| − | + | Chinese culture "going global" has two basic meanings: First, it is the dissemination of Chinese cultural ideas and cultural forms to the world through cultural exchange. Second, it refers to the export of cultural products and services in international trade (Xiao Yingying 2012: 84). Compared with developed countries in the West, China has a serious "cognitive deficit" in cultural trade, from ideas, cultural symbols to cultural products, and many countries still have a fragmented, one-sided and superficial understanding of Chinese culture. China's economy is growing, but it is still in a weak position in terms of cultural soft power, such as cultural communication and influence, and cultural weakness, which can only be solved by developing cultural industries and communicating with other cultures (Bao Xiaoying 2014: 7). | |
| − | + | Communication is the nature of culture, through which different cultures can be perceived. In today's globalization, cross-cultural communication affects people's thought and behavior from different aspects. Translation has always played a very important role in the process of intercultural communication. Translation is not only the conversion of language, but also the transmission of culture. Translation can spread new ideas, new concepts and new technologies, promote cultural exchange and progress, as well as promoting the common development of different cultures. Throughout the history of Chinese and foreign cultures, it is evident that translation has played a great role in spreading cultures in the world. Translation has greatly enriched the exchange and dissemination of Chinese and foreign ideas. | |
| − | + | Above all, translation bridges the language barrier between different cultural societies, contributes to the exchange and interaction of cultural information with other countries, facilitates the common development of national cultures, and promotes the sharing of human civilization. "The development within a country and the establishment of its international status depend largely on cultural soft power, and cultural soft power, whether imported or exported, is, in our opinion, first and foremost a translation issue." (Xu Jun 2012: 12) The current strategy of "going global" of Chinese culture advocated by the Chinese government is, in a small way, to export our "cultural soft power" through the power of "translation", and in a larger way, to enhance China's "international status" (Hu Anjiang 2012: 56). | |
| − | + | The translation, publication and dissemination of Chinese literature have become an important part of China's cultural outreach. The world needs to observe China through Chinese literature, and China needs to show its true image through literature. Without the role of translation as a medium and without the outreach of translated texts, the outreach of Chinese culture will only be empty talk. It has always been the goal of the country to promote the "going global" of Chinese culture through the translation of Chinese classics (Bao Xiaoying 2013: 54). | |
| − | + | ===Transmission of Contemporary Chinese Literature in English-speaking Countries=== | |
| + | The history of contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking countries can be roughly divided into four stages: the “Seventeen Years” (1949-1965) at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the “Cultural Revolution”(1966-1976), the new period (1977-1999) and the new century (2000-present) (Wan Yu 2021: 220). | ||
| − | + | In the first stage, China had fewer exchanges with English-speaking countries due to political-ideological conflicts. As a result, relatively few foreign-led publications of contemporary Chinese literature were published during this phase. In the first stage, contemporary Chinese literature translated to English-speaking countries focused more on social and political aspects than on literary aspects. | |
| − | + | In the second stage, due to the influence of the Cultural Revolution, the translation activities of Chinese literature dominated by China decreased. Compared with the first stage, except for the selection of materials that glorified the revolution and took the working and peasant classes as the main characters in the early period of the founding of the PRC, the domestic publishing institutions were more strict about the themes of translated works during the Cultural Revolution. During this period, more works related to revolution and reflecting class struggle came to the English-speaking countries. | |
| − | + | In the third stage, with the gradual liberation of thought, “scar literature”, the most popular literary theme after the Cultural Revolution, received domestic and international attention and became the focus of translation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, it gradually declined in the late 1980s. The official translation focus in China shifted first, and some works of the pioneering writers were translated to the English-speaking world earlier than the European and American editors. However, domestic translation and publishing institutions didn't pay much attention to writers such as Yu Hua and Su Tong, who were of great interest to the English-speaking world. Meanwhile, the proportion of works by Hong Kong and Taiwan has increased in the translation of contemporary Chinese literature under the domination of the West and China, and the translation of contemporary Chinese women writers has also reached a peak. | |
| − | + | Since the beginning of the 21st century, the translation of contemporary Chinese literature has gradually become prosperous, and the mode of translation in China has also undergone significant changes. There are two major changes in the official-led mode of Chinese literature translation and introduction at this stage: first, in terms of translation selection, the translated works are more literary than publicity; second, in terms of publication, more attention is paid to the commerciality of the translated works, focusing on exchanges and cooperation with overseas booksellers and markets. The English-speaking world, Hong Kong and Taiwan have also become more diversified in their translations of contemporary Chinese literature, beginning to focus on popular literature, new literary forms and new writers. | |
| − | + | Since Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, a large amount of Chinese literature, represented by his works, has been translated into the United States and other parts of the world. However, data show that translated works account for only 3% of the total number of publications in the United States, of which less than 1% are literary translations, indicating that the American public does not have an urgent and strong intrinsic need for foreign literature and culture (Xie Tianzhen 2019: 95). | |
| − | + | ===The Successful Transmission of ''Red Sorghum''=== | |
| + | '''Brief Introduction to ''Red Sorghum''''' | ||
| − | + | ''Red Sorghum'' is a long novel written by Mo Yan, divided into five chapters: ''Red Sorghum'', ''Sorghum Wine'', ''Dog Ways'', ''Sorghum Funeral'', and ''Strange Death''. The five chapters were first published as novellas, of which ''Red Sorghum'' was first published in ''People’s Literature'' in 1986. | |
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| − | + | ''Red Sorghum'' is a family saga of Yu Zhan-ao and Dai Fenglian(identified as Granddad and Grandma from a boy’s perspective), covering their romance, their spontaneous resistance against the Japanese invaders between 1939 and 1941. This novel is set in the fields of dense, tall, red sorghum plants in Northeast Gaomi Township, Shandong Province, China, hence the title ''Red Sorghum''. ''Red Sorghum'' is a classic work that shows the tenacity and national spirits of the Gaomi people in the Anti-Japanese war. | |
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| − | + | '''Translation and Transmission of ''Red Sorghum''''' | |
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| − | + | In 1988, Mo Yan’s work ''Dry River'' was first translated and published in Japan, and in 1999, a total of 54 foreign translations of Mo Yan’s works were published during the 11 years, focusing on three works: ''Red Sorghum'', ''Red Sorghum'' and ''The Garlic Ballads''. A total of 30 overseas publications of ''Red Sorghum'' and ''Red Sorghum'' accounted for nearly 60% of the total overseas publications of Mo Yan’s works during this period. | |
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| − | + | As Mo Yan’s masterpiece, ''Red Sorghum'' was earlier translated and introduced to other countries, and is also the most translated and reprinted Mo Yan’s work. Compared to most Chinese literary works that do not sell well overseas, the sales of ''Red Sorghum'' are more optimistic. According to scholar Bao Xiaoying’s statistics, the English version of ''Red Sorghum'' was published in 1993 and sold more than 50,000 copies in a dozen years, which is not bad sales. | |
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| − | + | A very important indicator of the reach of a Chinese work of literature in the United States is the number of U.S. libraries that collect the work. If the number of U.S. libraries collecting the work is high, it means that the work is widely distributed in the United States, and vice versa (Liu Guozhi, Chi Changhai. Li Qingliu 2022: 60). | |
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| − | 2. | + | According to the table of the top 10 ranking of the dissemination of English-translated Chinese contemporary novels published in the United States, it can be seen that the English-translated novel ''Red Sorghum'' ranks third overall among the Chinese contemporary novels published and disseminated in the United States. It can be said that ''Red Sorghum'' is the most widely distributed Chinese contemporary novel in the United States. Table 2 shows the collections of public and community libraries and libraries of universities and research institutions in different states. It also shows the ranking and distribution of the top ten states in the United States for the distribution of the novel ''Red Sorghum'' in English translation. Six of the top ten states have more than 40% of the public and community libraries collecting ''Red Sorghum'': 50% in Ohio, 49.23% in Illinois, 48.92% in California, 43.90% in Florida, 43.24% in North Carolina, and 41.27% in Texas, with Ohio accounting for half of the public and community libraries. . These data indicate that the Chinese contemporary novel ''Red Sorghum'' has entered public and community libraries in the U.S., showing that the structure of Chinese contemporary fiction distribution and readership in the U.S. is changing, shifting from its previous distribution primarily in universities and research institutions to the general public. (Two tables mentioned cannnot be uploaded) |
| − | + | '''The Reasons for ''Red Sorghum's'' Successful Transmission''' | |
| − | + | The popularity of ''Red Sorghum'' overseas was made possible by many factors. The film of the same name is the pioneer. Thanks to the award-winning film, the translation and dissemination of the novel was promoted overseas. Coupled with the unique perspective and content of the work itself, and the translator Howard Goldblatt’s promotion and personalized translation, the successful transmission of this work was achieved. | |
| − | + | '''The Literary Value of the Work Itself''' | |
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| − | + | Mo Yan, born in 1956 in Gaomi County, Shandong Province. ''Red Sorghum'' is based on the life of his hometown during the anti-Japanese war. Unlike other anti-Japanese literature, Mo Yan's anti-Japanese story is told from the perspective of ordinary people, which is more real and deeper. Mo Yan's literary works often portray original life with bold, mischievous depictions that resonate strongly with readers and shock them. In this novel, there is both questioning and rebellion against existing traditional values, as well as profound analysis of feudal ethics and human nature. | |
| − | + | The theme of ''Red Sorghum'' is not only to promote the idea of living a bold, emancipated and frank life, but also to celebrate the patriotic spirit of the heroic resistance to Japan. The so-called "personality liberation" refers to the liberation of the "human" personality. Human being" is the unity of "spirit" and "flesh", "divinity" and "bestiality", "spirit" and "matter", "social man" and "natural man". Man has a "natural human nature", that is "human's" survival instincts and natural desires. | |
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| − | + | The novel ''Red Sorghum'' not only promotes the liberation of individuality, but also celebrates the tenacity and sacrificial spirit of anti-Japanese patriotism. This dual theme of enlightenment and salvation in literature is an inheritance of the May Fourth tradition. Both the May Fourth movement and the New Culture Movement happened at a time of increasing imperialist aggression against China and a sense of national crisis and the increasingly urgent historical requirement for national self-improvement, self-reliance and salvation. | |
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| − | + | '''The Pioneering Role of the Film ''Red Sorghum''''' | |
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| − | + | In today's era of new media, for many readers, they first come to the original work through an adaptation of the work, such as a film or television production. In other words, these readers get to know a literary work or a writer through a film or television work (Hao Dan 2019: 58). In fact, this is how foreign publishers and readers come to know Mo Yan and his ''Red Sorghum''. In 1988, the movie ''Red Sorghum'' directed by Zhang Yimou was released in Canada, the United States and other places. It is worth noting that not only the movie is adapted from Mo Yan's novel ''Red Sorghum'', but its screenwriting team also includes Mo Yan himself. In 1986, when Zhang Yimou decided to make the movie, Mo Yan only received 800 yuan in royalties and 1200 yuan in screenwriting fees. He would not have imagined that in the fifth year after the film's release (1993), the English translation of ''Red Sorghum'' would be published by Penguin Publishing in the United States, with a first printing of 10,000 copies. The number of its first printing is not large, but it is very rare for a contemporary Chinese writer in the early 1990s to have such a publishing opportunity and achievement in the United States. In addition, in 2004, when the American Arcade Press published Mo Yan's another work Big Breasts and Wide Hips, the publisher still mentioned the film ''Red Sorghum'' in the recommendation, which shows the role of the film in the dissemination of Mo Yan's novel. | |
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| − | + | It can be said that the translation and publication of the English translation of ''Red Sorghum'' is mainly based on the impressive international achievements of the film: in 1988, the film won the Golden Bear Award at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, the Best Film Award, the Best Director Award, the True Novelty Award for feature films at the 5th Zimbabwe International Film Festival, the Film Critics Award at the 35th Sydney International Film Festival, the 1st Marseille International Film Festival in Morocco, and the Golden Bear Award for the Best Film at the 16th Brussels International Film Festival. In 1989, the film won the Best Film Award from the Radio Audience Jury at the 16th Brussels International Film Festival and the Silver Bear Award at the 5th Montreal World Film Festival in France; in 1990, the film was nominated for the annual prize of the GDR Filmmaker's Association for the ten best feature films of the annual Cuban Film Distribution Awards. Shortly after the film won the awards, Viking Penguin Press took the initiative to invite Howard Goldblatt to translate Mo Yan's ''Red Sorghum''. Of course, the translation of Mo Yan's work into English did not begin with ''Red Sorghum'', but prior to the award-winning film ''Red Sorghum'', Mo Yan's work had never been published in a single volume by a publisher in the English-speaking world. | |
| − | + | '''Howard Goldblatt's Translation and Promotion''' | |
| − | + | When it comes to the transmission of ''Red Sorghum'' in the English-speaking world, the contribution of its translator, Howard Goldblatt, cannot be overlooked. Howard Goldblatt is a well-known American sinologist and translator who has a high level of attainment in the study of contemporary Chinese literature, and has translated a large number of Chinese literary works. He was born in 1939 in California, USA. Later, while attending the U.S. Naval Officer's School, he was sent to serve in Taipei. While serving, Howard Goldblatt learned Chinese and read books to kill time, and gradually fell in love with Chinese culture. After studying Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University for about a year, his Chinese language skills improved greatly. Later, he entered San Francisco State University and systematically studied Chinese language and literature. Because of his love for Chinese language and literature, He worked as a Chinese language teacher for one year after graduating with his master's degree. In order to continue to improve his Chinese language, he entered the Department of East Asian Languages at Indiana University to pursue a PhD in Chinese literature. In 1984, with his active leadership and assistance, ''Modern Chinese Literature'', a scholarly journal devoted to Chinese literature, was launched, with Howard Goldblatt as editor-in-chief, giving readers in the English-speaking world the opportunity to read Chinese literature, which contributed greatly to the promotion of Chinese literature. | |
| − | + | As a confidant of Chinese literature, Howard Goldblatt has never stopped studying and translating Chinese literature for more than thirty years. His profound knowledge of both Chinese and English, good knowledge of Chinese literature, keen literary insight, and excellent translation skills have contributed to the achievement of Mo Yan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as to the dissemination of Chinese literature in the world and to the equal dialogue with world literature. | |
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| − | + | After Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize, almost everyone said that it was the translator Howard Goldblatt who made Mo Yan a success, and this is not an exaggeration. In terms of the text itself, there are two conditions for a work of contemporary Chinese literature to get the attention of publishers in English-speaking countries: one is a good story, and another is an authentic translation. A well-told story is a response to the cultural psychology and reading habits of the target readers. A good translation is very important in the translation of Mo Yan's works, because most of Mo Yan's novels have a unique Chinese historical background and profound Chinese traditional cultural connotation. Although he is known to the world literary world as a "storyteller", if the translator fails to translate the Chinese history and culture implied behind the Chinese language as effectively as possible into a language that can be understood by English-speaking readers, the transmission and popularity of these works will be difficult to achieve. | |
| − | + | '''The Role of Publishing Brokers and Houses''' | |
| − | + | For the works of Chinese writers to spread overseas, they must be supported and promoted by authoritative publishing brokers and publishing companies. The reason why Mo Yan's ''Red Sorghum'' is so popular in English-speaking countries is the support of his publishing agent team and Arcade Publishing. | |
| − | + | Beijing Genuine&Profound Culture Media Co.,LTD.(hereinafter referred to as "Genuine&Profound") actually plays the role of a copyright agent for Mo Yan's works, responsible for developing the value of Mo Yan's works and planning the publication and distribution of Mo Yan's works. As the book publishing industry becomes more open and free, contemporary Chinese writers have had more knowledge of the publishing market, and some of them have realized the importance of publishing agents. A publishing agent, often called a copyright agent, is a middleman or intermediary that connects a work with a publisher. A publishing agent signs a copyright agency contract with a writer, and then helps the writer find a publishing platform for the work or an opportunity to exploit subsidiary rights related to the work. The services of a publishing agent are what Genuine&Profound provides for Mo Yan. | |
| − | + | The uniqueness of Genuine&Profound lies in the fact that it has proposed the business model of "360°celebrity brokerage" for the first time in the industry. This service includes paper book publishing, digital rights management and promotion, promotion of film and television rights of literary works, brokerage of famous artists' artworks, promotion of famous artists' business and social activities, provision of artwork trading platforms, development and sales of derivatives, and legal protection of rights. With respect to Mo Yan's works, it believes that the value of Mo Yan is not only reflected in the publication and distribution of his Chinese works, but also in the overseas publication rights of paper books, film and television adaptation rights, digital publication rights, sales rights of calligraphy works and other subsidiary rights related to them. | |
| − | + | The man behind Arcade Publishing, which has published five titles of Mo Yan's works in English translation, is in fact Richard Seaver, Mo Yan's most important advisor in the American publishing world. Arcade Publishing was established by Richard Seaver in 1988 to publish fiction and non-fiction literature. After Richard's death in 2009, Arcade went bankrupt and was acquired by Pegasus Publishing in July of the following year, and relaunched in 2011 under the name Pegasus, with its main focus remaining the same and the addition of some art books (Hao Dan 2019: 59). Today, Arcade Publishing has published nearly 300 authors from over 30 countries. Arcade Publishing has always been a great admirer of Mo Yan's works, and the front page of Arcade's official website has for quite some time read: Arcade and Skyhorse congratulate Mo Yan on winning the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature". Unfortunately, Richard passed away without waiting for Mo Yan to win the Nobel Prize, but his remarkable vision and solidity as a publisher have made him immortal. | |
| − | + | ===Conclusion=== | |
| + | Literary works that "go global" should have both universal and heterogeneous qualities in themselves. Universality can resonate with overseas authors, while the unique local characteristics of the works excite readers' interest (Zhang Lijun, Yu Huijun 2021: 92). | ||
| − | + | Another important factor in the success of Mo Yan's overseas distribution was mentioned earlier: the overseas influence of Zhang Yimou's film. The huge market for films often plays an excellent role in advertising and rapidly promotes the translation and publication of original literary works overseas. The spread and influence of contemporary Chinese literature and Chinese films overseas actually help each other. On the one hand, this shows that outstanding literary scripts are an important basis for the success of films; on the other hand, it also shows that successful film operations will produce a chain effect that can lead to a series of related cultural industries. | |
| − | + | In addition, in the process of Chinese literature going global the selection of translation subjects is crucial. Local translators in China do not know enough about the reading habits of Western readers and lack in-depth research on the literary publishing market, so the dissemination of works translated by them is inevitably hindered abroad. In contrast, foreign sinologists have the unique advantage of being the ideal translators for Chinese literature to go global. Local Chinese translators are more likely to perceive Chinese characteristics and outstanding literary works, while the group of sinologists has a deeper understanding of the target language readership and dissemination. The advantages of both complement each other, thus promoting Chinese literature to go out better. | |
| − | + | In addition, nowadays, in the context of globalization, it is also very important to establish a good relationship with foreign well-known publishing institutions. ''Red Sorghum'' was released by a well-known foreign publisher, so that it could be more widely known by its target readers. The most important thing is that major publishers can get a good understanding of the market, which is conducive to the dissemination of Chinese literature in the West. | |
| − | + | The experience of the successful dissemination of ''Red Sorghum'' shows that for contemporary Chinese literature to go global, not only is there a requirement for the quality and cultural value of the work itself, but there is also a need for reliable translators and authoritative publishing partners. | |
| − | + | ===References=== | |
| − | + | Bao Xiaoying鲍晓英. (2013) 中国文化“走出去”之译介模式探索——中国外文局副局长兼总编辑黄友义访谈录[Explorations on the Translation and Communication Model for Chinese Literature Going Out—Interview with Huang Youyi, Deputy Director and Editor-in-Chief of China Foreign Language Bureau][J]. ''中国翻译'' [Chinese Translators Journal] (5): 43-45. | |
| − | + | Bao Xiaoying鲍晓英. (2014) 中国文学“走出去”译介模式研究——以莫言英译作品美国译介为例[Study on the Translation and Communication Model for Chinese Literature Going Out—with the Communication of Mo Yan's English Translations in America as an Example][C]. Shanghai International Studies University上海外国语大学. | |
| − | + | Bao Xiaoying鲍晓英. (2015) 译介学视野下的中国文化外译观—谢天振教授中国文化外译观研究[The View of Chinese Culture in Foreign Translation from the Perspective of Translation Studies—A Study of Professor Xie Tianzhen's View of Chinese Culture in Foreign Translation][J]. ''外语研究'' [Foreign Languages Research] (5): 78-83. | |
| − | + | Hu Anjiang胡安江. (2012) 再论中国文学“走出去”之译者模式及翻译策略——以寒山诗在英语世界的传播为例[The Translation Model and the Translating Strategy Revisited—with the Dissemination of Cold Mountain Poems in the English World as an Example][J]. ''外语教学理论与实践'' [Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice] (4): 55-61. | |
| − | + | Hao Dan郝丹. (2019) 莫言作品英译本的出版传播经验研究[A Study of the Publication and Dissemination Experience of Mo Yan's Works in English Translation][J]. ''对外传播'' [International Communications] (06): 58-60. | |
| − | + | Liu Guozhi, Chi Changhai, Li Qingliu刘国芝，池昌海，李清柳. (2022) 英译小说《红高粱》在美国的传播与接受[Dissemination and Reception of the English Translation of Red Sorghum in America][J]. ''中国翻译'' [Chinese Translators Journal] 43(02): 59-66. | |
| − | + | Wan Yu万聿. (2021) 中国当代文学英译概览与研究综述[Overview and Research Review of English Translation of Contemporary Chinese Literature][J]. ''复旦外国语言文学论丛'' [Fudan Forum on Foreign Languages and Literature] (02): 215-223. | |
| − | + | Xu Jun许钧. (2012) 翻译研究之用及其可能的出路[Translation Studies in China: Its Functions and a Possible Direction for Its Further Development][J]. ''中国翻译'' [Chinese Translators Journal] (1): 5-12. | |
| − | + | Xie Tianzhen谢天振. (2019) 译介学:理念创新与学术前景[Medio-translatology: Its Innovative Concepts and Academic Prospects][J]. ''外语学刊'' [Foreign Language Research] (04): 95-102. | |
| − | + | Xu Wen徐稳. (2013) 全球化背景下当代中国文化传播的困境与出路[The Dilemma and Solution of the Advanced Culture Transmission under the Background of Globalization][J]. ''山东大学学报（哲学社会科学版）'' [Journal of Shandong University(Philosophy and Social Sciences)] (4): 96-103. | |
| − | + | Xiao Yingying萧盈盈. (2012) 中华文化走出去的现状分析与发展思考[Analysis of the Current Situation and Development of Chinese Culture Going Out][J]. ''现代传播'' [Modern Communication] (1): 84-86. | |
| − | + | Yu Hong于虹. (2021) 译介学与中国现当代文学在美国的翻译与传播[Medio-translatology and the Translation and Dissemination of Contemporary Chinese Literature in America][J]. ''外语学''刊 [Foreign Language Research] (02): 112-115. | |
| − | + | Zhang Lijun, Yu Huijun张丽君，余慧君. (2021) 有声与无声——莫言《红高粱》海外传播的启示[Sound and Silence—Enlightenment of Mo Yan's Red Sorghum's Overseas Communication][J]. ''文化创新比较研究'' [Comparative Study of Cultural Innovation] 5(21): 89-92. | |
| − | === | + | ===Terms and expressions=== |
| − | + | 《红高粱家族》 ''Red Sorghum'' | |
| − | + | 诺贝尔文学奖 the Nobel Prize for Literature | |
| − | + | 安德烈·勒菲弗尔Andre Lefevere | |
| − | + | 三要素理论 "three elements" (patronage, ideology and poetics) | |
| − | + | 葛浩文 Howard Goldblatt | |
| − | + | 文革 the Cultural Revolution | |
| − | + | 《枯河》 ''Dry River'' | |
| − | + | 《天堂蒜薹之歌》 ''The Garlic Ballads'' | |
| − | + | 企鹅出版公司 Penguin Publishing | |
| − | + | 《丰乳肥臀》 ''Big Breasts and Wide Hips'' | |
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| − | + | 柏林国际电影节 Berlin International Film Festival | |
| − | + | 津巴布韦国际电影节 Zimbabwe International Film Festival | |
| − | + | 悉尼国际电影节 Sidney International Film Festival | |
| − | + | 马拉什国际电影电视节 Mar del Plata Film Festival | |
| − | + | 布鲁塞尔国际电影节 Bruxelles International Film Festival | |
| − | + | 蒙彼利埃国际电影节 Montreal World Film Festival | |
| − | + | 《中国现代文学》 ''Modern Chinese Literature'' | |
| − | + | 北京精典博维文化传媒有限公司 Beijing Genuine&Profound Culture Media Co.,LTD. | |
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| − | + | 拱廊出版公司 Arcade Publishing | |
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| − | + | 理查德·西维尔 Richard Seaver | |
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===Questions=== | ===Questions=== | ||
| − | + | 1. What's the "three elements" put forward by Lefevere? | |
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| − | + | 2. How many American books has China introduced in a year recently? | |
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| − | + | 3. When was Mo Yan awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature? | |
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| − | + | 4. Which novel is the most translated and reprinted work of Mo Yan? | |
| − | + | 5. How many stages are there in the history of contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking countries? | |
| − | + | 6. What are the reasons for ''Red Sorghum's'' successful transmission? | |
| − | === | + | ===Answers=== |
| − | + | 1. Patronage, ideology and poetics. | |
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| − | + | 2. About 150. | |
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| − | + | 3. On October 11, 2012. | |
| − | + | 4. ''Red Sorghum'' | |
| − | + | 5. Four. | |
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| − | + | 6. The literary value of the work itself; the pioneering role of the film ''Red Sorghum''; Howard Goldblatt's translation and promotion; the role of publishing brokers and houses. | |
Latest revision as of 17:48, 6 July 2022
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- 20220630_Culture_1 papers 1-10: 1: 英语笔译 卞王倩 Bian Wangqian 202170081563 Europeanized Chinese and Cultural Factors Behind it, 2: 英语笔译 曹姣 Cao Jiao 202170081564 Research on court culture in the Tang Dynasty from the perspective of poem -- take Changhenge for example, 3 英语笔译 陈路瑶 Chen Luyao 202170081565, 4 英语笔译 崔晓凡 Cui Xiaofan 202170081566, 5 英语笔译 邓阳林 Deng Yanglin 202170081567, 6 英语笔译 高智慧 Gao Zhihui 202170081568, 7 英语笔译 何丽娜 He Lina 202170081569, 8 英语笔译 胡良明 Hu Liangming 202170081570, 9 英语笔译 黄琼 Huang Qiong 202170081571, 10 英语笔译 邝雨琪 Kuang Yuqi 202170081572
- 20220630_Culture_2 papers 11-20: 11 英语笔译 黎溢佳 Li Yijia 202170081573, 12 英语笔译 李思敏 Li Simin 202170081574, 13 英语笔译 李思源 Li Siyuan 202170081575, 14 英语笔译 李婷 Li Ting 202170081576, 15 英语笔译 李欣 Li Xin 202170081577, 16 英语笔译 李颖 Li Ying 202170081578, 17 英语笔译 李媛 Li Yuan 202170081579, 18 英语笔译 李梓婕 Li Zijie 202170081580, 19 英语笔译 梁思婷 Liang Siting 202170081581, 20 英语笔译 廖诗韵 Liao Shiyun 202170081582
- 20220630_Culture_3 papers 21-30: 21 英语笔译 刘唱 Liu Chang 202170081583, 22 英语笔译 刘乐乐 Liu Lele 202170081584, 23 英语笔译 刘双英 Liu Shuangying 202170081585, 24 英语笔译 刘婷 Liu Ting 202170081586, 25 英语笔译 刘瑶 Liu Yao 202170081587, 26 英语笔译 刘珍 Liu Zhen 202170081588, 27 英语笔译 龙翰良 Long Hanliang 202170081589, 28 英语笔译 罗姚林 Luo Yaolin 202170081590, 29 英语笔译 马艳焕 Ma Yanhuan 202170081591, 30 英语笔译 聂薇 Nie Wei 202170081592
- 20220630_Culture_4 papers 31-40: 31 英语笔译 孙丽君 Sun Lijun 202170081593, 32 英语笔译 仝雨梦 Tong Yumeng 202170081594, 33 英语笔译 童略雅 Tong Lueya 202170081595, 34 英语笔译 庹树梅 Tuo Shumei 202170081596, 35 英语笔译 王思琪 Wang Siqi 202170081597, 36 英语笔译 王亚娟 Wang Yajuan 202170081598, 37 英语笔译 肖冬晴 Xiao Dongqing 202170081599, 38 英语笔译 肖佳莉 Xiao Jiali 202170081600, 39 英语笔译 谢晓莹 Xie Xiaoying 202170081601, 40 英语笔译 熊嘉玲 Xiong Jialing 202170081602
- 20220630_Culture_5 papers 41-50: 41 英语笔译 颜媛 Yan Yuan 202170081603, 42 英语笔译 杨心怡 Yang Xinyi 202170081604, 43 英语笔译 杨紫微 Yang Ziwei 202170081605, 44 英语笔译 张国浩 Zhang Guohao 202170081606, 45 英语笔译 张姣玲 Zhang Jiaoling 202170081607, 46 英语笔译 张瑞 Zhang Rui 202170081608, 47 英语笔译 赵宇翔 Zhao Yuxiang 202170081609, 48 英语笔译 郑冬琴 Zheng Dongqin 202170081610, 49 英语笔译 钟青 Zhong Qing 202170081611, 50 英语笔译 周皓熙 Zhou Haoxi 202170081612
- 20220630_Culture_6 papers 51-60: 51 英语笔译 周哲 Zhou Zhe 202170081613, 52 英语笔译 朱丽娟 Zhu Lijuan 202170081614, 53 英语口译 段小蝶 Duan Xiaodie 202170081615, 54 英语口译 方楚晗 Fang Chuhan 202170081616, 55 英语口译 胡雯雯 Hu Wenwen 202170081617, 56 英语口译 黄天琪 Huang Tianqi 202170081618, 57 英语口译 兰绮 Lan Qi 202170081619, 58 英语口译 李丹 Li Dan 202170081620, 59 英语口译 李立飞 Li Lifei 202170081621, 60 英语口译 莫雨婷 Mo Yuting 202170081622
- 20220630_Culture_7 papers 61-70: 61 英语口译 彭慧璇 Peng Huixuan 202170081623, 62 英语口译 时友洁 Shi Youjie 202170081624, 63 英语口译 伍佳惠 Wu Jiahui 202170081625, 64 英语口译 夏晶 Xia Jing 202170081626, 65 英语口译 向师琦 Xiang Shiqi 202170081627, 66 英语口译 向望 Xiang Wang 202170081628, 67 英语口译 徐舞 Xu Wu 202170081629, 68 英语口译 张静芝 Zhang Jingzhi 202170081630, 69 英语口译 张旻丰 Zhang Minfeng 202170081631, 70 日语笔译 曹梦然 Cao Mengran 202170081632
- 20220630_Culture_8 papers 71-80: 71 日语笔译 胡梦琪 Hu Mengqi 202170081633, 72 日语笔译 张白鹭 Zhang Bailu 202170081634, 73 朝鲜语笔译 刘安莉 Liu Anli 202170081635, 74 朝鲜语笔译 王思佳 Wang Sijia 202170081636, 75 朝朝鲜语笔译 徐盖 Xu Gai 202170081638, 76 朝鲜语笔译 徐文慧 Xu Wenhui 202170081639, 77 外国语言文学 Akira Jantarat 202121080009, 78 比较文学与跨文化研究 Mahzad 202021080004, 79 英语语言文学 Mimi 2020GBJ002301
英语笔译 刘唱 Liu Chang 202170081583
Abstract
At present, with the vigorous development of information technology, basing on information technology and internet platform, online games gradually get rid of the name of electronic heroin, and gradually industrialize and systematize. It can be seen that e-sports has now become a relatively mature industry, but the problem is that most online games on the market are imported from abroad. Therefore, one of the inevitable problems in the introduction process is the localization of the game. Language, as an important carrier of information transmission, plays an indispensable role in game localization. Not like the traditional text, the translation of game text pays more attention to the main position of the reader and its adaptability in the target market. Taking the game League of Legends as an example, this paper explores how to better combine the game with Chinese culture in the form of language from the perspective of Skopos Theory of Translation, so as to make Chinese players accept the games better and more likely to be infiltrated by traditional Chinese culture during the process of enjoying the game. In this thesis, the author analyses the textual material of League of Legends from the perspective of Skopos Theory. Through the analysis of the lines, titles and names of the champions of this game. The author finds that the translators of the game mostly take the domestication strategy, and use several translation methods such as transliteration, amplification, free translation and so on to achieve their goal: making this game more acceptable for Chinese player and helping the Chinese players have a better game experience. However, during the process of analysis, the author analyzes the mistranslation and corrects the translation based on Skopos Theory. After the analysis of the material, it can be seen that with the guidance of Skopos Theory, translators can have specific rules to obey in order to achieve the goal and come out good translation. However, the related research in china is still very few, so the scholars should pay more attention to this field and make it a systematic discipline.
Key words
Skopos Theory; Game Translation; League of Legends
Introduction
(1)Research Background
With the increase of the power of consumption of Chinese consumers, the game market of China is also thriving now. According to the statistics, China now is the largest game market in the world, with the number of game player more than 600,000,000 (Dai Jie:2019,100-101). However, since most e-sports games in China are introduced from abroad, localized translation is very important. Currently, all large-scale e-sports games have specialized localized translation teams (Liu Chang & Yang Weixiu:2019,30-32). Their job is to translate the foreign games into Chinese in the way that can meet the need of Chinese player. During this process, the translators face a lot of difficulties, so they have to do the job with the instruction of various kinds of translation theories. In this thesis, the author takes the online game League of Legends, which is hot all around the world, as an example, and analyzes the translation of names and lines of the characters in the game based on the Skopos theory of Translation put forward by Hans Vermeer to discuss the principles of the Skopos theory showed or missed in the textual material.
(2)Brief Introduction to League of Legends
League of Legends (LOL) is developed by the United States game company Riot and operated by Tencent game. It is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game (Cai Qiqi & Huang Yanjie:2018,84-88). In the game, the player takes on the role of a summoner and chooses your trusted allies to enter the Summoner’s Valley to battle with your enemies, fighting for the justice of Varoran. There is only one rule: Victory is everything! In the eyes of the game players and game developers, LOL is not just a game, but a fantasy world with a complete and huge world view. Every champion (the character manipulated by the players) possesses his or her own name, title, background story, lines and so on, which does not only enrich the content of the game, but also put forward a lot of challenges for the translators, for all of these names, titles and lines are the textual material which needs to be translated.
(3)Purpose and Significance of Game Translation
As foreign games have thrived in Chinese market, the paradox between fast development and a relative shortage of research about game translation has become apparent. In the process of the translation of the material of the game, the quality of translation has a great influence on the player's game experience, which is very important. However, domestic research on game translation is still in its infancy, and relevant scholars and translators may face the embarrassing situation that there is no theoretical knowledge as reference. Therefore, the research on game translation is a must-to-do and has certain practical significance. This thesis discusses how to better combine the game with Chinese culture in the form of language from the perspective of Skopos Theory of Translation, so as to make Chinese players accept the games better and more likely to be infiltrated by traditional Chinese culture during the process of enjoying the game.
Literature Review
(1) Review on Research of Skopos Theory of Translation
Foreign studies on functional translation start very early. Andrew Chesterman collects famous articles by Vermeer and Nord in Readings in Translation Theory (1989). Jeremy Munday introduces the main connotation of functional Translation theory in Introduced Translation Studies, and he believes that the functional translation school and communicative translation theory born in Germany promoted the innovation of translation theory, turning it from a static linguistic category into a cross-cultural communication behavior (2001,73-80). In Contemporary Translation Theories (2nd Revised Edition), according to Edwin Gentzler, the birth of the functional school of translation theory is an important moment in the history of translation theory. It puts an end to the two-thousands-long struggle between faithfulness and freedom in translation circles. According to functional translation theory, both faithful and free translation can be regarded as the correct choice as long as it conforms to the communicative purpose of the target text (2001,71). But at the same time, there are also some scholars have a skeptical or even negative attitude towards the functional Skopos theory. Peter Newmark, a famous translation theorist, thinks that functional translation theory was “dogmatism”. He comments in his book that “translation is a fractured discipline, and it is especially inappropriate to use a single integrated theory, dogma or general expression covering any text type. In this kind of process and practice, one must consider many issues at the same time... there is not any well-considered theory can cover all translation problems (1990,105).” There are four stages of the development of the Skopos Theory of Translation: The first stage: Katharina Reiss introduces the functional category into translation criticism for the first time (1999). The second stage: Hans Vermeer proposes Skopos Theory, which frees translation studies from the bondage of textual centralism (1987). The third stage: Justa Holz Manttari, proposes the theory of translation behavior. The fourth stage: Christiane Nord comprehensively summarizes and improves the functionalism theory (1991,30-32). He has proposed that translators should follow the guiding principle of “function plus loyalty”, and then perfected the theory (1996).
(2)Review on the Research of Game Translation
With the rapid expansion of the video game industry, there have been more and more researches on game translation in recent years. Trainor introduced game translation from two aspects of game content and text (2003,14). Yan Mingle analyzes the translation process in the process of the localization of games, and summarized some characteristics (2009). Xiao Zhiyan believes that as a kind of cross-cultural communication behavior, the name of game has a very strong purpose, and it bears the task of spreading the game information and facilitating the purchase in the cultural environment of the target language (2011).
(3)Summary
The development of the Skopos theory of translation now is already very mature now, however, the domestic research about game translation is still on its preliminary stage now. So translators and scholars should do the research of game translation based on the mature theory and make it the guidance of the practical translation. Only with the help of developed theory, translators are able to make the research of the game translation more systematical and standardized.
Methods and Theories
(1)An Introduction to Skopos Theory
Skopos Theory, which is developed by German linguist Vermeer, is the core of functional translation theory. It breaks through the bondage of equivalent translation theory centered on original text. Vermeer believes that “translation is a human behavior”, and “any behavior has a purpose”, so “translation is a purposeful behavior”, thus translation is “a discourse produced for a certain purpose and target audience in certain situation of the target language” (1996). Vermeer believes that translation should follow the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule, among which the skopos rule is the supreme principle. Vermeer completely breaks out of the equivalence theory of the textual center and focuses on the function of the text. In his opinion, translation strategies and methods must be flexible, and the translation should be carried out according to the situation and the purpose of the text, so as to realize the function and purpose of the text.
(2)Basic Rules of Skopos Theory
(2.1)The Skopos Rule
In the system of the Skopos theory of translation, the Skopos rule is the primary principle guiding all translations, which usually refers to the communicative purpose of the translation. That is to say, Skopos rule is the primary principle of Skopos theory. Because all texts are inevitably created with a certain purpose and ultimately to achieve this purpose, so the means to achieve the purpose should be determined by the purpose (Nord,1997,15).
(2.2)The Coherence Rule
Coherence rule refers to intralingual coherence, which means that the target text audience should be able to understand the content of the target text according to the context set by the translator.
(2.3)The Fidelity Rule
The fidelity rule refers to interlingual coherence, which reflects the relationship between the original text and the target text. It emphasizes that the content of the target text should be faithful to the content of the original text, but the degree and form of such fidelity depend on the translator's understanding of the original text and the specific requirements of the translation purpose.
(3)Summary
After understanding the basic meaning of the three rules of the Skopos Theory of translation, it can be found that in this theory, the most innovative point is the first and primary rule——the Skopos rule. It is the core of this theory and also it serves as the basic norm during the process of translation if someone is going to translate something based on the Skopos Theory. And the rest of the rules make up the void of the theory and improve the quality of the product to some extent.
Translation Under Skopos Theory
(1)Translation Under Skopos Rule
LOL is developed by western game company, so the original content is based on the combination of western culture and the fictional world. However, in the Chinese version, the Skopos rule has been precisely followed and many Chinese features and elements are added in the content in order to cater to the expectations and tastes of Chinese players (Zhang Yiyang:2016). During the process of the translation of the material, the translators mostly use the translation strategy of domestication and several translation methods such as transliteration, free translation, and so on, to achieve their goals.
Example 1:
Original version: Xayah, Rakan
Chinese version：霞、洛
In the background story of the game, “Xayah” and “Rakan” are both from Vastaya, where lives the half-bird, half-human creature. And they are enviable couple that can never be divided. According to this background information, here is the Chinese version “霞” and “洛”. The names are originated from a famous Chinese quatrains: A Tribute to King Teng’s Tower. In this quatrains, the author Wang Bo uses “落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色” to describe the beautiful scenery of the sky (Tang Jiawen:2019, 127-129). So it can be found that this quatrain is suitable for the translation of “Xayah” and “Rakan”. There are three reasons. The first one is that in the quatrain, “落霞” and “孤鹜” together form a harmonious scenery and they seem to unite as one, also “Rakan” and “Xayah” are intimate lovers which is also a harmonious images. In this way, it can be considered as a kind of domestication. The second reason is that “Xayah” and “Rakan” are both half-bird creature, which correspond to “与孤鹜齐飞” in the quatrain. They are half-bird, so they can fly. The third reason is that the pronunciations of “Xayah” and “Rakan” are similar to the Chinese words “霞” and “洛”. In this way, the translator uses transliteration to achieve his goal. From three perspectives, the author thinks that the translation of this textual material is accord with the Skopos rule, for the translation does not only convey the information of the original text, but also meet the need and expectations of Chinese players.
Example 2
Original version: Here’s a tip and a spear behind.
Chinese version: 一点寒芒先到，随后枪出如龙。
In this case, it is the lines of a champion named Zhao Xin in the game. Zhao Xin is a loyal warrior with a spear as his weapon. His prototype is the famous military officer in the three kingdoms period, Zhao Yun. So during the process of translation, the translator also takes the domestication strategy and uses the translation methods of free translation and amplification to cater to the taste of Chinese player. In this sentence, “先到” and “如龙” are both amplification to make the sentence more neat and orderly in Chinese. Also the translator uses free translation to make the sentence more readable in Chinese. In this way, the translator achieves the goal of making the translation more acceptable for Chinese player.
(2)Translation Under Coherence Rule
The coherence rule means that there must be intra-textual coherence in the translation, that is to say, the target text should be readable and acceptable. It enables the recipient to understand and make sense in the culture of the target language and the communicative context in which the target text is used. Thus, the Chinese player usually make some nicknames for the champions in the game (champion is the character manipulated by the player in the game) to make it easy to read and accept for Chinese player (Gong Lei:2018). During the process of translation, the translator mostly takes the domestication strategy and uses the translation methods such as free translation, literal translation and so on.
Example 1:
Original version: the outlaw
Chinese version: 法外狂徒
Nick name: 男枪
The outlaw is the title of a male champion named Graves in the game (every champion own his title in the game, which is considered as another name of the champion)， he is a criminal with a big rifle. In Chinese version , official translators translate the title of Graves, the outlaw, into “法外狂徒” literally. However, for the sake of convenience, the Chinese players further simplify it into “男枪”, which means the man with a rifle. In this case, the players can also be considered as the translators, they just combinate the image of this champion and his gender, and use literal translation to get a nick name for this champion. In this way, the name of this champion is more easily to read and widely accepted by Chinese player. Example 2:
Original version: The Deceiver
Chinese version: 诡术妖姬
In the background story of the game, Leblanc is a beautiful lady and she is a great magician who likes to cheat other by her tricks, so she gets his title “The Deceiver”. In this case, the translator does not translate “The Deceiver” into “欺骗者” or “骗子” literally. Instead, the translator translates it into “诡术妖姬” in the way of free translation and amplification, which combinates the features and gender of this champion. In this way, “诡术妖姬”, obviously, is a better choice than “骗子” or “欺骗者”. Also, for Chinese, the title of four characters is usually more readable.
(3)Translation Under Fidelity Rule
The fidelity rule means that there must be inter-coherence between source text and target text, which is equal to the principle of faithfulness in other translation theories, that is to say, the translation must ground on the information given by the source text. Thus, during the process of translating the game, the translator uses various strategies to translate certain terms (Xin Yue: 2019). During the process of translation, the translator mostly takes the domestication strategy and uses the translation methods such as free translation, literal translation and so on.
Example 1:
Original version: Monkey King
Chinese version: 齐天大圣
In this example, the title of Monkey king belongs to the champion named Wu Kong, whose prototype is the monkey in the ancient Chinese novel, The Journey to the West. However, the translator does not just translate monkey king into “猴子王” literally, but translate it into “齐天大圣”, which conforms to the source text. Because almost all the Chinese know the story of Wu Kong and his title “齐天大圣”. In this way, based on the translation strategy of domestication and the translation method of free translation, the translator makes it more corresponding to the original text. So the author considers this version as a successful translation which obeys the fidelity rule.
Example 2:
Original version: The fist of Shadow
Chinese version: 暗影之拳
In this case, the translator just uses the literal translation to translate the title, also there is one point has to be mentioned. During the translation of the material, the translator uses literal translation in many places as long as there is correspondence between English and Chinese in that material. In this way, the translation obeys the fidelity rule.
Mistranslation in League of Legends
During the process of translating the material, though most of the translation is in accord with the Skopos theory. However, the author also finds there are some mistranslation from the perspective of Skopos theory.
(1)Mistranslation Against Skopos Rule
In the process of translation, it is inevitable to meet some material which is difficult to translate in the way conforming to the Skopos rule.
Example 1:
Original version: Minotaur
Chinese version：牛头酋长
In this example, originally, Minotaur is the monster with human’s body and the head of cow in Greek myth, however, in the Chinese version, the translators simply translate it into “牛头酋长”, which means the chieftain of cow. In this way, it violates the Skopos rule. Because according to the Skopos rule of the Skopos theory, the translator to translate the original text into the target language in a way that suits his purpose. In the process of translation of games, the purpose is to make the gamers experience the game in a more immersing way. That is to say, translators should take Chinese culture into consideration during the process of translation. However, the word “酋长” is rarely used in Chinese. So in this case, maybe “牛魔王” is a better choice. The first reason is that it has the same image with the champion in the game. The second reason is that Chinese players are familiar to this name.
Example 2:
Original version：The Lady of Clockwork
Chinese version: 发条魔灵
In this case, the author thinks the Chinese version is a kind of overtranslation, for here the translator translates “lady” into “魔灵”. However, “魔灵” is a word of western style and not usually seen in Chinese. In Chinese, the word “魂” usually be used to express the meaning of “灵”. Also, the translation does not show the gender of this champion. So here the author thinks “发条魔姬” may be a better version. In this version, both literal translation and amplification are used. “姬” is a Chinese style word which is equal to lady. In this way, it can be more easily accept by the Chinese players. And “魔” can show the essence of the champion.
(2)Mistranslation Against Coherence Rule
During the process of translating the game, the translators sometimes have to violate the coherence rule in order to cater to the Skopos rule or the fidelity rule.
Example 1:
Original version: The might of Demacia
Chinese version: 德玛西亚之力
In this case, the translator translates “The Might of Demacia” (Demacia is a city-state in the game) into “德玛西亚之力” in Chinese. That is a kind of literal translation, however, few names of place are longer than three words. “德玛西亚” may not be easy to read and accept by Chinese players. In this way, it violates the coherence rule. As a result of it, the players usually call it “德玛” for short. And there is a good example for the translation of the name of place. In this case, the city Piltover is called “皮城” in Chinese. Also, there is a title of a champion called The Seneschal of Demacia. Its Chinese version is “德邦总管”. According to these two example, it can be known that in the translation of the name of some place, the translator may take the initial as the first character of Chinese version, then use a word which is equal to the meaning of “city”, such as “城”、“邦”. It is a kind of free translation. In this case of “The Might of Demacia”, the authors takes “德邦” from the case of “德邦总管” and translate it into “德邦之力”. In this way, it is easier for the players to read and accept.
Example 2:
Original version: The Defender of Tomorrow
Chinese version: 未来守护者
In this case, the translator translates the defender of tomorrow into “未来守护者”. apparently, here the translator extends “tomorrow” to “future”. The author thinks here the translator does a great job and comprehends the champion in a good way. It is an indication of amplification and free translation. Because it is universally known that tomorrow can be comprehended as future. But the problem is that, usually, the Chinese titles of the champions in this game are made of four characters. Because it is more easily for Chinese player to read. So in this case, “未来” can be retained, it is a good free translation, but “守护者” should be changed into “守卫”, there is a title of four characters ,which is more readable for Chinese players. In this way, it is in accord with the coherence rule.
(3)Mistranslation Against Fidelity Rule
During the process of translating the game, the translators may have to violate the fidelity rule in order to obey the other two rules.
Example 1:
Original version: The Rabble Rouser
Chinese version: 酒桶
In this case, originally, the Rabble Rouser means the person who instigates the masses, however, in Chinese version, it is simply translated into “酒桶”, which means the man with a wine bucket, for the image of this champion in the game is a man with a wine bucket. But according to the background story of this champion, he is a reckless and impetuous drunker. So the author thinks the Chinese version does not obey the fidelity rule. It does not follow the original meaning of its English version. In this case, the author thinks “肇事酒徒” may be a better translation for the title of this champion. It does not only conform to the background story of this champion, but also fit his image.
Example 2:
Original version: The Hexplosive Expert
Chinese version: 爆破鬼才
In this case, the translator uses omission to translate this title, in this way it seems to be more readable for Chinese players. However, the translator dose not obey the fidelity rule here, because the translator just takes the word “Hexplosive” as “explosive”. Actually, “Explosive” is derived from Hex, which is a top science study in League of Legends, and the champion uses the “Hextech Engine” when making bombs, he is named after this. So the author thinks that the title should be translated in a literal way to obey the meaning of the original text. So the author’s version is “海克斯爆破专家”.
(3)Summary After analyzing the translation of the textual material of the game, it can be found that there are some places violating the Skopos Theory, but they are just a part of the translation of the whole game. One thing have to be admitted: there are many excellent translation in the game that cater to the taste of expectations of Chinese player. Also this is primary rule of Skopos theory.
Conclusion
Video game, known as the ninth art, is a booming and potential industry. As China's opening up and the e-sports industry thriving, the game market of China is expected to expand dramatically, but the demand for high-quality games also increases. As an crucial medium for domestic players to have better game experience, the quality of game translation has a direct influence on the players’ game experience (Qiao Dan:2020). However, because of the development of online games, traditional ways of game translation is not able to meet the requirements of players now. Skopos Theory focuses on the communicative purpose of translation, which offers a theoretical basis for the translator to use various ways to achieve the goals. The translator of the game should firstly figure out the role of the original text in the original context, then analyze the requirements and acceptance ability of the target recipients, and finally reproduce the meaning of the original text smoothly with words in line with the game style. In this thesis, the author analyzes the textual materials of lol from the prospect of Skopos theory. Through the analysis of the lines, titles and names of the champions of this game. The author finds that the translators of the game mostly take the domestication strategy, and use several translation methods such as transliteration, amplification, free translation and so on to achieve their goal—making this game more acceptable for Chinese players and helping the Chinese players have a better game experience. However, during the process of analysis, the author also finds that there are many mistranslation from the point view of Skopos theory. So the author analyzes the mistranslation and corrects the translation based on Skopos theory. After the analysis of the material, it can be seen that with the guidance of Skopos theory, translators can have specific rules to obey in order to achieve the goal and come out good translation. However, the related research in China is still very few, so the scholars should pay more attention to this field and make it a systematic discipline.
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英语笔译 刘乐乐 Liu Lele 202170081584
Chinese Online Fantasy Novels：A comparison Between Dragon Raja and Harry Potter
Liu Lele
Abstract
Harry Potter and Dragon Raja, two famous fantasy novels, are similar in many ways including plots, character settings and so on. Since the former is famous across the world while the latter have not been translated from Chinese into English yet, we can learn a lot sentence patterns, phrases, and words from Harry Potter when translating Dragon Raja into English.
Key words
Dragon Raja; translation material; communication; fantasy
Introduction
There is no superior culture, but there are strong and weak ones. According to Toury's multiple systems theory, Chinese culture is relatively weak compared with British and American culture. Chinese literature has been marginalized in the world literature system for a long time, so when entering the field of English literature, it is usually dominated in the field of English literature. In the past few decades, the translation of contemporary Chinese literature to the English world has not been very successful. Readers in the English-speaking world object to translated literature from any culture, and it is very difficult for translated literature to enter the English world. Although there were two large-scale translation and introduction activities of Panda Series and Great China Library with a lot of material and human resources invested, but the result was not ideal. Although Dragon Raja, as an online literature, can not represent Chinese culture, its exciting plot and low barrier of readers would make it a good guide in achieving the "go global" strategy. Both Harry Potter and Dragon Raja are a series of fantasy novels that have achieved great success, and both their main characters Harry Potter, Lu Mingfei and their storyline shares many similarities. One is popular across the world, and one is popular in China. So when translating Dragon Raja into English, we can learn many useful words, expressions and sentence patterns from Harry Potter.
Similarities
Harry Potter starts from the family of Mr. Dursley, the husband of the main character Harry Potter’s aunt, and Dragon Raja also starts from the family of Mr. Lu Gucheng, the uncle of the main character Lu Mingfei.
There is a special academy in both Harry Potter and Dragon, the Hogwarts College in Harry Potter and Kassel College in Dragon Raja, which are places where the main characters learn corresponding knowledge. Both colleges are extremely special. Hogwarts is about magic, kassel is about dragons, and both colleges are different from real universities. Neither college is known to the general public, and both have some mysteries.
In "Harry Potter" the headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard, numerous honors, proficient in all kinds of high order magic, and is also the backbone of Hogwarts and even the whole magic community. In The Dragon Clan, The principal of Kassel Academy, Anger, is also a powerful dragon slayer. Kassel Academy, with Anger as its seat, has a great say in the mixed-race society. Both headmasters act as guides for the main characters in their respective works. Dumbledore loves Harry very much, while Angers loves Lummingfield even more than his pocketknife.
Both works depict a grand worldview that is different from the real world. Harry Potter describes an imaginary magical world in which all sorts of magical things are fascinating. Dragons also portrays the magical world of the dragon clan, attracting many fans with its whimsical ideas about various characters and historical events.
Neither Harry nor Lu Mingfei, who played the leading role in "Harry Potter" nor "Dragon Raja", was the best in the academy. In Harry Potter, Harry is not good either in actual combat ability or in school, while Lu Mingfei is a loser in Dragon Raja. But they both have extraordinary fates, Harry is the chosen one, and Lumingfei is also the key to ending the history of the dragon race.
In both books, there is a special race that has special abilities that ordinary people do not have. Magic in Harry Potter and speech and Spirit in Dragons are both powerful special abilities. Those who possess these special abilities are divided between wizards and hybrids. Wizards and hybrids are difficult groups for ordinary people to reach, and they don't want them to.
Before entering the academy, both Lumingfield and Harry stayed in their uncle's house, and neither of them was very popular. Both grew up in very similar environments, with few friends and often being bullied. Both men met their best friends after attending special schools. Harry meets Hermione and Ron on the train to Hogwarts, and Lummingfield meets Fingal at the station.
Differences
As mentioned above, Harry Potter has a lot in common with Dragons, but that doesn't prevent both books from being excellent fantasy novels. Although there are many similarities between the two works at first glance, there are fundamental differences between the two works "Harry Potter" is mainly based on the British or European wizard culture as the creation, describes an imaginary magical world. The Dragon Race, on the other hand, mainly creates a dragon world based on Nordic mythology. While Harry Potter is full of wizarding legends and English history, Dragons is based on Norse mythology, but mostly borrows from names and allusions.
Most of the stories in harry Potter take place at Hogwarts, so the rest of the books are very brief. Dragons takes place everywhere, not just at Castle College.
In both books, there are special groups with superpowers, wizards and dragon hybrids. But their lifestyles are totally different. Wizards are more isolated and do not generally interact with Muggles; Hybrids, on the other hand, are hidden in the secular world and hold impressive secular power. And when dealing with enemies, wizards can only use magic, which means that only magic can defeat magic in the Harry Potter worldview. In Dragon Race, the hybrids are very willing to use the power of technology. Science is very important in Dragon Race, and the hybrids are always looking for the combination of dragon power and science.
The ultimate villains in Harry Potter are pure-blood believers led by Lord Voldemort, but they still belong to wizards. As far as dragons are concerned, the villains are dragons. Simply put, the villains in Harry Potter are wizards, while the villains in Dragons are other races. Those who are not of our kind have different hearts. So Dragons as a whole reads more murder and hatred than Harry Potter.
Harry Potter is a fairy tale with strong religious significance in essence. There are many fairy tale elements and religious metaphors in it, and more of them are religious thinking to persuade people to be good. "Dragon Raja" is a secular novel for young people from the beginning, most of which is about the discussion of common people themselves.
In Harry Potter, because it is the essence of fairy tale, the protagonist is naturally good, while the villain is naturally evil. The definition of good and evil is very simple and crude. In The Dragon Clan, it seems that the dragon clan is the villain, but the dragon clan described in the book is not necessarily evil. The confrontation between the hybrid and the dragon clan is more for survival status than good or evil.
In fact, there are many differences between the two works. For example, Lumingfield is more close to ordinary people and easier for us to relate to, while Harry is more like imaginary characters.
Borrowing from Similarities
Since the two novels share many similarities, when translating Dragon Raja, we can learn some useful words, expressions from Harry Potter.
3.1Sentence Patterns (1)The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. 德思礼夫妇有一个小儿子，名叫达力。在他们看来，人世间没有比达力更好的孩子了。 婶婶觉得路鸣泽聪明，好读书，求上进，还特热爱文学，路鸣泽看《小说绘》在婶婶的嘴里也是“我们家鸣泽在学习”。 In Dragon Raja, it is the same case. So we can translate the above sentence into: In Mrs. Lu’s opinion, her son Lu Mingze was smart and diligent with enthusiasm in literature. Even when Lu Mingze read Fiction and Draw, she thought he was doing some serious work.
(2)Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Harry hadn’t known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so... 这也许是杜斯礼一家搞的恶作剧？ 也许“夕阳的刻痕”的真实身份给路鸣泽发觉了？路鸣泽想办法报复他玩呢？ When receiving the letter from their respective special college, Harry and Lu Mingfei both showed confusion and doubt. So we can translate the above sentence into: Might this not all be some huge prank that Lu Mingze cooked up since he found out about the secret of “sunset”?
3.2 Phrases (1)A deafening shout：震耳欲聋 Both in Harry Potter and in Dragon Raja, there’s people like shouting at the main characters, so we can use this phrase to make a vivid description of it. (2)Questions exploded inside Harry’s head like fireworks. These two words , “Explode” and “Fireworks”, together constitutes an lively description of the scene. Lu Mingfei was loaded with questions in his head when starting to know everything about dragons, which sounds unbelievable in the real world.
(3)The rattling cart火车咔嗒响。 Both Harry Potter and Dragon Raja have their special trains lead to the schools. So when depicting the sound a train makes in its way, we can use this phrase.
3.3 Words Since both of the two are novels, when doing translating, we can meet a lot dialogues, which means the Chinese character--”说(said)” will need various substitutions. Besides, there are many descriptions of movements and expressions. Both these words can be very tricky when doing translating. Fortunately, Harry Potter offers various translations of them.
3.3.1 Words to describe the act of speaking(说） (1) ...Harry asked urgently. 急忙问道，急切问道。 (2) ...said the boy, with a slight sneer. 男孩冷笑道(3)...said the pale boy carelessly, 男孩面色苍白，漫不经心地说 (4) ...he began 他开始说到 (5)...asked politely 礼貌地问 (6)...asked Seamus with great interest. 饶有兴趣地问 (7)...he said coolly 他冷冷地说
3.3.2 Movements and Expressions (1) waves merrily at him 开心地朝他招手。 (2) sneaking to the kitchen for some food 溜进厨房找东西吃 (3) collapsed into a chair 一屁股坐下 (4) made both of them jump 两个人都吓了一跳 (5) hamming on the door to wake you up. 捶门叫她起床 (6) drumming their fingers on the glass 手指在玻璃上敲击 (7)his stomach rumbling with hunger 肚子咕咕叫 (8) Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed 哈利叹了口气，在床上躺成“大”字形
Application in translating
大脸猫头像跳闪，“诺诺”上线。 The profile of a big-face cat flickered, which means NONO got online. 路明非犹豫了一下，“是你？” “Is that you?”hesitated a little, Lu Mingfei asked “嗯，陈墨瞳。”诺诺的回答显得懒洋洋的，“没事上来打两盘。” “Yeah,it’s me, Chen Motong.”She said carelessly,”Got no better things to do than some gaming.” “你怎么知道我的ID？” “How did you get my ID?” “人肉搜索啊，嘿。你居然用‘明明’这种ID，像女孩似的，还有‘夕阳的刻痕’……你是人妖么？” “Cyber manhunt. Hey, you took Mingming as your ID. Girlish! And “sunset”,are you sure you are not a ladyboy? “这都能人肉到？千万保密，那是我来逗我弟玩的。” “You even knew this?! Please keep this secret for me. That’s for playing some little tricks on my cousin.” “开玩笑的啦，诺玛搜索到的，这对诺玛小菜一碟。你星际打得不错。” “Just joking. It’s Noma, our intelligent computer, that got all this information. It’s a piece of cake for her. By the way, you are good at Starcraft.” “行了，我都输给你了。” “Come on, I lost to you.” “是我输，诺玛和我一起打的，我们两个控制一家。最后我知道你在升三级基地，因为诺玛偷偷开了地图，看见了。” “I should be the loser. I played the game with the help of Noma. “作弊死全家！”路明非打出这句话。 “Cheaters will have his family completely died.” Lu Mingfei type this sentence. 只是随手，这话在群里大家随便说，没谁真的往心里去。 It’s just an online phrase that were often used and no one would take it seriously. “我家只有我一个人。”诺诺回复。 “I’ve already got no family to lose.”answered Nono. 路明非愣了一下，“对不起。” Lu Mingfei was stunned a little, and said,”sorry.” “这有什么对不起的？”诺诺答得很平淡，“玩一盘？” “Nothing to feel sorry about.”Nono said carelessly still,”Want a game?” “没心情。” “not in the mood.” “失恋了？” “Broke up with your girlfriend?” 路明非浑身一个激灵，诺诺像是个小巫婆似的，看穿了他的一切，叫他完全无处容身。 “Lu Mingfei was shocked. Nono’s like a little wizard, seeing through everything of him.He could hide nothing in front of her. “还没有……我没有女朋友，当然不会失恋了，姐姐你想怎样啊？”他输入。 “How can I break up with my girlfriend when I don’t have a one? So what do you want? Big sister!”He typed. “姐姐叫得还蛮甜的，”诺诺扔出一个龇牙咧嘴的笑脸，“来吧，说说到底怎么回事，我也许能帮上忙。” “That’s sweet.”Nono sent him a grinning smile,”Alright, let’s hear it.Maybe I can help you.” “你帮什么忙？你又不认识她。” “I doubt that.You don’t know about her.” “我是不认识陈雯雯。”小巫婆诺诺回复得极快。 “Yeah, I do know nothing about Chen Wenwen.” “你到底知道多少？”路明非忽地很惊恐。 “How much do you know?”Lu Mingfei suddenly got frightened. “太多了。” “too much.” “你们……到底是谁？”路明非手有点抖。 “Who are you?”Typed Lu Mingfei with trembling fingers. (1) 路明非在屏幕上无奈地打出“GG”（“GG”，指“Good Game”，在竞技类游戏中称赞对方玩得好，也是认负的意思），而后切出了游戏。屏幕上显示的最后一个场景，是十二艘人类巡洋舰以华丽的大和炮聚焦射击，把他的母巢化作了一滩血水。 Lu mingfei reluctantly typed "GG" (" GG "refers to" Good Game "in a competitive Game) on the screen before cutting out the Game. The final scene shown on the screen was twelve human cruisers firing in focus with their magnificent Yamato guns, turning his brood into a pool of blood. (2) 他输掉了今天的第六局，胜负比例是零比六，这一次他坚持到了22分23秒才被拿下，不过最终还是被拿下了，对方的微操很好，用的又是人类，人类的机枪兵在这个游戏里是个变态的兵种，出枪速度为零，站住了拔枪就射，收枪就跑，路明非的小狗追不上，在路上就一只只被打爆了。 He lost his game for today 6-0，with round 6 hanging/lasting for 22 minutes 23 seconds. His opponent is very good at micro control, with the use of Terran whose riflemen，capable of shooting in an instant，is extremely strong in the game. stood still pull out a gun shoot, gun ran, Lu MingFei's puppy can catch up, thus getting beaten up one by one. 路明非没啃声儿，切到QQ上，那个戴棒球帽的女孩头像还是灰色的，一动不动。对方没上线，又白等了。他抓了抓脑袋，有点失望。另一个头像倒是跳了起来，是个长得很欠的熊猫。 Lu Mingfei did not answer. Switch into QQ, the profile of a girl wearing a baseball cap stayedgray and quiet there. She wasn't online, and he was just waiting for nothing. Scratching his head, he felt a little upset. The other profile was active though，a very disturbing panda.
Conclusion
Both Dragon Raja and Harry Potter are great fantasy novels. Dragon Raja has only been enjoyed in China, which to some extent is because it has no other versions than Chinese ones. Harry Potter has both attracting languages and similar plots with Dragon Raja, so there are things can be learned from it.
References
[1]封寿炎.中国网文何以成为海外读者新宠[J].上海采风,2019(03):96. [2]李佳欣,余堃贤.美国主流电影十年回顾（2010—2019）[J].北京电影学院学报,2021(06):105-118. [3]刘毅.《射雕英雄传》在西方的译介传播:行动者网络、译者惯习与翻译策略[J].解放军外国语学院学报,2021,44(02):58-65+159-160. [4]傅西平.美国市场翻译图书生存状态[J].出版参考,2015(16):18-20. [5]陈梦媛,石金娟,张诚玉.从《龙族》热看传统奇幻文学的可行性传播[J].今古文创,2022(03):29-31. [6]刘闽峰.论《龙族》与文学市场需求的契合性[J].品位·经典,2021(22):9-13. [7]Munday Jeremy. Introducing Translation Studies:Theories and Applications[M].Taylor and Francis:2016-02-05.
英语笔译 刘双英 Liu Shuangying 202170081585
Abstract
This article is divided into four parts. The first part analyzes the connotation of Chinese ceramic culture; the second part discusses the development of ceramic culture in various dynasties, mainly the Neolithic period, the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods, the Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty and other periods; the third part discusses the spread of ceramic culture, mainly from two aspects, namely, two films "China Flower" and "A Porcelain Vase" and the transnational trade of ceramics; the last part is a summary of the whole text.
Key words
Ceramic Culture; Cultual Dissemination; Cultural Confidence
Introduction
As China's national strength continues to rise, its economy is growing rapidly, but traditional Chinese culture has not yet been well spread. China was one of the first countries to make pottery, and the birthplace of porcelain. From the current archaeological excavations, the earlist ceramics may be the porcelain products created by primitive people when they found that clay was pounded into mud and coated on a container consisting of grass and wood, and the mud would no longer dissolve in water after firing, and soon they started learning to make objects using only clay.(Guo Yue&Song Lili 2022, 31） The ceramic culture explored in this paper has a long history, but with the development of the times, today's Chinese ceramic culture is far less flourish than in the past. At a time when the country is vigorously promoting cultural outreach and enhancing cultural confidence across the board, it is especially important to reinvigorate ceramic culture and strengthen the development and dissemination of Chinese ceramic culture. People from other countries in the world do not yet know much about traditional Chinese culture, especially in some specialized fields, such as the pottery-making techniques in ceramic culture, and sometimes the knowledge and terminology in these fields are not well understood by our own Chinese laymen as well, who only know some very basic and superficial things. Foremostly, we have to understand its intrinsic cultural connotation and unique historical value before we can plan for its way out and prepare for its revitalization. Therefore, the dissemination of these traditional cultures requires more effort, time and energy to get out of the country, catering to the strategy of "Chinese culture going out" as stated by General Secretary Xi Jinping, which is also of great practical significance to the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Only when the economy and culture develop together, and the most characteristic industries of the nation are exported to the outside world, so that more people can understand its unique characteristics, can a country be truly strong and respected by the world.
The connotation of ceramic culture
Ceramics is a general term for pottery and porcelain, and ceramics itself is a kind of arts and crafts, as well as a folk culture, which can be seen in folk and temple in ancient times. Mr. Chen Yuqian combined the practicality and aesthetics of ceramics, the unity of science and technology and plastic art and regional factors to define ceramic culture: the essence of ceramic culture actually refers to the various types of cultural connotations embodied in the process of production to display and sale of ceramics.（Hong Lin 2018, 07）Traditional ceramic culture, commonly speaking, is the way of inheritance preserved by the ancestors of the Chinese nation in the production of ceramics, making objects. It is the evolution of ancient Chinese traditional thought, with local folk customs as the core, reflecting the aesthetic ideas of the people, the pleasure of life and the laws of formal beauty at that time.（Wang Fang 2017, 163） In the light of the above opinions, I believe that ceramic culture includes not only the crafts of making various kinds of fine ceramics, but also the various ideas incorporated into porcelain by ancient working people when making ceramics. From the very beginning, ceramics were only designed for daily use, but later on, various carving techniques were developed, colors were enriched, painting and calligraphy were incorporated into ceramics, and so on, making ceramics more and more exquisite. And in different periods, ceramics show different appearance, and people's preferences for thier appearances and colors, for each stage of the unique image reflects the social landscape of the period, reflecting the rich historical stories behind the characteristics of the historical form of special periods, such as the famous ceramics of different historical periods, such as the Tang Dynasty’s "Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramics", the rich colors of the ceramics had changed the style of plain porcelain in the past, reflecting the openness and inclusiveness of the Tang Dynasty to a certain extent. There are many other famous ceramics of other dynasties that reflect the special connotation of the times and the temperament of the people. This is the ceramic culture hidden deeply in the ceramics, which is worthy of our study and learning, and should be vigorously inherited and developed, which is what our country has been advocating that we should stay true to cultural confidence, requiring the Chinese people to adhere to the excellent Chinese traditional culture and faith. It’s the pride of the advanced culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Ceramic culture is also something that should be spread vigorously in the new era, so that we can let more people obtain more specific information about China and enhance its the international status.
The development of ceramic culture in different dynasties
Ceramic culture has been an important part of Chinese more than 5,000 years culture, and ceramics have been produced for thousands of years since the ancient times.（Shao Changzong 2022, 01）Ceramic culture began in the Neolithic period, and each historical period has shown different characteristics. During the Tang Dynasty, there is the famous " Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramics " ceramic culture, which reflects the characteristics of the pottery skills of the Tang Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, there is the famous "Jingdezhen blue and white porcelian" ceramic culture, and many people know about Chinese ceramics because of the blue and white porcelian. Black pottery, colored pottery, etc., all reflect the characteristics of unique aesthetic skills. Just like our modern life, the things that are popular in different periods will be different, which to a certain extent can also reflect the current social customs and mainstream thinking, so the different types and colors of ceramics presented in different historical periods reflect the ceramic culture, but also reflect the thinking of the people in the society at that time.
Neolithic Period
The ancestors living in mainland China during the Neolithic period had already learned to fire pottery for daily use, and some data even show that early wine vessels had already appeared.（Yang Xiao 2020, 43） The distribution and phasing of Neolithic ceramics in China are often divided according to two major basins: the Yellow River basin is divided into Yangshao culture, Majiayao culture, Qijia culture, Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture and other small branches according to the historical development, and the Yangtze River basin can be divided into Daxi culture, Qujialing culture, Hemudu culture, Majiabin culture, Songze culture and Liangzhu culture. Neolithic pottery is mostly decorated with geometric patterns and red and black colors, which indicates that people have mastered the theory of red and black color change of hematite. According to the information found, the following is a brief introduction to the pottery of the Yangshao and Longshan culture periods. The Yangshao culture period is dominated by sandy red pottery, brown pottery and clay red pottery, with less gray and black pottery. Color pottery is the most representative kind of pottery in Yangshao culture. Shaoyang culture early pottery production method is mainly done by hand, to the middle and late stages "rotating method" slowly appeared. The surface of the pottery is mainly plain and polished, and the decorations have rope pattern, scratch pattern and so on. Pottery is mainly used for daily life, such as food and drinking utensils. Long Shan culture pottery is dominated by sandy gray and black pottery and clay gray and black pottery, black pottery, brown pottery and red pottery second. During this period, the rotating method has been quite common, hand-made and coil method is still seen in use. The surface text of the ware is mainly rope pattern, chevron pattern, etc., and the types of pottery are also more abundant than during the Yangshao culture.
Xia, Shang and Zhou Periods
Xia Shang Zhou pottery is the pottery in the bronze age, so the appearance of the pottery in this period mostly imitate the bronze’s. Early pottery-burning kilns appeared in the Xia Dynasty are similar in appearance to the dome kilns in the north. Although the Shang Dynasty did not stand out in the quality of ceramics, but was the first one created the earliest "glaze", which is applied to the pottery, playing a beautiful and clean role, in addition to slowing down the speed of water seepage of pottery, laying the foundation for the emergence of porcelain. Chinese working people mastered the art of glazing on pottery and invented the real sense of porcelain. Compared with the previous pottery, porcelain is solid and durable, with smooth and beautiful body. The emergence of porcelain techniques is a great progress in the history of the world’s porcelain.（Wang Lun 2021, 44）The primitive porcelain made in the Shang Dynasty, also known as glazed porcelain, with features of bright glaze, bright colors, high hardness, and low water absorption.（Jia Binqiang 2017, 24） The primitive porcelain of the Shang dynasty is made of kaolin clay, firing above 1200 degrees Celsius, whose color of the clay body is mostly off-white, and the glaze is even and bright, emboding a charming color. These characteristics are basically similar to the conditions that porcelain should have. However, its clay body material is not fine enough, and what’s worse, there is a certain degree of water absorption, no light transmission, poor combination of clay and glaze, and easy to flake.
The Qin, Han and North-South Dynasties
The Qin Dynasty saw the emergence of large terracotta figurines, and the most famous of which is what we know today the life-size terra-cotta soliders ans horses in Chin tomb. They are very realistic and tall, and very delicate, which shows that the pottery making technique in China reached a very high level in the Qin Dynasty. During the two Han dynasties, pottery was still dominated by gray pottery, with a variety of shapes, and in addition to living pottery, there were also burial ware and architectural pottery. Most notably, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the successful firing of celadon ware was another brilliant achievement in the history of Chinese ceramics. In the Han Dynasty, the use of Long(dragon) kiln and the emergence of high-temperature glaze ceramic are most typical. Dragon kiln is the kiln whose roof is closed, the kiln body inclined, the lowest section for the fire chamber, the highest end as a smoke vent, because the kiln body built on the mountain, like a dragon coiled from top to bottom in the mountainside, so named dragon kiln. （Yang Xiao 2020, 44） Dragon kiln temperature changes quickly, so it can be used to do rapid firing. After solving the problem of raw materials, people can fire more than 1200 degrees Celsius high-temperature glaze porcelain through the dragon kiln. The surfaces of ceramics produced in the Han dynasty usually together decorated by flowing clouds and vivid birds and animals. The decorations are full but not chaotic, and the decorative patterns represent the unique style of the Han dynasty, making ceramics look rustic not dull, such a decorative style has a lot to do with the Han dynasty's strong state power and open cultural mentality.（Hong Lin 2018, 11） Although the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties is a more turbulent period in anicent China’s society, but the ethnic groups are living in groups, so they can communicate with each other, achieving ethnic integration, and promoting the development of agriculture and handicrafts around the country to varying degrees. Because from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, China appeared last 400 years of division situation, resulting in the decline of handicrafts, especially ceramic handicrafts in a long-term standstill. During the Northern Dynasty, the greatest achievement was the emergence of white porcelain. The emergence of celadon and white porcelain paly a significant role in the appearances of porcelain of the Song Dynasty and the "five famous kilns". White porcelain is based on the development of celadon, the main difference is that the raw materials of white porcelain contain lower content of iron than that of celadon.（Jia Binqiang 2017, 25）This shows that at that time there was an understanding of metal coloring agent, which is a major breakthrough in the history of porcelain in China, laying a foundation for the development of color porcelain later. There are several outstanding decorative features during this period: pile molding, piercing techniques, lotus decoration, etc., all of which show the prosperity of ceramic craftsmanship and decoration in this period.
The Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty is more powerful and all the people begin to communicate and exchange more frequently. Compared with the ceramics of the Han Dynasty, the ceramics of the Tang Dynasty are more refined. The " Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramics " of the Tang Dynasty is also the most well-known ceramics nowadays, but the Tang Tri-color glazed ceramics is not porcelain but pottery. The word " Tri-color " means colorful, including green, yellow, brown, ochre, red, white, blue, black and other colors. Tri-color glazed pottery is made of white clay, glazed with low-temperature glaze containing lead and using iron, copper, manganese, cobalt and other metals as coloring agents, and baked at a low temperature of 750-850 degrees Celsius. This period the surfaces decoration of ceramics began to focus on humanistic pursuits and life spirit, and the ceramic artisans liked to use plants that are closely related to life to decorate ceramics, such as lotus, linden, peony, etc.. Since the travel of Zhang Qian to the West during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, Buddhist ideas have been introduced to the Central Plains and have had a great impact on Chinese history and even modern social development. （Shao Yu 2022, 89） The elements mentioned above as the decorative patterns of the wares are the usual elements used by Buddhists. During the Tang Dynasty, along with the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, camels gradually became a favorite subject for artisans and craftsmen, and this preference can be reflected in the production of the Tang Tri-color glazed ceramics, which is the best proof of the cultural openness during the Tang Dynasty. In addition, most of the porcelains of the Tang Dynasty were full and round, which indirectly reflected the aesthetic characteristics of the Tang Dynasty with fat as the beauty. This colorful and splendid artistic expression of the Tang Tri-color glazed ceramics can be seen that the Tang Dynasty had a strong power, advanced economy and frequent foreign exchanges at that time (Sun Jingyi 2016, 31). The fact that ceramics of the Tang Dynasty could develop to such a high level is inseparable from its strong national power. In general, from the Northern Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the domestic porcelain production pattern of "Southern Celadon and Northern White porcelain" was formed, with the South mainly producing celadon, which was light and delicate, and the North mainly producing white porcelain, which was solid and fair.
The Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty is the peak of ceramic development, with a rich variety of products. The famous "Five Famous Kilns", namely the Ru, Jun, Ge, Guan and Ding kilns, each had its own characteristics, and the Ru, Jun and Guan kilns are successively monopolized or designated by the royal family to fire imperial porcelain. The Ru kiln originated in the area of Ruzhou and Baofeng. Ru kilns are mainly cyan in color, mostly for civilian life porcelain. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the government monopolized the Ru kiln which was originally engaged in the production of printed celadon for the civic as the official kiln, exclusively for the palace firing imperial goods. Therefore, the Ru kiln consists of two parts: one is official Ru kiln, dedicated to the court to burn imperial porcelain, the other part is for the common people to burn porcelain to meet the needs of the people at the time. The glaze of Ru porcelain is warm and moist, deeply loved by the emperor of the Song Dynasty. The emergence of the Ru kiln unveiled a new stage of ancient celadon techniques in China, changing the previous statement of "southern celadon and northern white porcelain". （Jia Binqiang 2017, 26） Jun Kiln, the site of which is located near Juntai and Bagua-dong in the north of Yuzhou City at present, is named for its proximity to Juntai. During the Huizong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was designated as an imperial treasure. The glaze colors presented by Jun porcelain can be roughly divided into: rose purple, begonia red, eggplant purple, etc. Jun porcelain has an important place in the history of the development of science, technology and art of ceramic craftsmanship in China. The fine "opening pieces" of the Ge and Guan kilns have brought ceramic aesthetics to a new level. The white porcelain of Ding kiln is rich in decorative techniques, and the layout of the decoration is rigorous and well-defined. The main achievement of porcelain production process in the Song dynasty was improved the quality of porcelain, reaching a high level of no one before or since, with a rich variety of shapes. It also applied the scraping and scratching and other techniques, enriching the decorations of Song porcelain. During the Song dynasty, Jingdezhen fired, in addition to, high-quality Yingqing (misty blue) porcelain. The misty blue decorative patterns are clear and vivid, creating an elegant and fresh appearance, with a sense of refined artistic style.
The Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties
The Yuan Dynasty was a period when China was ruled by the grassland people, and a large number of grassland people entered the Central Plains during this period. The Yuan Dynasty inherited the pinnacle of ceramics from the Song Dynasty and gave birth to a richer variety of ceramic wares, such as the familiar blue and white porcelain and blue-glazed porcelain. The craftsmanship of this period is characterized by heavy body, not fine enough texture, thick glaze, and most of the wares the Yuan Dynasty are large porcelains, which also reflects the Yuan Dynasty people's rugged and unrestrained characteristics.（Sun Jingyi 2016, 31） The Ming Dynasty’s porcelain painting skills are neat and delicate, with concise patterns, decorated by birds and flowers. Figures, moutains and lakes, and a variety of animal subjects emerged in large numbers, with a strong artistic impact. The Ming Dynasty’s craftsmanship attached great importance in practical, as well as elegant technical characteristics. Compared with the Tang and Song dynasties, the Ming Dynasty period is not focused on the use of engraving, scratching, stamping methods, but mainly with painted flowers, to maintain the glossy surface of the glaze, presenting a plain and bright style, reflecting the subtle characteristics of people in the Ming Dynasty.（Hong Lin 2018，12）During this period, it also absorbed foreign ceramic firing techniques, thus making the emergence of distinctive enamel wares. During the Qing Dynasty, ceramics made great progress in both modeling and decorative techniques, and the creation of famille rose porcelain in Jingdezhen was influenced by enameling. The low firing temperature of famille rose porcelain also took use of the rendering painting method of Chinese painting, making the ceramic floral surface pink and soft. The brightly colored famille rose porcelain produced in the Qing Dynasty reflects the great enthusiasm of the people in this period.
The spread of ceramic culture
Times are changing, and history is developing, while ceramics has lasted for thousands of years and has not decayed, which also shows that ceramic culture has a profound connotation, and its cultural charm is worth passing on and carrying forward from generation to generation. Cultural confidence is the endogenous force of cultural heritage and development. Traditional ceramic culture requires continuous innovation and development in order to maintain vitality, the closeness will only accelerate the decline and even extinction. (Wang Fang 2017, 164) In order for the country to have a comprehensive development, economic development and cultural development need to be kept in harmony and balanced. In the current era of such rapid development, especially in the current Internet era, the network makes the communication between different cultures more convenient and faster, and the propaganda is also unmatched by traditional media, like the short video shared Li Ziqi about her residential life on several platforms before, which attracted the love of domestic and foreign audiences, and the content shared in her video is of some significance to the spread of Chinese culture. In addition to that, ceramics foreign trade will be easier than other ways for spreading ceramic culutre, because commodity trading is a more frequent activity between countries. Therefore, in this high-tech era, we have to use modern technology to make ceramic culture continue to flourish, to let more people know about it through more understandable ways, such as movies, documentaries, etc., to experience the beauty of ceramic crafts, to export more elegant and exquisite ceramic products, and to let more people experience and marvel at the greatness of Chinese ceramic culture.
The role of film in the dissemination of ceramic culture
Film and television media, as the propaganda carrier, depend on television, film and network and otthers for information dissemination.（Li Chunning 2011, 70）Film and television media can give people visually watch and enjoy the contents showed in them, so that people can feel intimate, vivid images. With vivid content displayed in front of audience, they are easy to be accepted and recognized by the audience. The film "China Flower" and "A Porcelain Vase " exemplify the perfect combination of film and ceramic culture. The story of " China Flower" is very small, mainly talking about a pair of blue and white porcelain bottles, but although this pair of bottles is ordinary on the surface, its life's glory and humiliation is closely related to the ups and downs of Chinese history.（Zhang Wenjing 2020, 16）The story unfolds in three parallel times, connecting the three pairs of main characters by the blue and white porcelain bottles as the pivot to start its the narration. Although the story unfolds with the blue and white porcelain bottles, it is not limited to the description of the bottles, but also tells the story of the loyal love between two people, national sentiment and even national honor. The pair of blue and white porcelain carries the unrepentant vow between kiln maker of the Yuan Dynasty and his wife, and carries the fearlessness of scholars returning from foreign countries for study in the late Qing Dynasty in the face of the waning dynasty's helplessness and dedicating to defend the interests of the nation, presenting the sacrifices made by patriots in that era to preserve the country's cultural relics. The zeal of our forefathers is not only to save the bottles, and to defend the backbone and fortitude of the Chinese nation, but also displays their eagerness for a bright future of this nation. Although the film does not show a lot of footage about the manufacturing of ceramics, but intersperses with a lot of authentic ceramic knowledge, such as the film in the choice of different porcelain in different scenes, which are very good to promote the ceramic culture. The film " A Porcelain Vase ", shot in 1979, has distinctive features of that era, and the most striking of which is the ceramic elements. The film begins by telling the audience a poignant legend related to Ji Hong(sacrificial red, intepreted literally), a kind of porcelain, which also sets a tragic tone for the whole story. Sacrificial red is not gaudy, red with a slight purple, no cracked texture in the glaze, is the treasures in color glaze porcelain.（Zhang Wenjing 2020, 17） The story of the film " A Porcelain Vase " happened in the Ming Dynasty. The emperor asked Jingdezhen porcelain workers to fire the porcelain within 3 days, or all workers would be beheaded, which was obviously a great challenge for the craftsmanship at the time. When everyone was desperate, Linglong, the daughter of an old worker, jumped into the kiln and sacrificed herself to create thel red porcelian vase. There are several versions of this legend about the sacrificial red, but the one in this film is the most widely circulated. Some versions call this red glaze "beauty drunk"(美人醉), but the general content is the same. Ceramic folk tales, although most of them are fictional, some of them also add a certain mythological color, but they all express the good wish of ancient working people and porcelain workers. It is their pursuit of ideal and faith under the historical conditions at that time. At the same time, it also reflects the spirit of struggle of the people at that time to defy hardship, tenacity and unyielding, not afraid of sacrifice.（Wang Lun 2021, 45） Many of the more professional traditional culture is difficult to carry forward and spread out, because its professionalism is too strong, away from people's daily lives, so it is difficult for people to resonate. And ceramic culture is a regional culture, requiring a high degree of professionalism, a lot of professional background knowledge and skills, which can not be easily get obtained by the ordinary people. But the film can lead people together to appreciate the shape, color and historical connotations of Chinese ceramics This is an aesthetic activity that the public can participate in, which is also the advantage of film and television in the dissemination of ceramic culture.
Cross-border trade for the dissemination of ceramic culture
In a sense, artifacts are much easier to spread across national borders than culture.（Chen Shali 2019, 181）Chinese ceramic has tri-status in society, that is, at the intersection of daily life, commerce and art, and is both a practical object, a commodity, and a work of art and a collection, closely related to social behavior, long-distance trade and upper-class taste, providing the world with a unique perspective on world history. Whether for political purposes or commercial interests, trade has become an important vehicle for Chinese cultural exports, and each ceramic object exported to the outside world carries the ideas and emotions that Chinese culture seeks to express. According to statistics, China ranks first in the world in terms of the value of ceramic production and export each year, with daily-use ceramics accounting for about 70%, artistic porcelain for 65%, and architectural porcelain for 50%.（Wang Fang 2017, 165） The famous Italian traveler Mark Polo appreciated Dehua porcelain in his travelogue: "The porcelain are plentiful and beautiful!", and after he returned to his country, the Dehua porcelain was brought back to be treasured in St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, which was known to the world as "Marco Polo porcelain" and became the first piece of Chinese porcelain arrived in Europe in the written record. Another high point in the spread of Chinese ceramic culture in Europe came during Zheng He's voyage to the West during the Ming Dynasty, when large quantities of fine Chinese porcelain entered the European public's view and the message of Chinese culture it carried was widely disseminated. （Tan lijun 2020, 80）On their return voyage, the fleet also carried a large number of foreign goods, including the important pigment for blue and white porcelain, smalt, which was produced in West Asia. The vigorous development of Sino-foreign trade and commerce greatly promoted the circulation of Chinese ceramics around the world and the extraterritorial spread of Chinese culture. It is probably not unfamiliar for the people about the blue and white porcelain, which has been the leading porcelain type in China for more than a century. But the blue and white porcelain is not a completely local product, but the result of the collision between Chinese culture and Islamic culture. The Chinese do not have the national psychological tendency of white and blue, but the merchants in the Persian region of West Asia know that China's Jingdezhen can produce high-quality white porcelain, and they love blue.With the combination of the smalt of Persian region and Jingdezhen quality white porcelain, porcelain decoration in addition to the traditional landscape, figures, flowers and birds, etc., but also adds the decorative patterns with Islamic cultural characteristics, thus creating the world-renowned blue and white porcelain. Chinese ceramics influenced by the outside cultures, but while Chinese ceramics in the sale to Europe, it also cast influences on the outside world, such as the 18th century Rococo art, an European art style, characterized by flamboyance, elegance, and Chinese blue and white porcelain is rich in rustic, fantasy and elegant features, these characteristics just in line with the European aesthetic orientation during the "Rococo art" period. This influence can be bluntly said to be the product of the borrowing and integration of Western and Chinese culture and art.（Hong Lin 2018, 19）This reflects the two-way influence of cultural transmission, that is, Chinese ceramic culture in the process of spreading will accept the influence of the outside world, and in turn it will also have a certain influence on the outside world.
Conclusion
Chinese ceramic culture has a long history, from the beginning of the Neolithic period of household ceramics, but then with increasingly rich types of ceramics, and ceramic skills are more and more exquisite, glaze colors are also more and more rich, creating a lot of prestigious ceramic products. Film and television have brought ceramic culture to the audience in a more interesting and intuitive way, making it easier for ceramic culture to enter the hearts and minds of the public. Transnational trade in ceramics allows Chinese ceramics to go beyond the borders of China, allowing people around the world to experience and appreciate Chinese ceramic culture and its beauty together. Chinese ceramics culture is profound and long-standing, and is a representative and symbol of the soft power of traditional Chinese culture. From the perspective of spiritual culture, ceramic culture contains a rich social connotation, and different periods of social development represent different Chinese cultural spirits. Ceramic culture has been continuously inherited, developed and innovated in the long history. Nowadays, in the new century when Chinese and Western cultures are colliding with each other, how to protect these traditional cultural resources and pass them on permanently requires the efforts of all people. To maintain the vitality and vitality of Chinese culture, we need to take the initiative to go out and interact with the excellent cultures of the world's ethnic groups. Continuously learning, borrowing and absorbing the excellent cultures of the world's ethnic groups is a must for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Promoting the dissemination of ceramic culture helps the innovative development of ceramic culture and art in the new era. For ceramic culture to develop in the long run, it is necessary to not only keep the tradition, but also to focus on the actual needs of modern society and achieve innovation. The creative transformation and innovative development of traditional ceramic culture will enable the Chinese nation to participate in world cultural exchanges with a stronger cultural confidence.
References
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英语笔译 刘婷 Liu Ting 202170081586
Abstract
Science fiction, Sci-fi for short, is defined as a novel that makes reasonable assumptions on the basis of respecting scientific conclusions. Chinese science fiction originated from the West and came into being under the influence and inspiration of translation. The translation of science fiction in China dates back to the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Since the beginning of the new century, many translated Chinese science fictions have been recognized by the international science fiction community, winning many awards such as the Hugo Award. Therefore, its translation and dissemination has become a phenomenon worthy of attention. However, in the field of translation studies, research on Chinese science fiction translation and dissemination is still insufficient. Therefore, this paper aims to study and analyze the contents, subjects and reception of contemporary Chinese science fiction translation and dissemination, summarize the problems involved, and look into the future, hoping that more attention could be paid to its translation and dissemination, so as to promote Chinese science fiction to go global.
Key words
Chinese science fiction, translation, dissemination, go global
Introduction
Science fiction originated from the Industrial Revolution in the West, and is a reflection of the development of technology and the demand of human beings to understand and transform nature in the field of literature and art. Science fiction is a product of the advent of the scientific century, a necessary reflection of the spiritual civilization after the integration of science and technology and the promotion of industrialization, a new and novel cultural phenomenon worthy of study and attention. It is generally believed that in 1818, Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" pioneered science fiction.
The translation of science fiction follows the general rule of translating to convey the meaning of works, transmits the bizarre and transcendental storyline, reflects the narrative content and artistic value of the original text in translation, and generates a unique science fiction reading effect, so that the artistic connotation and expression value of science fiction can be reflected and extended in the language and culture of the translator through the reading and appreciation of the translated text, and continues to play its role of entertaining and influencing readers. This allows the artistic connotation and expressive value of foreign science fiction to be reflected and extended in the language and culture of the translator's country through the reading and appreciation of the translated text, and to continue to play its equivalent role of entertaining and influencing readers, thus releasing its scientific and cultural educational function.
Chinese science fiction has a history of more than 100 years. The translation of science fiction has not only provided sustenance for Chinese science fiction literature, but also witnessed the development of local science fiction literature from its infancy to its development. In recent years, the publication of Liu Cixin's trilogy, "The Three-Body Problem", has become a landmark event in the Chinese science fiction industry, attracting not only strong reactions in China, but also great interest from foreign readers and enthusiastic reviews and praise from professional critics. Since then, Chinese science fiction novels have been translated into the Western world and have frequently won international science fiction awards, becoming a thriving part of Chinese culture that has "gone global".
Nowadays, the competition between different countries in different fields has become more and more intense and complex. Cultural communication and development is always one of the hot topics. The universal and contemporary nature of Chinese science fiction literature has positive significance for the construction of Chinese cultural image. However, in the field of translation research, there is still much room for research on science fiction translation, and there is a particular lack of systematic research on foreign translation of Chinese science fiction works. Therefore, this paper will provide an overview and analysis of the research on foreign translation of Chinese science fiction literature on the basis of the basic situation of foreign translation of local science fiction novels, in order to provide some reference for the "going global" of Chinese science fiction literature and the translation of Chinese science fiction literature.
Chinese Science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction or Sci-fic is a literary genre that originated in the West in modern times. which is based on scientific conclusions and reasonable assumptions. It is a form of fantasy that represents the material, spiritual and cultural life of human beings in the future world and the vision of science and technology. It is generally believed that a good science fiction novel must have three elements: "logical self-consistency", "scientific elements" and "humanistic thinking".
Science fiction originated in the West and is a literary genre that emerged with the booming development of science and technology in modern times. It is generally believed that Mary Shelley was the first to introduce science fiction elements into the creation of novels. Her "Frankenstein", published in 1818, is considered by many critics and enthusiasts to be “the world's first science fiction novel”. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were two important European novelists: Jules Verne (French) and Herbert George Wells (English). The former is known as the "father of science fiction", and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Mysterious Island" and "Captain Grant's Daughter" are his representative works. What is unique about Verne is that his novels show an unprecedented spirit of "scientific optimism," that is, the belief that "thanks to the development of science and technology, nothing is impossible," or that "with science the world will be more exciting in the future. The world of the future will be more exciting with science." The British author Wells pointed out all the paths that future generations of science fiction writers could continue to explore. His masterpieces include "The Time Machine", "The First Man on the Moon" and "When the Sleeper Wakes". Wells himself was also a prominent social activist who was critical of the capitalist system and always held the political view that "capitalism will lead to disaster". His works always allude to the society and politics of the time through a fantasy society. His works as a whole are full of concern for the future fate of human society, and both he and his works had an important impact on the social system and morality of the time. After the Second World War, science fiction took root in the United States. A pioneering figure in American science fiction was Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the famous series of adventure novels, Tarzan of the Apes. American science fiction inherited the same kind of stylistic tradition as Wells, and became mainstream popular literature along with fantasy and adventure stories.
As science fiction continued to develop, many movies based on science fiction have been produced, which have more profoundly influenced the entertainment life and way of thinking of modern human society.
The science fiction community has also established many prestigious awards, such as the Hugo Award (which honors Hugo Gainsbourg, the founder of the first American science fiction magazine), the Nebula Award (the most prestigious award among science fiction awards), the Galaxy Award (the highest honor in Chinese fantasy fiction), and so on.
1.2 Origin and Development of Chinese Science Fiction
As a product of industrial civilization, science fiction is the only literary genre that has never existed in traditional Chinese literature (c.f: Han Song 2010, 28). Western science fiction was introduced to China through translation, beginning in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period, more than a hundred years ago. At that time, Western science and technology was developing rapidly, and it aroused the curiosity of the Chinese. Far-sighted individuals understood that the idea of science fiction was like a reflection on the backward economic, political, and technological system of society, and that it could lead us into a better future; otherwise the country would be impoverished and weak, and the massive popularity of science and technology was what China needed at that time, and this need was based on imagination. The fatal weakness of Chinese science and technology at that time was precisely the fear of imagination.
From the initiative to translate and study science fiction, to the creation and feeding of science fiction, the development of Chinese science fiction over the past hundred years can be roughly divided into four periods.
The first stage is the period from 1900 to 1919, the rise of science fiction translation, when Chinese science fiction was born. In the late Qing Dynasty, science fiction entered China with the Western scientific and cultural trend. According to the data, the first science fiction translation was French novelist Jules Verne's classic "Around the World in Eighty Days" (then titled《八十日环游记》in Chinese translation) (c.f: Guo Yanli 1998, 168). Since then, science fiction literature began to take root in China, spreading and introducing advanced Western scientific knowledge through fantastical storylines in the form of novels, and attracting the attention of advanced intellectuals. According to current data, the first two writers who began to advocate science fiction in China were Liang Qichao and Zhou Shuren, who in 1902 opened a column on "Philosophical and Scientific Fiction" in his own magazine, New Novel. The following year, Zhou Shuren translated Verne's novel "From the Earth to the Moon" and wrote a preface to it. From 1900 to 1919, more than 40 Western science fiction novels were translated into Chinese and introduced to the Chinese public (c.f: Jiang Qian 2007, 227)
The early translations of Western science fiction directly contributed to the birth of the new genre of Chinese science fiction. In 1904, the author whose pen name was 荒江钓叟 influenced by "Five Weeks in the Balloon" and wrote "The Moon Colony", one of the earliest science fiction novels in China. In 1905, Xu Nianci published "The New Mr. Fallo Tan", which was actually a sequel to the German "Mr. Fallo Tan". Science fiction in this initial stage was created with the same purpose as translation, and fantasy was more closely integrated with reality, that is, with the theme of saving the country, hoping to save China in distress by spreading the knowledge of natural science.
The second stage, from the early days of the founding of the PRC to the Cultural Revolution, was a new era of science fiction translation and creation. After the liberation, influenced by the political environment, Soviet science fiction became the main source of science fiction translations. Due to the political and ideological need for translation prosperity, the standardization of language and translation was also gradually improved. Science fiction translations in this period increased fidelity to the original text while taking into account readability, mainly adopting a combination of literal and free translation strategies, preserving the stylistic quality of the original text without limiting the syntax and sequence of the original text, and adding new footnotes to help Chinese readers understand. Influenced by Soviet science fiction, science fiction writers of this period had a consistent and clear goal: to convey as much scientific knowledge as possible to young people and children through science fiction, and to portray the bright future of the socialist country, so that young readers would be filled with hope and aspirations for the future of the motherland. "From Earth to Mars", written by Zheng Wenguang in 1954, was the first true science fiction novel in the history of New China. Zheng's work represents the overall characteristics of Chinese science fiction writing in the same period, that is, a distinctive sense of science popularization and children's literature, directly serving the popularization of science.
The third stage was from the end of Cultural Revolution in 1976 to the Ideological Rectification Movement in 1983, a brief spring of science fiction translation and creation. The development of science and technology in the country provided a good support for the development of science fiction. During this period, a large number of science fiction journals emerged, such as "Science Fiction World", which was founded in 1979, and "Science Fiction Ocean", which was created in 1981. In the early 1980s, the creation of Chinese science fiction reached an unprecedented boom, and science fiction frequently appeared in important literary journals such as People's Literature, Beijing Literature, Shanghai Literature, Contemporary Times, and Novel World, And Ye Yonglie, Zheng Wenguang, Tong Enzheng, and Liu Xingshi were called the "four great masters" of Chinese science fiction (c.f: Kong Qingdong 2003, 42). In 1980, Ye Yonglie was elected as the only director of the World Science Fiction Federation (WSF) in Asia, which was the first time for Chinese science fiction to go global. Zheng Wenguang's The Flight to Sagittarius was the first full-length science fiction novel in China. Tong Enzheng's Dead Light on Coral Island was published in People's Literature in 1978, the first time a science fiction novel was published in China's highest literary journal.
The fourth stage, from the 21st century to the present, is the feeding of Chinese science fiction into world science fiction. (c.f: Wang Xueming, Liu Yi 2015, 30). Entering into the 21st century, with the advent of globalization and the era of all-media, and the increasing exchanges between China and the international community, science fiction translation has entered a new era. A large number of excellent science fiction writers emerged in this period, such as Liu Cixin, Hao Jingfang, Han Song, and so on. It also witnessed the birth of many excellent works, such as Liu Cixin's "Wandering Earth", "The Three-Body Problem", and "Supernova Era", Hao Jingfang's "Beijing Folding", Han Song's "High Speed Rail", and "Subway". After the 21st century, the number of Chinese science fiction translated into other languages has increased dramatically, proving the great potential of Chinese science fiction development.
2. Status of Translation and Dissemination of Chinese Science Fiction
The overseas export of Chinese original science fiction novels has a long history. The earliest record that can be found now is the translation of Lao She's long science fiction novel "The Tale of the Cat City" by James E. Dew into English in 1964. However, in the first three stages, the translation of Chinese science fiction was fragmented and did not form a scale. From 2000 to 2020, the number of English translations of Chinese science fiction (including only the first publication) totaled 214 titles, including 10 full-length novels and 204 short and medium-length novels. (c.f: Gao Xi 2021, 58). In November 2014, Tor Books, one of the world's leading publishers of authoritative science fiction literature, published the first book of The three-body Problem, translated by Chinese-American science fiction writer Liu Yuqun, which subsequently won the Hugo Award. 2016, Hao Jingfang's In 2016, Hao Jingfang's Folding Beijing won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
From 2015 to 2020, there will be a large increase in the number of translations of long novels, including Liu Cixin's "The Dark Forest" (2015), "Death's End" (2016), "Ball Lightning" (2018), "Supernova Era" (2019), "Of Ants and Dinosaurs" (2020), Wang Jinkang's "Fourth Degree Panic" (2016), Chen Tulufan's "Waste Tide" (2019), Baoshu's "The Redemption of Time" (2019), and Hao Jingfang's "Vagabonds" (2020). Four short and medium-length science fiction novels from this period were published in the form of multi-person collections, including "Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation" (2016) and "Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation" (2016), edited by Liu Yukun. There are three personal collections, including "To Hold Up the Sky" (2020) of Liu Cixin’s works, Han Song's "A Primer to Han Song" (2020) and Xia Jia's "A Summer Beyond Your Reach" (2020). The publishers of Chinese full-length science fiction and fiction collections include Tol Publishing, Head of Zeus Publishing, Saga Press, Wyrm Publishing, Dark Moon Books, Amazon Crossing, and Columbia University Press, of which the first two account for the majority. With the growing public interest in Chinese science fiction, these British and American publishers have seen the market potential of Chinese science fiction and have taken the initiative to bring outstanding Chinese science fiction works to the English-speaking world.
Since the 21st century, China has surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy in the world, and its influence in international affairs has been growing. The English-speaking world, led by the United States, wants to understand the rising of China and literature has become a more appropriate path. Specifically in the category of science fiction.
And there are three influential factors in the boom of Chinese science fiction in translation and dissemination that cannot be ignored.
In terms of Chinese science fiction itself, the quality of the original works and translations is excellent. This is the basis for the successful entry of Chinese science fiction into the English-speaking world, and it is also the basis for the "going abroad" of Chinese science fiction. While the main reason is that the western countries are becoming more open to Chinese science fiction. The important opportunity for the translation and dissemination is the increasingly frequent exchanges between the Chinese and foreign science fiction communities. In addition, China actively supports the creation of science fiction and the "going abroad" of Chinese culture at the national level especially after Liu Cixin and Hao Jingfang received awards, the science fiction boom continued to ferment, and local Chinese publishers and local publishers and science fiction culture enterprises have taken advantage of the favorable policies to actively expand their overseas overseas businesses and explore effective export models.
Currents Problems in Translation and Dissemination
Since the 21st century, there has been a boom in foreign translations of Chinese science fiction, and Chinese science fiction works have been translated into various languages at an unprecedented speed and scale, becoming a new calling card for Chinese literature “to go global".
The rapid development and continuous innovation of Chinese science fiction, as well as the attention and recognition of the world science fiction literature community towards Chinese science fiction, have pushed this literary category to gradually escape its own long-standing marginalization and begin to move closer to the center of literature. But while Chinese science fiction and translation are flourishing, we must also look at the problems that exist. Only by overcoming these problems can Chinese science fiction "go global" achieve further success.
First, although science fiction literature is increasingly moving to the "center" of literature, the creation of science fiction literature and the boom generated by its research have not generated the same interest and attention in the field of translation studies. Professor Guo Jianzhong's "Science Fiction and Science Fiction Translation: Theory, Techniques and Practice" is a must-read for anyone involved in science fiction translation and research. He was instrumental in establishing China's first "Institute of Science Fiction Literature" in the Department of Foreign Languages at Hangzhou University, but the Institute did not exist for long and its impact as a research unit was limited. Dr. Jiang Qian's doctoral dissertation, "Fantasy and Reality: Twentieth-Century Science Fiction in China" (2006), focuses on the translation and reception of twentieth-century science fiction in China, with a macro-historical overview and a micro-analysis of typical science fiction works from different periods, revealing the delicate interaction between translation and history and society in the process of translation. Apart from the above two monographs, most of them are fragmentary research papers. The lack of research on the translation of Chinese science fiction will not allow scholars to understand the new trends and characteristics of translation, and the lack of theoretical guidance will lead to the lack of good translation works.
Secondly, from the perspective of translation subjects. The subject of translation refers to "who" translates, and it is the problem of the translator that is explored. The most important issue in the foreign translation of Chinese science fiction is the quality of the translation. It is true that there are many excellent science fiction writers in China who have created a large number of excellent works, but there are not many excellent translations. The translation is an important medium for Chinese science fiction to go out, and without excellent translations, the excellent works will only be left in the dust. The reason for this is the lack of science fiction translation talents. Nowadays, the main translators of Chinese full-length science fiction novels are Liu Yu Kun and Zhou Hua. The former is known as "the first person to translate Chinese science fiction into English", and his first translation, The Fish of Lijiang, won the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Award in 2012. His translations of The Three Bodies and The Beijing Fold have won successive Hugo Awards, and his translations have been instrumental in winning the Hugo Awards in the competition for original works in foreign languages. As a native English speaker who has lived in China for many years, Zhou Hua is well versed in Chinese language and culture. He not only translates science fiction, but also pure literature and non-literary works, and his translation skills should not be underestimated. On Amazon.com, the vast majority of readers have positively evaluated the translations by Yuquan Liu and Hua Zhou, saying that the translations are fluent without losing fidelity and readable, while retaining Chinese cultural characteristics well. Therefore, attention should be paid to the cultivation of science fiction translation talents, without which the world will not be able to know the real status of Chinese science fiction.
In addition, from the perspective of the translation route. The translation route explores the issue of how to promote and disseminate works. The foreign translation of Chinese science fiction lacks a complete industrial chain. "The Three-Body Problem" is a successful example of China's science fiction "going out". In 2014, the first English translation of "The Three-Body Problem" was published in the United States by the American publisher Tor Books. Founded in 1980, the publisher is the world's largest publisher of fantasy literature and a dream publisher for the world's top science fiction writers. Second, when the English translation of "The Three-Body Problem" was published in the United States, it was promoted in major media. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly and other mainstream newspapers and magazines all promoted and reported on it. Compared with American science fiction, Chinese science fiction has not been marketed enough. American science fiction has formed a complete industry chain from periodicals to books to films and games, and a large number of science fiction novels and films based on them have been translated and introduced to other countries with great momentum, while the Chinese science fiction market is still a long way from it. Therefore, we should continue to explore a complete, mature and diversified science fiction industry chain, so as to provide a constant impetus for science fiction translation.
Finally, from the perspective of the translation audience. The audience of translation refers to the question of "who is the reader". As the mainstream ideology, the national culture of the English-speaking world has swept the world with a strong export attitude, and its people also use its mainstream culture as the value standard to examine the culture and literature of other countries. Therefore, in the process of Chinese literature dissemination to foreign countries, there is a problem of inequality between the weak culture and the strong culture. The proportion of translated literature in Western countries is extremely small. China has made active efforts to promote the foreign dissemination of Chinese culture, but if China does not make efforts to explore the best way to communicate with foreign audiences, the utility will only be half the effort. It should be said that in the process of going global, Chinese literature must understand the translation audience and adjust the translation behavior according to the needs of the translation audience in order to achieve better translation results.
Considering the above-mentioned problems, we should look for positive strategies to deal with them, so as to promote the dissemination of Chinese science fiction in the global arena. However, we should pay the most attention to good original works and translations. "Wine is not afraid of a deep alley", and good translations can help science fiction works to spread better in other countries.
Conclusion
At present, the translation of Chinese science fiction in the English-speaking world is getting better and better, and it has become an important vein of Chinese literature "going out". We should actively use the existing achievements and resources to bring into play the unique advantages of science fiction translation. On the one hand, we should insist on the commercialization of Chinese science fiction literature translation. Relevant enterprises should take advantage of their knowledge of domestic science fiction resources, cooperate with publishers such as Tor Books, and use their mature distribution channels to market their translations. Through these mainstream science fiction magazines and commercial publishers, Chinese science fiction has really come closer to the mass English readers, and even once became a hot topic in the translation-into-language society. On the other hand, according to the characteristics of the writers' works, we adopt suitable translation methods. For writers with high recognition in the English-speaking world, such as Liu Cixin and Chen Lvfan, long novels and individual collections are published; while for new writers or writers at the initial stage of translation, we mainly start with short and medium stories, and gradually cultivate readers' interest in the writers' works through science fiction magazines and multi-person collections.
At the same time, we should pay attention to the problems in the translation process and make timely adjustments to ensure the sustainable and stable export of Chinese science fiction to the outside world. First, we should pay attention to the balance and representativeness of translated works. We should not translate only one writer's works just because he is particularly popular in overseas markets, but should select works suitable for translation according to readers' preferences, translate and introduce more excellent works of different writers. We should pay attention to the sustainability of science fiction literature and industry development. The prosperity of science fiction English translation is fundamentally dependent on the continuous development of Chinese science fiction literature and industry. Both creation and film and television adaptations require sustained policy support and financial investment. The government should clarify the value of science fiction literature and help the long-term development of science fiction industry. In the process of translation and mediation, it should pay attention to and foster local Chinese publishing houses and science fiction culture companies, and reward all kinds of overseas promoters engaged in translation, publishing, criticism, and research work. Only if the literary, translation and publishing communities form a synergy, can Chinese science fiction stand in the world's forest of science fiction.
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Terms and Expressions
Science Fiction 科幻小说
Late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China 晚清民初
The Hugo Award 雨果奖
Scientific elements 科学元素
Humanistic thinking 人本思维；人道主义思想
Translation subject 翻译主体
The Three-Body Problem 三体
Folding Beijing 北京折叠
Marginalization 边缘化
Publishing house 出版社
Mainstream culture 主流文化
Questions
1. What is considered by many critics and enthusiasts to be “the world's first science fiction novel”.
2. What is the first true science fiction novel in the history of New China.
3. In 2014, the first English translation of "The Three-Body Problem" was published in the United States by which publishing house?
Answers
1. "Frankenstein"
2. "From Earth to Mars"
3. Tor Books.
英语笔译 刘瑶 Liu Yao 202170081587
Abstract
In the globalization pattern of cultural pluralism and coexistence, it is the top priority of cultural construction and reform to enhance the global influence of Chinese culture and spread and promote Chinese culture to the world. It is our goal to promote Chinese culture to go global, and the translation of Chinese literature into foreign languages is an important means to achieve this goal. However, this process is not always smooth, and as the process of "going global" in China is hindered, people gradually realize that many factors other than the act of translation are affecting the "going global" of Chinese culture.
Mo Yan is a leading figure in contemporary Chinese literature, and after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, the attention and sales of his works abroad have increased dramatically. At a time when translations of Chinese contemporary literature have repeatedly suffered setbacks, the successful translation of Mo Yan's novels has sounded the trumpet of victory. This paper analyzes the importance, current situation and reasons for the "going global" of contemporary literature with reference to Andre Lefevere's theory of "three elements" (patronage, ideology and poetics), and studies the successful translation of Mo Yan's masterpiece Red Sorghum overseas. The study of the successful translation of Red Sorghum overseas, and the exploration of the effective translation mode of contemporary literature in China, are hoping to contribute to Chinese contemporary literature's going global.
Key words
contemporary Chinese literature; transmission; Red Sorghum
Introduction
With the further development of globalization, it is no longer a pure economic phenomenon. What accompanies economic globalization is political globalization and the exchange, collision and integration of "soft power" with cultural ideas, ideologies and values as its basic connotation across national borders. Culture is an important symbol of a country's soft power and plays an increasingly prominent role in the competition for comprehensive national power. The globalization of cultural communication has become a social reality that cannot be ignored. (Xu Wen 2013: 96) Different countries, nationalities and cultures want to communicate with each other, so that cultural communication can break through the original national boundaries and geographical restrictions, and eventually get out of the narrow and prejudiced national culture and gain recognition in the global scope.
The "going global" of Chinese culture has been elevated to a national strategic level, and the translation of contemporary Chinese literature, as an important carrier of culture, has assumed the primary task. However, it must be admitted that Chinese literature in general is still in a marginal position in the field of world literature. From the overall situation of translation and dissemination of Chinese contemporary literature, the problems of poor quality of translation, few number of publications, and low overseas acceptance are very prominent. According to statistics, during the nearly 110 years from the beginning of 1900s to the beginning of 2000s, China translated and introduced about 100,000 Western books, while the West introduced less than 500 Chinese books. In recent years, China has introduced about 150 American books in a year, while the United States has imported less than 10 Chinese literary works. (Bao Xiaoying 2015: 80) There is an obvious imbalance between the export and import of literature. Thus, it is clear that there is a long way to go for Chinese contemporary literature to "go global".
On October 11, 2012, Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Since then, the popularity of contemporary Chinese literature in the world literary scene has increased dramatically, more readers from abroad have begun to pay attention to the works of contemporary Chinese writers, and the attention of overseas academic circles has also begun to focus on Chinese literature. This has offered a good opportunity for Chinese contemporary literature to go global, and also put forward new ideas for the study of translation and dissemination of Chinese contemporary literature overseas.
Since 1988, Mo Yan’s works have been translated into English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, Japanese and other languages. As Mo Yan’s masterpiece, Red Sorghum was earlier translated and introduced to other countries, and is also the most translated and reprinted Mo Yan’s work. At the same time, as the first novel to be translated overseas and immediately gain acclaim and access to Western commercial channels, Red Sorghum has set a model for the translation and transmission of contemporary Chinese literature.
This paper takes Howard Goldblatt's translation of Red Sorghum as a case study to examine the overseas transmission and acceptance of this translation on the basis of previous studies, so as to provide some inspiration for the transmission of contemporary Chinese literature. Due to the limitations of language, this paper will only talk about the translation and transmission of contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking countries.
The Importance of Contemporary Chinese Literature Going Global
Culture has always been an important factor affecting national competitiveness. All major countries in the world have made the improvement of their culture an important national development strategy. Every country, nation and culture wants to exchange with each other, so that their culture can break through the original national boundaries and geographical restrictions and achieve a wider and deeper dissemination. At present, "Chinese literature going global" is flourishing, and the translation of Chinese literature has become an important part of spreading Chinese culture (Bao Xiaoying 2013: 62). Since the 21st century, China has devoted itself to the translation and interpretation of Chinese literature, and has launched a series of publication projects on the translation and dissemination of Chinese literature. At the same time, many journals of Chinese literature in English translation have been established to promote contemporary Chinese literature to the English-speaking world (Yu Hong 2021: 112).
Culture is an important symbol of a country's "soft power" and a symbol of its influence and cohesion. Culture as a soft power plays an increasingly prominent role in the competition for comprehensive national power. Culture has always been an important factor in national competitiveness. Having a strong "cultural soft power" means being able to win the initiative in the fierce international competition. Without cultural soft power, a country has no connotation, no support, and cannot become a real major country.
The strategy of "going global" of Chinese culture was first proposed in the mid-1990s. The "going global" strategy is a major initiative in the new stage of opening up to the outside world. Since then, the "going global" strategy has been expanded from the economic field to the cultural field, and relevant documents have been issued one after another.
Chinese culture "going global" has two basic meanings: First, it is the dissemination of Chinese cultural ideas and cultural forms to the world through cultural exchange. Second, it refers to the export of cultural products and services in international trade (Xiao Yingying 2012: 84). Compared with developed countries in the West, China has a serious "cognitive deficit" in cultural trade, from ideas, cultural symbols to cultural products, and many countries still have a fragmented, one-sided and superficial understanding of Chinese culture. China's economy is growing, but it is still in a weak position in terms of cultural soft power, such as cultural communication and influence, and cultural weakness, which can only be solved by developing cultural industries and communicating with other cultures (Bao Xiaoying 2014: 7).
Communication is the nature of culture, through which different cultures can be perceived. In today's globalization, cross-cultural communication affects people's thought and behavior from different aspects. Translation has always played a very important role in the process of intercultural communication. Translation is not only the conversion of language, but also the transmission of culture. Translation can spread new ideas, new concepts and new technologies, promote cultural exchange and progress, as well as promoting the common development of different cultures. Throughout the history of Chinese and foreign cultures, it is evident that translation has played a great role in spreading cultures in the world. Translation has greatly enriched the exchange and dissemination of Chinese and foreign ideas.
Above all, translation bridges the language barrier between different cultural societies, contributes to the exchange and interaction of cultural information with other countries, facilitates the common development of national cultures, and promotes the sharing of human civilization. "The development within a country and the establishment of its international status depend largely on cultural soft power, and cultural soft power, whether imported or exported, is, in our opinion, first and foremost a translation issue." (Xu Jun 2012: 12) The current strategy of "going global" of Chinese culture advocated by the Chinese government is, in a small way, to export our "cultural soft power" through the power of "translation", and in a larger way, to enhance China's "international status" (Hu Anjiang 2012: 56).
The translation, publication and dissemination of Chinese literature have become an important part of China's cultural outreach. The world needs to observe China through Chinese literature, and China needs to show its true image through literature. Without the role of translation as a medium and without the outreach of translated texts, the outreach of Chinese culture will only be empty talk. It has always been the goal of the country to promote the "going global" of Chinese culture through the translation of Chinese classics (Bao Xiaoying 2013: 54).
Transmission of Contemporary Chinese Literature in English-speaking Countries
The history of contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking countries can be roughly divided into four stages: the “Seventeen Years” (1949-1965) at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the “Cultural Revolution”(1966-1976), the new period (1977-1999) and the new century (2000-present) (Wan Yu 2021: 220).
In the first stage, China had fewer exchanges with English-speaking countries due to political-ideological conflicts. As a result, relatively few foreign-led publications of contemporary Chinese literature were published during this phase. In the first stage, contemporary Chinese literature translated to English-speaking countries focused more on social and political aspects than on literary aspects.
In the second stage, due to the influence of the Cultural Revolution, the translation activities of Chinese literature dominated by China decreased. Compared with the first stage, except for the selection of materials that glorified the revolution and took the working and peasant classes as the main characters in the early period of the founding of the PRC, the domestic publishing institutions were more strict about the themes of translated works during the Cultural Revolution. During this period, more works related to revolution and reflecting class struggle came to the English-speaking countries.
In the third stage, with the gradual liberation of thought, “scar literature”, the most popular literary theme after the Cultural Revolution, received domestic and international attention and became the focus of translation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, it gradually declined in the late 1980s. The official translation focus in China shifted first, and some works of the pioneering writers were translated to the English-speaking world earlier than the European and American editors. However, domestic translation and publishing institutions didn't pay much attention to writers such as Yu Hua and Su Tong, who were of great interest to the English-speaking world. Meanwhile, the proportion of works by Hong Kong and Taiwan has increased in the translation of contemporary Chinese literature under the domination of the West and China, and the translation of contemporary Chinese women writers has also reached a peak.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the translation of contemporary Chinese literature has gradually become prosperous, and the mode of translation in China has also undergone significant changes. There are two major changes in the official-led mode of Chinese literature translation and introduction at this stage: first, in terms of translation selection, the translated works are more literary than publicity; second, in terms of publication, more attention is paid to the commerciality of the translated works, focusing on exchanges and cooperation with overseas booksellers and markets. The English-speaking world, Hong Kong and Taiwan have also become more diversified in their translations of contemporary Chinese literature, beginning to focus on popular literature, new literary forms and new writers.
Since Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, a large amount of Chinese literature, represented by his works, has been translated into the United States and other parts of the world. However, data show that translated works account for only 3% of the total number of publications in the United States, of which less than 1% are literary translations, indicating that the American public does not have an urgent and strong intrinsic need for foreign literature and culture (Xie Tianzhen 2019: 95).
The Successful Transmission of Red Sorghum
Brief Introduction to Red Sorghum
Red Sorghum is a long novel written by Mo Yan, divided into five chapters: Red Sorghum, Sorghum Wine, Dog Ways, Sorghum Funeral, and Strange Death. The five chapters were first published as novellas, of which Red Sorghum was first published in People’s Literature in 1986.
Red Sorghum is a family saga of Yu Zhan-ao and Dai Fenglian(identified as Granddad and Grandma from a boy’s perspective), covering their romance, their spontaneous resistance against the Japanese invaders between 1939 and 1941. This novel is set in the fields of dense, tall, red sorghum plants in Northeast Gaomi Township, Shandong Province, China, hence the title Red Sorghum. Red Sorghum is a classic work that shows the tenacity and national spirits of the Gaomi people in the Anti-Japanese war.
Translation and Transmission of Red Sorghum
In 1988, Mo Yan’s work Dry River was first translated and published in Japan, and in 1999, a total of 54 foreign translations of Mo Yan’s works were published during the 11 years, focusing on three works: Red Sorghum, Red Sorghum and The Garlic Ballads. A total of 30 overseas publications of Red Sorghum and Red Sorghum accounted for nearly 60% of the total overseas publications of Mo Yan’s works during this period.
As Mo Yan’s masterpiece, Red Sorghum was earlier translated and introduced to other countries, and is also the most translated and reprinted Mo Yan’s work. Compared to most Chinese literary works that do not sell well overseas, the sales of Red Sorghum are more optimistic. According to scholar Bao Xiaoying’s statistics, the English version of Red Sorghum was published in 1993 and sold more than 50,000 copies in a dozen years, which is not bad sales.
A very important indicator of the reach of a Chinese work of literature in the United States is the number of U.S. libraries that collect the work. If the number of U.S. libraries collecting the work is high, it means that the work is widely distributed in the United States, and vice versa (Liu Guozhi, Chi Changhai. Li Qingliu 2022: 60).
According to the table of the top 10 ranking of the dissemination of English-translated Chinese contemporary novels published in the United States, it can be seen that the English-translated novel Red Sorghum ranks third overall among the Chinese contemporary novels published and disseminated in the United States. It can be said that Red Sorghum is the most widely distributed Chinese contemporary novel in the United States. Table 2 shows the collections of public and community libraries and libraries of universities and research institutions in different states. It also shows the ranking and distribution of the top ten states in the United States for the distribution of the novel Red Sorghum in English translation. Six of the top ten states have more than 40% of the public and community libraries collecting Red Sorghum: 50% in Ohio, 49.23% in Illinois, 48.92% in California, 43.90% in Florida, 43.24% in North Carolina, and 41.27% in Texas, with Ohio accounting for half of the public and community libraries. . These data indicate that the Chinese contemporary novel Red Sorghum has entered public and community libraries in the U.S., showing that the structure of Chinese contemporary fiction distribution and readership in the U.S. is changing, shifting from its previous distribution primarily in universities and research institutions to the general public. (Two tables mentioned cannnot be uploaded)
The Reasons for Red Sorghum's Successful Transmission
The popularity of Red Sorghum overseas was made possible by many factors. The film of the same name is the pioneer. Thanks to the award-winning film, the translation and dissemination of the novel was promoted overseas. Coupled with the unique perspective and content of the work itself, and the translator Howard Goldblatt’s promotion and personalized translation, the successful transmission of this work was achieved.
The Literary Value of the Work Itself
Mo Yan, born in 1956 in Gaomi County, Shandong Province. Red Sorghum is based on the life of his hometown during the anti-Japanese war. Unlike other anti-Japanese literature, Mo Yan's anti-Japanese story is told from the perspective of ordinary people, which is more real and deeper. Mo Yan's literary works often portray original life with bold, mischievous depictions that resonate strongly with readers and shock them. In this novel, there is both questioning and rebellion against existing traditional values, as well as profound analysis of feudal ethics and human nature.
The theme of Red Sorghum is not only to promote the idea of living a bold, emancipated and frank life, but also to celebrate the patriotic spirit of the heroic resistance to Japan. The so-called "personality liberation" refers to the liberation of the "human" personality. Human being" is the unity of "spirit" and "flesh", "divinity" and "bestiality", "spirit" and "matter", "social man" and "natural man". Man has a "natural human nature", that is "human's" survival instincts and natural desires.
The novel Red Sorghum not only promotes the liberation of individuality, but also celebrates the tenacity and sacrificial spirit of anti-Japanese patriotism. This dual theme of enlightenment and salvation in literature is an inheritance of the May Fourth tradition. Both the May Fourth movement and the New Culture Movement happened at a time of increasing imperialist aggression against China and a sense of national crisis and the increasingly urgent historical requirement for national self-improvement, self-reliance and salvation.
The Pioneering Role of the Film Red Sorghum
In today's era of new media, for many readers, they first come to the original work through an adaptation of the work, such as a film or television production. In other words, these readers get to know a literary work or a writer through a film or television work (Hao Dan 2019: 58). In fact, this is how foreign publishers and readers come to know Mo Yan and his Red Sorghum. In 1988, the movie Red Sorghum directed by Zhang Yimou was released in Canada, the United States and other places. It is worth noting that not only the movie is adapted from Mo Yan's novel Red Sorghum, but its screenwriting team also includes Mo Yan himself. In 1986, when Zhang Yimou decided to make the movie, Mo Yan only received 800 yuan in royalties and 1200 yuan in screenwriting fees. He would not have imagined that in the fifth year after the film's release (1993), the English translation of Red Sorghum would be published by Penguin Publishing in the United States, with a first printing of 10,000 copies. The number of its first printing is not large, but it is very rare for a contemporary Chinese writer in the early 1990s to have such a publishing opportunity and achievement in the United States. In addition, in 2004, when the American Arcade Press published Mo Yan's another work Big Breasts and Wide Hips, the publisher still mentioned the film Red Sorghum in the recommendation, which shows the role of the film in the dissemination of Mo Yan's novel.
It can be said that the translation and publication of the English translation of Red Sorghum is mainly based on the impressive international achievements of the film: in 1988, the film won the Golden Bear Award at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, the Best Film Award, the Best Director Award, the True Novelty Award for feature films at the 5th Zimbabwe International Film Festival, the Film Critics Award at the 35th Sydney International Film Festival, the 1st Marseille International Film Festival in Morocco, and the Golden Bear Award for the Best Film at the 16th Brussels International Film Festival. In 1989, the film won the Best Film Award from the Radio Audience Jury at the 16th Brussels International Film Festival and the Silver Bear Award at the 5th Montreal World Film Festival in France; in 1990, the film was nominated for the annual prize of the GDR Filmmaker's Association for the ten best feature films of the annual Cuban Film Distribution Awards. Shortly after the film won the awards, Viking Penguin Press took the initiative to invite Howard Goldblatt to translate Mo Yan's Red Sorghum. Of course, the translation of Mo Yan's work into English did not begin with Red Sorghum, but prior to the award-winning film Red Sorghum, Mo Yan's work had never been published in a single volume by a publisher in the English-speaking world.
Howard Goldblatt's Translation and Promotion
When it comes to the transmission of Red Sorghum in the English-speaking world, the contribution of its translator, Howard Goldblatt, cannot be overlooked. Howard Goldblatt is a well-known American sinologist and translator who has a high level of attainment in the study of contemporary Chinese literature, and has translated a large number of Chinese literary works. He was born in 1939 in California, USA. Later, while attending the U.S. Naval Officer's School, he was sent to serve in Taipei. While serving, Howard Goldblatt learned Chinese and read books to kill time, and gradually fell in love with Chinese culture. After studying Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University for about a year, his Chinese language skills improved greatly. Later, he entered San Francisco State University and systematically studied Chinese language and literature. Because of his love for Chinese language and literature, He worked as a Chinese language teacher for one year after graduating with his master's degree. In order to continue to improve his Chinese language, he entered the Department of East Asian Languages at Indiana University to pursue a PhD in Chinese literature. In 1984, with his active leadership and assistance, Modern Chinese Literature, a scholarly journal devoted to Chinese literature, was launched, with Howard Goldblatt as editor-in-chief, giving readers in the English-speaking world the opportunity to read Chinese literature, which contributed greatly to the promotion of Chinese literature.
As a confidant of Chinese literature, Howard Goldblatt has never stopped studying and translating Chinese literature for more than thirty years. His profound knowledge of both Chinese and English, good knowledge of Chinese literature, keen literary insight, and excellent translation skills have contributed to the achievement of Mo Yan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as to the dissemination of Chinese literature in the world and to the equal dialogue with world literature.
After Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize, almost everyone said that it was the translator Howard Goldblatt who made Mo Yan a success, and this is not an exaggeration. In terms of the text itself, there are two conditions for a work of contemporary Chinese literature to get the attention of publishers in English-speaking countries: one is a good story, and another is an authentic translation. A well-told story is a response to the cultural psychology and reading habits of the target readers. A good translation is very important in the translation of Mo Yan's works, because most of Mo Yan's novels have a unique Chinese historical background and profound Chinese traditional cultural connotation. Although he is known to the world literary world as a "storyteller", if the translator fails to translate the Chinese history and culture implied behind the Chinese language as effectively as possible into a language that can be understood by English-speaking readers, the transmission and popularity of these works will be difficult to achieve.
The Role of Publishing Brokers and Houses
For the works of Chinese writers to spread overseas, they must be supported and promoted by authoritative publishing brokers and publishing companies. The reason why Mo Yan's Red Sorghum is so popular in English-speaking countries is the support of his publishing agent team and Arcade Publishing.
Beijing Genuine&Profound Culture Media Co.,LTD.(hereinafter referred to as "Genuine&Profound") actually plays the role of a copyright agent for Mo Yan's works, responsible for developing the value of Mo Yan's works and planning the publication and distribution of Mo Yan's works. As the book publishing industry becomes more open and free, contemporary Chinese writers have had more knowledge of the publishing market, and some of them have realized the importance of publishing agents. A publishing agent, often called a copyright agent, is a middleman or intermediary that connects a work with a publisher. A publishing agent signs a copyright agency contract with a writer, and then helps the writer find a publishing platform for the work or an opportunity to exploit subsidiary rights related to the work. The services of a publishing agent are what Genuine&Profound provides for Mo Yan.
The uniqueness of Genuine&Profound lies in the fact that it has proposed the business model of "360°celebrity brokerage" for the first time in the industry. This service includes paper book publishing, digital rights management and promotion, promotion of film and television rights of literary works, brokerage of famous artists' artworks, promotion of famous artists' business and social activities, provision of artwork trading platforms, development and sales of derivatives, and legal protection of rights. With respect to Mo Yan's works, it believes that the value of Mo Yan is not only reflected in the publication and distribution of his Chinese works, but also in the overseas publication rights of paper books, film and television adaptation rights, digital publication rights, sales rights of calligraphy works and other subsidiary rights related to them.
The man behind Arcade Publishing, which has published five titles of Mo Yan's works in English translation, is in fact Richard Seaver, Mo Yan's most important advisor in the American publishing world. Arcade Publishing was established by Richard Seaver in 1988 to publish fiction and non-fiction literature. After Richard's death in 2009, Arcade went bankrupt and was acquired by Pegasus Publishing in July of the following year, and relaunched in 2011 under the name Pegasus, with its main focus remaining the same and the addition of some art books (Hao Dan 2019: 59). Today, Arcade Publishing has published nearly 300 authors from over 30 countries. Arcade Publishing has always been a great admirer of Mo Yan's works, and the front page of Arcade's official website has for quite some time read: Arcade and Skyhorse congratulate Mo Yan on winning the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature". Unfortunately, Richard passed away without waiting for Mo Yan to win the Nobel Prize, but his remarkable vision and solidity as a publisher have made him immortal.
Conclusion
Literary works that "go global" should have both universal and heterogeneous qualities in themselves. Universality can resonate with overseas authors, while the unique local characteristics of the works excite readers' interest (Zhang Lijun, Yu Huijun 2021: 92).
Another important factor in the success of Mo Yan's overseas distribution was mentioned earlier: the overseas influence of Zhang Yimou's film. The huge market for films often plays an excellent role in advertising and rapidly promotes the translation and publication of original literary works overseas. The spread and influence of contemporary Chinese literature and Chinese films overseas actually help each other. On the one hand, this shows that outstanding literary scripts are an important basis for the success of films; on the other hand, it also shows that successful film operations will produce a chain effect that can lead to a series of related cultural industries.
In addition, in the process of Chinese literature going global the selection of translation subjects is crucial. Local translators in China do not know enough about the reading habits of Western readers and lack in-depth research on the literary publishing market, so the dissemination of works translated by them is inevitably hindered abroad. In contrast, foreign sinologists have the unique advantage of being the ideal translators for Chinese literature to go global. Local Chinese translators are more likely to perceive Chinese characteristics and outstanding literary works, while the group of sinologists has a deeper understanding of the target language readership and dissemination. The advantages of both complement each other, thus promoting Chinese literature to go out better.
In addition, nowadays, in the context of globalization, it is also very important to establish a good relationship with foreign well-known publishing institutions. Red Sorghum was released by a well-known foreign publisher, so that it could be more widely known by its target readers. The most important thing is that major publishers can get a good understanding of the market, which is conducive to the dissemination of Chinese literature in the West.
The experience of the successful dissemination of Red Sorghum shows that for contemporary Chinese literature to go global, not only is there a requirement for the quality and cultural value of the work itself, but there is also a need for reliable translators and authoritative publishing partners.
References
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Liu Guozhi, Chi Changhai, Li Qingliu刘国芝，池昌海，李清柳. (2022) 英译小说《红高粱》在美国的传播与接受[Dissemination and Reception of the English Translation of Red Sorghum in America][J]. 中国翻译 [Chinese Translators Journal] 43(02): 59-66.
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Terms and expressions
《红高粱家族》 Red Sorghum
诺贝尔文学奖 the Nobel Prize for Literature
安德烈·勒菲弗尔Andre Lefevere
三要素理论 "three elements" (patronage, ideology and poetics)
葛浩文 Howard Goldblatt
文革 the Cultural Revolution
《枯河》 Dry River
《天堂蒜薹之歌》 The Garlic Ballads
企鹅出版公司 Penguin Publishing
《丰乳肥臀》 Big Breasts and Wide Hips
柏林国际电影节 Berlin International Film Festival
津巴布韦国际电影节 Zimbabwe International Film Festival
悉尼国际电影节 Sidney International Film Festival
马拉什国际电影电视节 Mar del Plata Film Festival
布鲁塞尔国际电影节 Bruxelles International Film Festival
蒙彼利埃国际电影节 Montreal World Film Festival
《中国现代文学》 Modern Chinese Literature
北京精典博维文化传媒有限公司 Beijing Genuine&Profound Culture Media Co.,LTD.
拱廊出版公司 Arcade Publishing
理查德·西维尔 Richard Seaver
Questions
1. What's the "three elements" put forward by Lefevere?
2. How many American books has China introduced in a year recently?
3. When was Mo Yan awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature?
4. Which novel is the most translated and reprinted work of Mo Yan?
5. How many stages are there in the history of contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking countries?
6. What are the reasons for Red Sorghum's successful transmission?
Answers
1. Patronage, ideology and poetics.
2. About 150.
3. On October 11, 2012.
4. Red Sorghum
5. Four.
6. The literary value of the work itself; the pioneering role of the film Red Sorghum; Howard Goldblatt's translation and promotion; the role of publishing brokers and houses.