Era of great translators draws to a sad close

• Source: Global Times
• [21:21 December 01 2009]
• Comments

GT: Without excellent translators, how can China's literature be effectively introduced to foreign readers?

Liu: Some Chinese may feel at a loss when learning that Chinese classics are barely known among Westerners. This is related to not only translation problems, but also cultural differences.

Take Shakespeare, again. According to Pauline Kiernan's book Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Most Outrageous Sexual Puns published in 2007, some readers nowadays merely see half of Shakespeare.

The language in his great works is full of puns with sexual implications. That's why so many people went to watch his dramas in theaters and rocked with laughter at that time. The author thus discovered another funny version of Shakespeare.

So many decades have passed, but many readers today still have sympathetic responses to Shakespeare's works. They may have different interpretations of him, but all of them feel in heart that they understand Shakespeare.

In contrast, Chinese classic literature is not that easy to understand. Chinese may get it through their native language. However, without a certain knowledge of Chinese history and customs, foreign readers will probably find it hard to follow the book in translation.

The best way to translate Chinese books, say into English, is to let a native English translator work with a Chinese partner.

The translator had better understand a little bit of Chinese and have his own literary background. He needs to write in literary language in translation. Meanwhile, the Chinese cooperator makes sure that the original meanings are not missing.

Normally, a good translation ought to be accomplished by a native speaker of the target language. Therefore, in the future, Chinese translators may need to make more effort in translating foreign literature into Chinese.