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Influenced by the advanced theories in foreign countries, the early twentieth century brought a new awareness of developing native literary and translation theory in China. The literary societies formed by those students or writers boosted the progress of developing Chinese translation theory significantly.Some central figures in these societies, such as Guo Moruo, Zheng Zhenduo and Luxun, not only play an important role in introducing foreign works, but also enlighten the public through their works. Different translation theories and thoughts raised by the members in these societies act as a catalyst for building Chinese translation theory. The influence of their thoughts even continues to the present day. | Influenced by the advanced theories in foreign countries, the early twentieth century brought a new awareness of developing native literary and translation theory in China. The literary societies formed by those students or writers boosted the progress of developing Chinese translation theory significantly.Some central figures in these societies, such as Guo Moruo, Zheng Zhenduo and Luxun, not only play an important role in introducing foreign works, but also enlighten the public through their works. Different translation theories and thoughts raised by the members in these societies act as a catalyst for building Chinese translation theory. The influence of their thoughts even continues to the present day. | ||
| − | Despite their contributions, Some translation theories put forward by them are also disapproved by others. As for the "Graceful Translation", Guo Moruo sometimes pays so much attention to the charm of the original text that he neglects the structure of the original text. In other words, some of his translation works | + | Despite their contributions, Some translation theories put forward by them are also disapproved by others. As for the "Graceful Translation", Guo Moruo sometimes pays so much attention to the charm of the original text that he neglects the structure of the original text. In other words, some of his translation works are not so faithful. Over emphasizing the faithfulness, Luxun's literal translation would be a little bit similar to rigid translation in his translation work. Some words are not smooth. |
==References== | ==References== | ||
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Chapter 14: History of Chinese Translation Theories Raised by the Literary Societies
中国1919年至1949年翻译理论历史
杨爱江 Yang Aijiang,Hunan Normal University, China
Abstract
Before and after the May Fourth Movement, there is an unprecedented cultural revolution in the field of ideology and culture, the New Culture Movement. The main purpose of this movement is to enlighten the public and spread advanced idea and culture. Many literary societies are created during this period. The members of these literary societies translate many books which are written in foreign countries. The translation theories are developed gradually in this process. The aim of this paper is to give a systematic analysis about the translation theories raised by those famous writer in the literary societies, such as Lu Xun and Guo Moruo. It is beneficial for us to have a comprehensive understanding about the translation theories from 1911 to 1949.
Key Words
Translation theories;translation methods;translators;literary societies
摘要
在五四运动前后,于思想文化领域曾发生过一场规模空前的文化革命运动,即新文化运动。这场运动以启迪人们,传播先进的文化思想为目的。这场运动中还涌现了许多文学社团。这些文学社团的成员翻译了许多国外著作。在翻译著作的过程中,他们逐渐形成了自己的翻译思想。本论文将系统介绍和分析文学社团成员提出的翻译理论,如鲁迅和郭沫若。我们能更好的了解这些翻译理论。
关键词
翻译理论;翻译方法;翻译家;文学社团
Introduction
The New Culture Movement was a distinct turning point in the history of Chinese literature. The literature changed greatly from form to content in this period, surpassing the literary changes of any past era. With the vigorous development of the New Literature Movement, literary translation has also entered the most glorious period in the history of translation. The journal “New Youth” which was founded by Chen Duxiu translated and introduced many foreign literature works, so did other journals created by other literary societies.(Wang 2004:95)
During this period, literary translation had two significant characteristics: First, the May Fourth New Literature translation was another translation climax following the climax of translating Western works. In Comparison with the climax of translating Western works, fundamental changes have taken place in the number of translation works as well as the quality of these works. The important sign is that the leading forces of translation in this period are revolutionary writers such as Lu Xun and Guo Moruo, who are first-rate literary translators. Under the active advocacy and hard work of these people, Chinese literary translation has achieved extensive and in-depth development, forming a positive translation style. At the same time, a large number of outstanding professional translators emerged. Second, in comparison with translation of other foreign countries’ literature works, Russian literature works’ translation dominates in the field of translation. In addition, translating works about Marxism is another important aspect of that period.(Wang, 2004:94)
Some Debates on Translation Methods in this Period
The prosperity of translation in the New Culture Movement brought about the vitality of translation theory, which made new advances on the translation work. During this period, the vigorous literary revolution and the development of the vernacular literature movement promoted a thorough transformation of the translation style, boosting the transition of the traditional translation theories. Different translation methods were raised by different scholars, which lead to some debates concerning these translation methods.
Literal translation and free translation
The language structure and stylistic structure of English and Chinese have some similarities. Literal translation refers to translating the original meaning based on the original structure of the source language. The content of the original text is of great importance in the process of translation. The smoothness of the target text is of the least importance. It is not only faithful to the original content, but also in line with the language and stylistic structure of the original text. On the contrary, free translation emphasizes that the content of the source text should be in the first place. What matters most is to express the meaning of the source text faithfully. Besides, the translator can be free from restrictions imposed by the form of the source language. But the target translation is required to be natural and fluent.(Fang, 2011:101)
The first problem encountered in the development of the translation theory is the relationship between vernacular and classical Chinese, literal translation and free translation. Some think that literal translation should be used in vernacular Chinese, while free translation used in classical Chinese. Combining classical Chinese with free translation can reveal the beauty of Chinese to the most. Others deem that literal translation and free translation both should be used in vernacular. The third view is that literal translation or free translation has nothing to do with vernacular or classical Chinese.(Wang, 2004:103)
The common method in the translation process is to combine literal translation with free translation. Any good translation work will not just use one translation method throughout the whole passage. And the two translation methods would be used together in the same translation work to maintain the accuracy of the original content and avoid ambiguity.
Faithfulness or smoothness
From the late 1920s to the early 1930s, there was another debate about translation standards in the translation field. Many famous scholars were involved in this debate, which lasted for eight years and shocked the entire literary field. In 1929, Liang Shiqiu criticized Lu Xun's translation method of “rigid translation”, saying that it was better to be smooth than to be faithful. Zhao Jingshen also believed that translating books should satisfy the needs of the target readers; In other words, we should put the readers in the first place. Therefore, what we should consider most was whether the target text was correct or not. The most important thing was the smoothness of the translation. Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai support“faithfulness”while Liang Shiqiu and Zhao Jingshen are favorers of "smoothness". The two parties discussed the following topics: the issue of faithfulness and smoothness, literal translation and free translation, Europeanization and domestication and the issue of retranslation. These are the four central points of this debate. Consensus was reached in many aspects through this debate. This debate acts as a catalyst for the development of traditional Chinese translation theory.(Wang 2004:106)
The literary Societies in this Period
During the May Fourth movement, many famous literary societies which specialized in the translation of foreign literary works emerged. More than one hundred literary societies and several hundred periodicals were founded between 1921 and 1925. Focusing on different aspects, they translated many famous works in other countries. For example, the Literature Research Academy was initiated by Shen Yanbing and Zheng Zhenduo, the Creation Society organized by Guo Moruo and the Weiming Society initiated by Lu Xun. These new literary societies shouldered the responsibility of cultural enlightenment by translation and made great contributions to the development of translation theory. And their works offered a window on advanced thoughts in foreign countries at that time.(Li, 2019:47)
Creation Society
Creation Society (Chuangzao She) is one of the most crucial literary societies in the 1920s in China, which was formed in Tokyo, Japan in June 1921 and closed down in February 1929 thanks to the oppression from Kuo Min tang government. In the early stages, its members were Chinese students who studied in Japan, such as Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu, Cheng Fangwu, Zhang Ziping, Tian Han and Mu Mutian. Later newcomers joined in this society, such as Hong Weifa, Deng Junwu, Wang Duqing, Teng Gu, Xu Zuzheng, Zhang Dinghuang Tao Jingsun, Jing Yinyu and He Wei. In 1924, it had about thirty members. The purpose of the Creation Society is to build new literature under the slogan of “Creation” and to eliminate some poorly produced translation works in the new literature school.(Yin, 2006:11)
In addition, Creation Society has its own important cultural propaganda magazines, such as the 'Creation Quarterly' and the 'Creation Weekly'. And most of its translation works and translation theories were reflected in these periodicals. Creation Quarterly was the earliest journal of the Creation Society, which was edited by Guo Moruo, Cheng Fangwu and Yu Dafu. It started publication on March 15, 1922 and ended in late February 1924, having published 2 volumes, the first volume with 4 issues and the second one with 2 issues. Creation Weekly, its second jounal, began in May 1923 and came to its end in May 1924, with the total number of 52 issues. Both Creation Quarterly and Creation Weekly were published by Shanghai Taidong Publishing House.(Li, 2019:47)
Apart from its outstanding writings, the translation works of its members play an important role in the translation history of China since their translation activities cover a wide range, including fiction, poetry and drama. Besides, the members of the Creation Society concentrate on introducing persuasive literary schools in the western countries, such as Romanticism, Aestheticism and Symbolism. It was generally acknowledged that Creation Society laid the foundation for the translation of romantic literary works. The famous English writers and poets that the early Creation Society introduced include Oscar Wilde, Shelley, Thomas Grey and Wordsworth. Besides, they also translated some works written by French and German writers, such as Hugo and Heine.(Yin, 2006:11)
As mentioned above, Creation Society mainly focused on translating romantic works. Romanticism was a broad intellectual and artistic movement that arose toward the end of the eighteenth century and reached its zenith during the early decades of the nineteenth century. The ideals of Romanticism included an intense focus on expressing human subjectivity, an exaltation of nature, human passion and emotion. Underlying nearly all Romantic views of literature was intense individualism based on the authority of experience.
Reasons from historical background
During the May Fourth movement, China urgently needed some profound social changes to build a more prosperous future. Percy Bysshe Shelly who is a romanticist also creates many poems about revolution. He loved people and hated oppressors and exploiters. Shelly called on the people to overthrew the rule of tyranny and injustice and prophesied a happy and free future for mankind. He remained in this social and political ideal and fought for it all his life. We can have a look at his poems which can help us to understand the reason why Guo Moruo is so fond of Shelly’s poems. Shelly 's Political Poems “Queen Mab” is a long poem of great importance, which contains almost all Shelley’s major social and political ideas. It is written in the form of a fairy-tale dream. Through the mouth of the fairy queen the poet presents his own views on philosophy, religion, morality and social problems. Queen Mab is a revolutionary poem condemning tyranny and exploitation and the unjust war launched by the rich to plunder wealth. Prometheus Unbound states that the figure of Prometheus has been symbolic of those noble-hearted revolutionaries.In this poem Prometheus represents mankind itself and Zeus, a symbol of all reactionary institutions. Though chained to the rock, Prometheus has great allies in the work. He is supported by innumerable forces. Thus inspired with firm confidence in the final triumph of his just cause. Prometheus is perfectly calm in his sufferings. Finally, in spite of desperate resistance, Zeus is overthrown by the huge spirit Demogorgon, the symbol of change and revolution. Prometheus is released by the hero of great strength. The image of Prometheus unites four noble qualities: mans shaping intellect, his heroic endurance, the defiance against tyranny and the love of mankind. Prometheus bound becomes Prometheus unbound This symbolizes the victory for man's struggle against tyranny and oppression.(Habib, 2011:159)
From the analysis above, we can come to a conclusion that both Shelly and Guo Moruo lived in a similar historical background when revolution was needed. They have the same revolutionary thoughts and emotional background. Guo Moruo was also devoted to the cause of revolution and trying to build a bright future for the public. In this case, it is no wonder that Guo Moruo has a fancy for Shelley’s poem. Moreover, Guo Moruo is able to understand the inner meaning of Shelley’s poems well thanks to their similar aspiration. Guo Moruo thinks highly of Shelley and considers Shelly as a “true poet”. (Liu, 2008:140)
Reason from personal background
As mentioned at the beginning, Creation Society was mainly created by Chinese students who studied in Japan and were greatly influenced by romanticism. Zheng Boqi presented his view about the reason why the members of Creation society tend to be romantic. First, they have lived abroad for a long time. As a result, they were familiar with the defects of the capitalist and the decaying and corruption of those in power. They knew the weakness of domestic society clearly. The members of Creation Society felt extremely disappointed and suffered a lot. The oppression imposed on them by domestic and foreign countries only strengthened their rebellious mood.(Zheng, 1935:12)
Second, after returning to China, they, faced with the society where the public leads a difficult life, feel at a loss about what they should do so that they can save people from the abyss of suffering.(Second, after coming back to China, members of the Creation Society, faced with the society where the public lived with poverty, felt at a loss about saving people from the abyss of suffering) In this case, they need to find a way to express their emotions. The most fundamental philosophical disposition of Romanticism has often been seen as ironic, an ability to accommodate conflicting perspectives of the world. Therefore, romantic works are very suitable for them to air their unhappiness and their sorrows.
Third, the persuasive ideas in Japan at that time would naturally affect them for they have lived in Japan for many years. Influenced by Japanese literature, they read a large number of western literary works and theories.They have been involved in various western literary schools. The Japanese literature acts an important guiding role. Some well-known writers are promoted through Japanese translators. The members of the Creation Society fall under the spell of the thoughts of western writers, such as Shelley and Whitman. In the 10 years since the members of the Creation Club studied in Japan, the translation and introduction of works created by western romantic writers has not stopped in the Japanese literary world. Some scholars pointed out: "Most of the works translated and introduced in Japan at that time belonged to romantic works. Although western critical realism and naturalist works played a dominant role in literature at the time. However, they were paid little attention." (Yin, 2006:17)
Besides, Chinese students could take a variety of foreign language courses in the universities in Japan. Generally, Japanese teachers often use literary works as teaching materials. This lays the foundation for the members of Creation Society to understand western literature. All in all, Japanese literary world builds the bridge between Chinese students and western romantic works. Through contact with a large number of western literary works, the members of Creation Society have a preference for romantic works, which is inseparable from the impact of the translation and introduction of Japanese literature.
Literature Research Academy
Lierature Research Academy was formally established in 1921. The initiators were Zheng Zhenduo, Shen Yanbing (Mao Dun), Ye Shaojun (Ye Shengtao), Zhou Zuoren and so on. With the development of this society, other famed writers joined the Literature Search Academy successively, including Xie Wanying (Bing Xin), Zhu Ziqing, Shu Qingchun (Lao She), Xu Zhimo etc, totaling more than 170 people. As a new literary society whose enormous contributions span several areas, such as literature, politics and translation, during the May Fourth period, the power of the media significantly anticipates the development and success of the Literary Research Academy. First and foremost has been the impact of "Novel Monthly". From 1921 to 1922, Mao Dun served as the editor-in-chief of the "Novel Monthly". The "Novel Monthly" has become a crucial tool for the Literature Research Academy to voice their thoughts and promote their translation texts. The members of this society translate and introduce a large number of foreign literary works, mainly focusing on realistic works in Russia, France and Northern Europe. Besides, they also introduce the trends of literature around the world, literary theories and literary schools. At the same time, attention is paid to some famous foreign writers such as Andersen, Maupassant, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Roman Roland. According to statistics, from the first issue of Volume 12 published in January 1921 to Issue 12 of Volume 17, the translations of Russian literature and French literature occupied a dominant position.(Li,2019:47)
Weiming Society
Weiming Society was founded in Beijing in August 1925 and initiated by Lu Xun. Along with the movements in literature and translation, Weiming Society were a group of writers who flourished during the period of the New Culture Movement. An important concern of the members of Weiming society was to get the works and translations of young writers published. Short though the time of its existence may have been, it nonetheless exerted a powerful attraction through their introduction to foreign literary works. Lu Xun thought that Weiming society “work surefootedly and never brag about itself”. It is this kind of attitude that helps this society to build a good reputation among readers. The Weiming Society is called one of the three literary groups whose influence on China's literature continue to the present day.
As mentioned above, what underlies the creation of Weiming Society is an awareness that the writers should translate literary works in foreign countries as much as possible. Therefore, the translation of other foreign works played an important role in the activities of Weiming Society. From 1925 to1930, the members of Weiming Society would at least translate a book. In some years, they published three or four books. Among these books, some were translated completely. And they sometimes only chose a part of the book to translate. (Zhang, 2011:11)
The Translators in these Literary Societies
Guo Moruo from Creation Society
Guo Moruo is a well-known Chinese writer, poet, dramatist, historian as well as an outstanding translator. Like Lu Xun, he is a great pioneer in the history of modern Chinese thought and culture, and a master of Chinese new literature. The influence of his thought on many fundamental areas including literature, art, philosophy, Marxist theoretical works and foreign literature translation continues to the present day. He is worthy of the 20th century Chinese cultural giant and world cultural celebrity.
The Purpose and significance of translation
In the 1920s, the two major literary societies of Chinese new literature, namely, the Literature Research Academy and the Creation Society, which hold two different literary schools of realism and romanticism respectively, had a debate on translation, especially on the purpose of translation. The Literature Research Academy advocated the translation of 19th century Russian literature, oppressed national literature, and critical realist works of other countries.(The Literature Research Academy advocated to translate critical realist works from other countries of the 19th century, such as Russian literature.) They paid little attention to the famous western classics. Mao Dun who was the main figure of the "Literature Research Academy" said that the translation of Faust and other books was not the most important thing to do at that time. When introducing works to the public, one should evaluate the situation and get one’s priorities right. Earlier, he published a piece titled "Blind Translator", saying that translating western classics is uneconomical. (Tan 2012:77)
Besides, Mao Dun also made a list of books that were not the first priority to translate, including Dante's "The Divine Comedy," Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and Geothe's "Faust." Guo Moruo's opinion about the motivation and effects of translation was put forward under such background. It was at that time that Guo Moruo was working on the translation of Faust. Guo Moruo raised the opposite opinion, claiming that as long as the work was a good translation one, then it was necessary at any time and economical for any readers which also highlighted the difference between the Creative Society and Literary Research Academy in choosing works to translate. Guo Moruo decried those who had the mentality of speculation and wanted to make a living and catch fame by translating books, asserting that it was the irresponsible attitude of some translators at that time which led to the occurrence of abuse of translation and works of low quality. These irresponsible translators rushed to translate before thinking clearly about the necessity of translation. (Tan 2012:77)
Then what is the correct translation motivation? Guo Moruo's original translation motivation was to awaken the people and the spirit of Chinese culture, to get rid of the inherent defects of being lazy and idle and to liberate people's minds. He stated the relationship between motivation and effect. He said:
“If, before translating, he invests the work with creation spirit, makes a thorough study of the translated work, obtains a correct understanding and feels the compulsion in the process of translation, the translations that he produces, of course, can be effective and arouse readers' interest. The translations of such translators are necessary at all times and economical for all readers.”(Wang, 2004:147)
Graceful translation (风韵译)
In nearly half a century of translation activities, he devoted a great deal of his own efforts and translated a large number of works.In the process of translation, he has his own preference. He tends to use free translation when he is translating works. He called his method of translation "Graceful Translation". He thinks such a translation is an ideal one. Graceful translation mainly refers to the elegance of the target text. It requires that the target text should leave space for the readers to taste the text so as to fully understand the meaning hidden behind the text. The requirements of graceful translation are similar to the Chinese traditional aesthetic thought of "artistic conception"(意境). Guo Moruo advocates that translation not only should be readable and elegant, but also should have beauty in form from the aesthetic perspective of translation. (Tan, 2006:133)
The term "graceful translation" put forward by Guo Moruo for the first time was in the book "Thoughts expressed in Goethe poems" translated by Dai Tian Han.Guo Moruo said that the life of poetry lied in its charm which was hard to reach. Therefore, the translation of poetry should also put emphasis on its charm. He further explained that if the translation work of poetry caught the charm of the original poem as well as the content and structure of the original poem, this translation work would be wonderful. If it didn't fully show the content of the original poem in order to catch the gracefulness of the original poem, this translation work could still be considered a good translation work.(Yan, 2007:11)
Requirements of the translators
The translator who is responsible for the translation work plays a central role in the process of translation. The quality of the translation work is totally dependent on the translator. Many scholars voice different views about the role of the translator, and so does Guo Moruo.Guo Moruo attached great importance to the improvement of the translator's ability. He thought that the translator should be highly responsible for his choice of work. It was imperative for the translator to carefully think about the value and influence of the book before deciding which book to translate. In the process of translation, the translator needed to look up extensive literature and consult others if he didn't know how to translate.He wrote that the translator should be a master of using words and understand the original book clearly. Besides, he also needed to study the author thoroughly. The translator should have the ability to use his native language freely to express his ideas. These conditions are not easy to obtain, relying on years of study. The translator should not only study language diligently, but also be familiar with all the local customs of a country.(Wang, 2004:149)
Zheng Zhenduo from the Literature Research Academy
Born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, Zheng Zhenduo studied in Beijing Railway Management School in 1917 where he read a lot of western social science works and Russian literature, which inspired him intellectually. He was the leader of the students in the school during the May Fourth Movement. In October 1920, he initiated the preparation for establishing the Literature Research Academy, and later served as the secretary of this society. Zheng Zhenduo has made great contributions in many fields, so has in translation theory. On March 20, 1920, he wrote the preface to the Famous Russian Short Novel Series translated by Geng Jizhi and others. In this preface, he introduces the great significance of introducing Russian critical realism literature, which, he thinks, is conducive to creating Chinese new literature. At the same time, he also viewed the shortcomings of the previous translation as sporadic, messy and not systematic, advocating original and systematic translation. He supports that translating directly from the original text is more explicit than translating other intermediate works.
The translatability of literary works
Zheng Zhenduo’s first formal monograph on translation, which was also the first monograph on translation published by the Literature Research Academy after its establishment, was an article called "The Three Problems in Translating Literary Books". The first question put forward by Zheng Zhenduo was: "Can literary books be translated?" This was really the problem that needed to be solved. Since the launch of the New Literature Movement, some people openly doubted whether the translated works could hold the thoughts and artistic beauty of the original works for people’s understanding about the nature of the literature was deepened considerably. What’s more, some people even insisted that literary works were absolutely untranslatable. Especially in the translation of poetry, this idea that the literary books were absolutely impossible to translate was more popular.(Yang, 2014:23)
Obviously, it was imperative to explain this problem clearly for the development of translation. Zheng Zhenduo said that translating literary books was absolutely feasible. Not only could the thoughts expressed by the original literary book be completely transferred into the target text, but also the artistic beauty of the original text could be fully shown in the target text. A mere glance at the works of other translators could also tell us that literary books were translatable. “He emphasizes that the transfer of the thoughts could be“complete" and the transfer of artistic beauty could be“sufficient". He is very cautious about the choice of words in the target language text. Both the theory (the idea) and practice can illustrate this fact. The opinion that "literary books were untranslatable" was derived from the old narrow concept of literature. Zheng Zhenduo pointed out that if we deny the possibility of translation, we actually neglect the international communication of literature and the meaning of world literature. An overemphasis on the inseparability of "thought" and "words” means the negation of the vitality of literature itself.
Translation and creation
In 1920s, translation was considered to be of little importance, believing that creation should be put in the first place. The view that "translation is just a matchmaker and what we should make a lot of effort is creation" once dominated the literature circle at that time. Zheng Zhenduo thought totally differently. He wrote an article to highlight the importance of translation. There is no denying that creation is crucial. However, viewing translation as a matchmaker is to belittle the benefits of translation. From the perspective of literature, translation which introduces some renowned foreign literary works is conducive to enriching our traditional literature. For people, it can enhance people's spiritual world. As mentioned above, Zheng Zhenduo further proposes that translating a literary work is like creating a literary work; Both of them should be put great value.(Chen,2002:220)
Lu Xun from Weiming Society
Lu Xun's translation theory was built on the basis of his predecessors, namely the translation ideas formed in translating Buddhist scriptures and social science books in the late Qing Dynasty. Lu Xun is an outstanding translator who puts forward many influential translation theories. In addition, he published a large number of articles concerning translation theories and translation thoughts to expound his views and fought relentlessly against various erroneous ideas and unhealthy trends and tendencies in the translation industry at that time, which developed traditional Chinese translation theories and thoughts significantly.
According to Lu Xun, one question that must be answered before writing is which comes first, domesdication or foreignization. A Japanese translator tends to support the former method. He believes that the translation of source text should first be easy to understand. The easier it is to understand, the more effective the translation work will be. Lu Xun holds the opposite opinion. There is no need for the writer to translate if they only pursue the lucidity of the text. Creating a book is much easier to understand. For translation, not only should we transfer the emotion hidden behind the words, but also the translated work should puzzle, at least letting the readers know the time and the place of a specific event, which is very similar to traveling abroad. The translated work should be exotic, which is the so-called foreignization. In fact, there will not be a completely domesticatedtranslation in the world. All translators must take into account both sides, one of course to make it easy to understand, the other meaning the preservation of the original charm. Lu Xun deemed that he would rather not translate smoothly in order to be faithful.(Wang,2004:118)
What should mention is that the standard of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" is different from Lu Xun's theory of "two sides" : "make every effort to be easy to understand" and "preserve the beauty of the original work", in other words, to be smooth as well as faithful. In essence, Lu Xun’s faithfulness requires the translated text to be faithful from content to form, including Yan Fu’s faithfulness and elegance. In other words, it is faithful to the content and form of the original work which is an inseparable unity in an original work, including linguistic elements, hyperlinguistic elements and artistic elements etc. This is the true meaning of Lu Xun's double standard of "easy to understand and faithful in form and content". Qu Qiubai also said: "Since it is called translation, it must be completely based on the original text, and the translator has no inherent ability to change the original text.(Cui,2006:42)
Conclusion
Influenced by the advanced theories in foreign countries, the early twentieth century brought a new awareness of developing native literary and translation theory in China. The literary societies formed by those students or writers boosted the progress of developing Chinese translation theory significantly.Some central figures in these societies, such as Guo Moruo, Zheng Zhenduo and Luxun, not only play an important role in introducing foreign works, but also enlighten the public through their works. Different translation theories and thoughts raised by the members in these societies act as a catalyst for building Chinese translation theory. The influence of their thoughts even continues to the present day.
Despite their contributions, Some translation theories put forward by them are also disapproved by others. As for the "Graceful Translation", Guo Moruo sometimes pays so much attention to the charm of the original text that he neglects the structure of the original text. In other words, some of his translation works are not so faithful. Over emphasizing the faithfulness, Luxun's literal translation would be a little bit similar to rigid translation in his translation work. Some words are not smooth.
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Written by--Yang Aijiang (talk) 01:23, 14 December 2021 (UTC)