On the Initiative of Chinese Culture “Going Out”

Qin Zhongshu

(Chongqing College of Humanities,Science & Technology,Chongqing　401524)



On the Initiative of Chinese Culture “Going Out”

Qin Zhongshu

(Chongqing College of Humanities,Science & Technology,Chongqing401524)

Ⅰ.Successful attempts of Chinese writings translated and accepted in the West

Since translation studies established itself as a distinct discipline in the 1970s,it has gained an increasingly important role and status in the academic circle.Some of the theoretical ideas of the cultural school can be dated back to as early as in 1960s,and it shows a comprehensive and deconstructive view from its very debut by drawing on many theories from other disciplines,such as sociology,psychology,communication studies and ethnics.Theorists from these fields began to recognize the problem of translation in their research,and some gradually shifted their academic interests to translation studies.Meanwhile,the prosperity and combination of cultural studies and translation studies initiated a move from studying translation as a text to studying translation as culture and politics.This move towards the analysis of translation from a cultural perspective is what Mary Snell-Hornby terms in her paper as “the cultural turn”.By positing to consider broader issues of context,history and convention,the proponents of the cultural turn are highly concerned with the complicated and manipulative process of translation in which the reason for the selection of an source text to translate,the role a translator plays,the influences from an editor,publisher or patron,the criteria of translation,the strategies employed by the translator,and the reception of the translated text in the target system are all essential and should be studied for further understanding of translation.

At present,with the increasingly frequent cultural communication between China and the West,China’s positive profile has been widely recognized in the world.As a national strategy proposed by the Chinese government,Chinese culture “going out” has been the hottest theme in China’s cultural,social,and foreign policies.Its richness and profundity has attracted worldwide attention and academic interest.How to spread Chinese culture by way of translation,especially the classics of China,is one of the undertakings worthy to take.It is quite meaningful to analyze this translation phenomenon in the light of cultural perspective.

As a cultural strategy,Chinese culture “going out” has not been put forward for a very long time.But what should be noticed is that Chinese translators’ endeavors to spread Chinese language and culture have a long tradition and have never been thwarted.In literature,almost every genre,from classical poetry,novels to modern prose,has been translated into other languages.Lin Yutang,the great literary figure in the 20th century,is a typical example of the combination of Chinese thinking and literature with that of the West.As a bridge for Chinese and western cultural communication,he not only wrote in excellent English,but also enabled western people to read Lao Zi,Tao Yuanming,Li Bai,Cao Xueqin alike by his rich translation practice.

More than five decades ago,the appearance of Chinese Literature initiated the move of Chinese literature “going out”,mainly translated and spread to the western countries.Its French version appeared later in 1964.In 1980s,Mr.Yang Xianyi presided over a big translation project,and the Panda collections of Chinese writings were published.More than 100 kinds of books were translated,including Book of Songs,Li Sao (The Lament),Strong Stories from a Chinese Studio and other classics and modern literary works of Lu Xun.The Chinese government initiated two projects of contemporary literary works translation separately in 2006 and 2009.With the rapid growth of China’s economy,translation activities have been more and more frequent.With the translation of authors like Mo Yan,Yu Hua,Han Shaogong,Bi Feiyu,etc,many westerners become ardent readers of Chinese culture and literature.The Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan once again arouses great passion for Chinese literature,and comments on translation done by sinologists.

Ⅱ.Difficulties for Chinese culture “going out”

The translation of Buddhism two thousand years ago and the spreading of western learning in the 20th century did enrich Chinese civilization with new ideological,social,literary,and poetic thinking,but translation or translated literature still stands in a periphery position in China.Unlike other cultures in the western world,Chinese culture has always retained its dominant position and it has never been replaced by other foreign cultures no matter what changes or revolutions occurred throughout its history.

The first difficulty for Chinese culture “going out” is easy to be seen in the fact that the translation and dissemination of Chinese thinking and learning is not satisfactory enough in terms of its volume,dissemination and influence.For example,Shakespeare is sure to find a greater readership all over the world than his Chinese counterpart,the dramatist Tang Xianzu.He has aroused such a great enthusiasm of translation in China and has been translated for several generations of Chinese translators and is still being translated today.With great works like The Peony Pavilion,Tang unfortunately fell into a much lower position in world literature and found a much smaller group of readership worldwide.This discrepancy may partly result from the hegemony of western cultures and partly from China’s ingrained concept of culture and translation,which is one translation concept of the cultural school.

Another problem confronting Chinese culture “going out” is that most of the translation done by Chinese are not so widely accepted in the West as expected.Many of the translated Chinese classics were published and ended up lying in the libraries of Chinese colleges and universities or in the bookshelves of scholars and translation lovers.It is very difficult for them to “going out”.Few westerners read Chinese classics rendered by Chinese translators.For example,David Hawkes’s The Story of Stone is much more popular among the western readership than A Dream of Red Mansions by Yang Xiangyi.Yang and his wife adopted foreignizing translation strategy to retain Chinese cultural elements and heritage as much as possible,while the sinologist depended more on a domestication strategy in translation to conform to the usage and conventions of target language and cater to the tastes of westerners.Statistics show that David Hawkes’s translation is more popular and Yang’s version is not so prevalent.A more recent example is Mo Yan.It is said that Mo’s Nobel Prize owes much to the successful rendering of his works by the Swedish sinologist Anna Gustafson Chen.Undoubtedly,if Chen did not conform to the poetics and literary canon of the western literature and heritage,Mo’s name wound not have been known so soon.What can be concluded from the aforesaid is that translation is ideologically,politically and culturally bound,the exact implication of the cultural turn in translation studies.

The third problem of Chinese culture going out lies in China’s lack of a team of competent and professional translators who can shoulder the responsibility of disseminating Chinese classics and culture.Those who have a good command of both Chinese and English may not be experts in Chinese culture or literature,and many literature scholars can hardly do translation.This crisis is especially conspicuous in the 21th century.It is quite difficult to find great translators like Xu Yuancong and his generation.Moreover,the dissemination of Chinese culture owes much to generations of western sinologists.Names of James Legge,Herbert Allen Giles,Arthur Waley,John Minford and Stephen Owen have left indelible mark in the translation of spread of Chinese culture “going out”.Owen reconstructed the history of Chinese literature and poetics by producing An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911 and six-volume The Poetry of Du Fu.His love for Chinese literature,and his expertise and contribution in translation is a great asset for the dissemination of Chinese culture.The amazing achievements of these sinologists remind Chinese translators of the urgency of studying and spreading Chinese culture in a more effective way.

Ⅲ.Suggestions for Chinese culture “going out”

To promote the image of Chinese culture in the West through the “going out” policy,more efforts are to be made.The government,companies,scientific and research institutes,cultural groups and individual translators are all entities involved in spreading Chinese culture.The Chinese government should take more cultural initiatives to encourage cultural communication and do more to facilitate the translation of Chinese literature.The Translation and Publishing of Chinese Cultural Works Project (2009) and Chinese Learning Translation Projects Supported by National Social Science Foundation of China (2010)〔1〕are part of the efforts aimed to spread Chinese culture and their actual effects are to be evaluated.Hopefully,through these strategic initiatives,China is supposed to earn its own position in the world of scholarship and avoid to be marginalized in cultural studies as well as in translation studies.

Translating and disseminating Chinese culture is a huge project.It is a long way to go for translated Chinese culture,mainly literature in this paper,to take its own position in its mainstream of culture and literature,and to gain its world recognition.The expertise required in successful translation consists of bilingual proficiency,specialized knowledge,translation ability and most importantly the global cultural vision.As regard to who is to shoulder the great responsibility of translating,Hu Anjiang gave his advice: the translator needs to be familiar with Chinese history and its current situations,and meanwhile,to know the needs and reading habits of foreign readers.He should be competent enough to translate in his own mother tongue and to have close contact with international publishing houses,news media and academic circle.〔2〕What’s more,to resort to international cooperation in translating and publishing is the key to success.

Translation is an essential tool for Chinese culture “going out”.Theoretical research in translation studies should be strengthened and deepened,so as to construct China’s own translation theories and provide academic support for guiding Chinese culture “going out”.Translation theorists and scholars need to seek collaboration with professionals from other disciplines as what the cultural school has done.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

The cultural turn in translation studies is quite influential both in the West and in China.It deepens people’s understanding of in what context translation activity is involved,why a translated text is accepted or not,what liberty and constraints a translator will submit to and what role or position a translation occupies in the target culture.On the whole,the cultural school brings the interdisciplinary feature of translation studies into prominence.By introducing and rethinking these theoretical thoughts,Chinese researchers and scholars make insightful assumptions on how to construct China’s translation studies and point out the direction of future development,all of which are closely related and beneficial to the practical theme of Chinese culture “going out”.The specific problems related to Chinese culture “going out” accordingly inspire theoretical exploration in China’s translation studies.

References:

〔1〕鲍晓英：《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》，《中国翻译》2013年第5期，第62页。

〔1〕胡安江：《中国文学“走出去”之译者模式及翻译策略研究——以美国汉学家葛浩文为例》，《中国翻译》2010年第6期，第11-16页。

The cultural turn has ushered translation studies into a new era with a much broader view and brought about more research approaches for translators and theorists in western countries.This paper mainly discusses successful attempts of Chinese writings translated and accepted in the West,difficulties for Chinese culture “going out” and suggestions for how to press ahead the “going out” initiative for Chinese Culture.

the cultural turn;translation studies;criticism;Chinese culture “going out”

About the author：Qin Zhongshu,lecturer in Chongqing College of Humanities,Science & Technology,academic interests: translation theory and practice,translation and culture.