Title: Zhang Ailing, Self-translation and Retranslation: Characterisation in Context
Date: January 29, 2020
Time: 4-5.30 pm
Venue: G.03 Doorway 6, Medical School, Teviot, University of Edinburgh
Abstract:
Zhang Ailing (also Eileen Chang, 1920-1995) is one of the most influential Chinese writers in the twentieth century. She is also known as a self-translator working between Chinese and English. Among the works that Zhang self-translated, there are two Chinese ones that are worth particular attention: Deng (1944) and Guihuazheng Axiao Beiqiu (1944), for the fact that they are chosen for retranslation after being translated by the author. My thesis will focus on these two works and their respective self-translations and retranslations.
In broad terms, I will draw upon the concept of character and analyse characterisation in each text. Here, character is defined in three ways: 1) as a narrative agent; 2) as a textual construct; and 3) as a mimetic construct. The three dimensions of character will work together in the analysis of characterisation. Methodologically, Systemic Functional Grammar and Bourdieu’s sociology of cultural production constitute a micro-macro approach. Systemic Functional Grammar, and more specifically, the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions, will be used to draw a profile of originals and translations. The linguistic realisations of these two metafunctions, i.e. transitivity, modality and mood will be examined as a means of analysing characterisation. In order to understand the linguistic findings, translations will then be situated in the context of production. Drawing on the concepts of field, capital and habitus from Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of cultural production, a sociocultural investigation will be implemented for each translation. In so doing, the linguistic findings can gain relevance, allowing me to identify the factors which have affected the translation of Deng and Guihuazheng Axiao Beiqiu.
Bio note:
Wang Yi has completed her MSc in Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She is currently studying for her PhD in Translation Studies at the same institution. Her research focuses on self-translating writers in China and how self-translation differs from non-authorial translation.