yes -- i think his comment about the "definitive text" corresponding only to religion is apt here. perhaps the reason i'm so concerned about the zhuangzi is because I feel that there's some eternal Truth in the text that I want access to, and there's a sense of frustration at feeling like the process of translation is getting in the way. you could say this essay was an attempt to wrestle with those feelings
i think borges (who is much smarter than me) is better able to reconcile the various styles/methods of translation, with their different goals. some focus on expressing the poetic beauty of the odyssey, some focus on expressing the pathos, and some on strictly expressing the "material" content of the text.
i, on the other hand, am apt to become attached to a translation as if it were an original text (like his example with the quixote), and then become upset with the idea that others *think* they are experiencing "dream of red mansions," for example, when to my mind they are actually reading a cheap imitation that passes itself off as that book. and my fear is that they will dislike it and say, "this book sucks," and..
Complete tangent, but re: Don Quixote, Chinese and translation, I just happened to read an essay this afternoon by Zhou Zuoren, Lu Xun's brother, where he compares Lin Shu's translation (the only Chinese translation at the time) to the available English and Japanese translations. One point that stood out: after Don Quixote “saves” a kid from his master’s beatings, only resulting in more beatings, the kid finds…
…Quixote and says (Ormsby translation): “on [you] and all the knights-errant that have ever been born, God send his curse.” Lin translated this as “似此等侠客在法宜骈首而诛，不留一人以害社会,” which means roughly “These kinds of knight-errants should by law be gathered together and put to death so that not one remains to harm society,” with a translator’s note by Lin below it “吾于党人亦然”：”I feel the same about members of political parties.”
Perhaps I should give further context: Lin Shu's translation of Quixote was published in 1922, in a post May 4th movement world. Despite introducing a lot of Western literature to China, he was considered a conservative figure. I'm curious if he maps Quixote to the politics of his day throughout the entire translations, or if this was just one witty remark
see, part of me really likes translators inserting themselves like that. this is why I like Pope's Odyssey; he seems to consider himself a legitimate descendant of Homer, and therefore justified in doing whatever it takes to make the most beautiful English Poetry Version of the work
have you ever read the borges essay "the homeric versions"
yes -- i think his comment about the "definitive text" corresponding only to religion is apt here. perhaps the reason i'm so concerned about the zhuangzi is because I feel that there's some eternal Truth in the text that I want access to, and there's a sense of frustration at feeling like the process of translation is getting in the way. you could say this essay was an attempt to wrestle with those feelings
i think borges (who is much smarter than me) is better able to reconcile the various styles/methods of translation, with their different goals. some focus on expressing the poetic beauty of the odyssey, some focus on expressing the pathos, and some on strictly expressing the "material" content of the text.
i, on the other hand, am apt to become attached to a translation as if it were an original text (like his example with the quixote), and then become upset with the idea that others *think* they are experiencing "dream of red mansions," for example, when to my mind they are actually reading a cheap imitation that passes itself off as that book. and my fear is that they will dislike it and say, "this book sucks," and..
... i will have to scream off the largest mountain on Earth, "no!!!! it does not suck!!!!"
Complete tangent, but re: Don Quixote, Chinese and translation, I just happened to read an essay this afternoon by Zhou Zuoren, Lu Xun's brother, where he compares Lin Shu's translation (the only Chinese translation at the time) to the available English and Japanese translations. One point that stood out: after Don Quixote “saves” a kid from his master’s beatings, only resulting in more beatings, the kid finds…
…Quixote and says (Ormsby translation): “on [you] and all the knights-errant that have ever been born, God send his curse.” Lin translated this as “似此等侠客在法宜骈首而诛，不留一人以害社会,” which means roughly “These kinds of knight-errants should by law be gathered together and put to death so that not one remains to harm society,” with a translator’s note by Lin below it “吾于党人亦然”：”I feel the same about members of political parties.”
Perhaps I should give further context: Lin Shu's translation of Quixote was published in 1922, in a post May 4th movement world. Despite introducing a lot of Western literature to China, he was considered a conservative figure. I'm curious if he maps Quixote to the politics of his day throughout the entire translations, or if this was just one witty remark
see, part of me really likes translators inserting themselves like that. this is why I like Pope's Odyssey; he seems to consider himself a legitimate descendant of Homer, and therefore justified in doing whatever it takes to make the most beautiful English Poetry Version of the work