Source: Asia-Pacific Interdisciplinary Translation Studies, 2021
Transferred from: International Sinology Research and Database Construction
introduction
Song Qi is a generalist with a certain pioneering spirit in many fields. As Song Qizhe's heir Song Yilang said, "For film fans, he is the pioneer of Hong Kong's international film industry." For Zhang Fans, he is a good friend and consultant of Zhang Ailing, who has assisted her in writing books for many years. In the field of red science, he was one of the first red scholars to advocate the precedence of text. In the translation world, if nothing else, he had the insight to translate his "The Captive Mind" long before Czeslaw Milosz won the Nobel Prize in Literature, which alone was enough to make him famous. (Song Yilang, 2015:1)
Song Qi has a certain legend in the Hong Kong literary and art circles, but the research on him is not entirely commensurate with his contributions. Just as "in the torrent of history, although Song Qi has made great achievements in many aspects and is an inseparable and important link in the development of Chinese literature and art, his name always seems to be like a silent glimpse of the sky, hidden behind the text, and the dragon sees the beginning and the end." (Li Qing, 2015)
Kong Huiyi of the University of Chinese in Hong Kong took over the "Translation Series" after Song Qi and had more contacts with Song Qi. After the death of Song Qi, Kong Huiyi wrote an article commemorating Song Qi and pointed out that Song Qi was a "treasure fan" and was familiar with "Dream of the Red Chamber" and Song Ci. (Kong Huiyi, 2017) On the mainland, Sun Lianwu (2018, 2020), Wang Yuping (2012), Cai Yijiang (2000) and Li Xueying (1989) discuss the relationship between Song Qi and foreign literature, Song Qi and Dream of the Red Chamber, and Song Qi and film. In 2017, Guangxi Normal University Press published the Complete Works of Wu Xinghua, the third volume of which is "The Wind Blows on the Water: A Collection of Letters to Song Qi", which contains more than 60 letters from Wu Xinghua to Song Qi. In 2015, Song Qi's Zhe Si Song Yi Lang edited "The Legend of Song Qi - From Song Chunfang to Zhang Ailing", which was published by Oxford University Press in Hong Kong (the mainland edition is titled "Song Family Living Room - From Qian Zhongshu to Zhang Ailing", published by Huacheng Publishing House in 2015), mainly recalling his father's travels with Qian Zhongshu, Wu Xinghua, Fu Lei and Zhang Ailing, etc., providing a lot of noteworthy historical materials from the perspective of witnesses. Of course, some of the memories are also debatable, such as Xie Zhixi's writing of an error (2017). The translation of Song Qi directly includes Zheng Yanguo (2002), and the translation criticism of Song Qi's "Dream of the Red Chamber" is Li Jing (2018) and so on.
Although Song Qi has made great contributions to translation practice and theory, few scholars have been specifically analyzing Song Qi's contributions from the perspective of Song Qi and translation. In 2017, I and Li Huoren of the University of Hong Kong facilitated the first Song Qi Translation Research Seminar in Zhangjiajie. The conference was co-sponsored by the University of Hong Kong, Hunan University and Jishou University, sponsored by the Hunan Comparative Literature and World Literature Research Association, hosted by the School of Foreign Chinese of Jishou University, and attended by more than 30 experts and scholars from the University of Hong Kong, Soochow University in Taiwan, Hunan University, Xiamen University, Hohai University and other places on both sides of the strait to discuss the relationship between Song Qi and translators. (Xiu Wei, 2017) This article is revised on the basis of the speeches made at the Song Qi Translation Research Seminar.
Song Yilang's "The Legend of Song Qi - From Song Chunfang to Zhang Ailing" cover
I. Investigation of Song Qi's life and his translation practice
Song Qi (1919-1996), a native of Wuxing, Zhejiang, also known as Song Qi, also known as Song Tifen, English name Stephen C. Soong, commonly known as Lin Yiliang, also published a large number of works under various pseudonyms such as Lin Yiliang, Yu Huai, Fei Teng, Yang Jin, Tang Wenbing, Ouyang Jing, Ouyang Qing, Ouyang Qing, Bystander Qing, Zhu Lei and Liang Wenxing, and was the pioneer of modern Chinese drama, Song Chunfang (1892-1938). (Chen Zishan, 2001:438; Song Yilang, 2015:32; Zhang Feng, 2015:268; Sun Lianwu, 2018; Cai Dengdeng, 2014)
Song Qi was born in Shanghai in May 1919. Because of his father's rich collection of books, Song Qi was deeply influenced from an early age, dabbling in various Chinese and foreign masterpieces since childhood, and had a strong interest in poetry, literature, novels and dramas as a teenager, which had a profound influence on his future poetry creation, translation and film. In 1935, he completed secondary school in Shanghai and went north to study in the Spanish Department of Yenching University, majoring in Western literature. After the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, he went to Shanghai to avoid war at the behest of his father, coinciding with the "August 13" incident, he studied in the mainland, and finally returned to the University in the Shanghai Concession through Hong Kong to study. In the spring of 1938, he entered the English Department of Guanghua University (now East China Normal University) and became a classmate with Xia Ji'an and Liu Cunren. In 1939, he returned to Yenching University to study, and the following year won the Phi Tau Phi Golden Key Award and the "Yan" Character Award, graduated from the Department of Spanish language with an honorary bachelor of arts, and stayed on to teach at the school In December 1941, the Pearl Harbor Incident occurred, and his family did not trust him to return to Shanghai alone. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he engaged in theatrical activities in Shanghai and organized the "Jindu Repertory Theatre Troupe" with friends, which trained many actors for the later drama industry. During this period, he wrote the script "Everyone is Happy", which was popular among the population and became a sensation. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he began to work as a businessman in Shanghai's Shili Yangchang, married Kwong Fuzhuo's daughter Kwong Wenmei in 1946, and moved to Hong Kong in 1949. In 1971, he participated in the establishment of the Translation Center of the University of Chinese, Hong Kong, the first director was Sun Shuyu, song Qi took over as the director in 1973, and served as the assistant to the president of the University of Chinese, Hong Kong. He had deep friendships with Xia Ji'an, Xia Zhiqing, Zhang Ailing, Qian Zhongshu, Fu Lei, Wu Xinghua and Zhang Zhilian. The couple especially had a close relationship with Zhang Ailing, and Xia Zhiqing's first reading of Zhang Ailing and Qian Zhong's works was recommended by Song Qi. In 1995, Zhang Ailing died in Los Angeles, and the relics were handed over to the couple for safekeeping. (Song Yilang, 2015:34-35, 56-59, 84-87, 240-241; Kong Huiyi, 2000:215-216; Wang Dong, 2015:281; 2019: XXIV-XXV)
Chen Zishan pointed out that in addition to being a close friend of Zhang Ailing, "Zhang Fan" and Zhang Ailing research expert, Song Qi is also an accomplished literary critic, translator, poet and editor, who has made great achievements in the field of literature and even culture, and should occupy a place that cannot be ignored in the history of Chinese literature in the 20th century, especially in the history of Hong Kong literature.
Song Qi's life has ended in literary creation and literary criticism, translation practice and theoretical exploration, drama and film editing, and the establishment and editing of publications, etc., and these aspects have achieved good results, and his literary thought, translation thought, screenwriter thought and editorial thought are all worthy of in-depth discussion. Song Qi's close connection with translation is mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1) carrying out translation practice, 2) expressing translation ideas in translation writings and editing, 3) organizing a series of translation and publication work, and 4) preparing for the establishment of a translation center and the Hong Kong Translation Society and hosting translation publications.
1.1 Translation of English and American literary and philosophical works
Song Qi has been very interested in translation since the age of 16, because "contemporary creative literature can neither fully satisfy my hunger for literature, so I have to turn to translation." (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 177) However, he really began translating Byron's lyric poems at the age of 21. Since then, he has formed an indissoluble relationship with translators. (Lin Yiliang, 1984:177)
In 1954, he co-translated with Lou Yizhe the famous American philosopher Dewey's Freedom and Culture (Freedom and Culture, 1939). They translated this work three times before it was finalized and published. Lou Yizhe majored in philosophy when he was in college, while Song Qi himself majored in Western literature, and he had translated many literary works before translating "Freedom and Culture", and Dewey's work was not difficult, and it was reasonable to say that there should be no great problem in translation. However, when they began to translate, they encountered unexpected difficulties. (Lin Yiliang, 1968:3-4)
The most legendary of his translation career was the translation of The Captive Mind (1953) by the Polish exiled writer Czeslaw Milosz (translated as Milosz). He translated the book in 1956, and the translation was published with little impact. However, in 1980 Miloszh won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and in 1981 his translation of "Attacking the Heart" was republished at The Crown Publishing House in Taiwan. A translation, which only resonated nearly 30 years later, is a good story in the history of translation.
He has also translated the brideshead Revisited by the contemporary British novelist Evelyn Waugh.com. This is Song Qi's first attempt at translating a novel, but the results are not satisfactory. In the end, Song Qi only translated the third and first half of the fourth chapter of the novel, which was published in the second issue of the second volume of the Literary Magazine in April 1957, and later included in the Preface and Afterword, and the first half of the fourth chapter was not published. (Lin Yiliang, 1986:79) The reason why Song Qi did not finish translating the novel in the end was because the sentences were too long and other factors, which led to slower and slower translation speed. He confessed that "there are a few sentences in the third chapter that are not easy to translate, and I finally dealt with them hard, and I was not very satisfied." When translating the fourth chapter, I found more and more difficulties, whether it was lyrical writing scenes, half-page sentences, and looming meanings in the words, which made the development progress slower and slower, and finally had to hang up the exemption card. (Lin Yiliang, 1986:80)
In his selected Selected Poems of The United States, a total of 109 representative poems by seventeen famous American poets, including Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman, are selected. The translators are Yu Guangzhong, Zhang Ailing, Song Qi (Lin Yiliang), Liang Shiqiu, Xing Guangzu and Xia Jing, all of whom are temporary choices. Among them, the main forces are Yu Guangzhong and Song Qi himself. Among them, Song Qi wrote the lives and works of five poets, Thoreau, Amy Lowell, Elinor Wylie, Conrad Aiken, and Edna St. Vincent Millay, and translated 5 Whitman, 5 Lowell, 5 Frost, 1 Sara Teasdale, 6 Mrs. Willy, 6 Ayken, and 7 Millais, for a total of 35 poems. For example, Whitman's Oh Captain! My captain! ", Frost's "After Picking Apples" and other American poetry that everyone is familiar with now. Of all the translated works, Song Qi himself is more satisfied with this work, he once said to himself, "For more than forty years, the translation work that satisfied me more was the "Selected American Poems" compiled by me. (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 177) This work was completed by Song Qi alone, from the selection of materials to the selected translators, reflecting his own poetic ideas and poetic translation propositions: favoring traditional poetry and abandoning modern poetry, favoring easy-to-translate poetry and abandoning modern poetry with certain translation difficulties. That's why the entire anthology didn't choose Eliot, Pound, and Kmins. E. Cummings, the fundamental cause of modernist poetry such as Cummings. (Lin Yiliang, 1961:3-4)
1.2 Translation themes in Song Qi's writings and writings
Song Qi is versatile and has been involved in the commercial sea all his life, but at the same time he has been involved in literary criticism, translation, drama and film, and his achievements in writing, translating and editing are very rich, and many of these works have been reprinted. ①
Literary works include Preface and Afterword (2) (Main Text Publishing House, 1968), Lin Yiliang Poetry (Hong Fan Bookstore, 1976), < Dream of the Red Chamber> Zhi zhi yi Song Qi HongXue Collection (China Bookstore, 2000), "Go to a Higher Level" (Jiu Ge Publishing House, 1987), "Wen Si Lu" (3) (Liaoning Education Publishing House, 2001), "Lin Yiliang Anthology" (Chen Zishan, Crown Publishing House, 2001).
His literary translations and chief editors include Freedom and Culture (co-translated by Lin Yiliang and Lou Yizhe, Today World Agency, 1954), Attacking the Heart (Torch Compilation Agency, 1956), Selected Works of American Literary Criticism (co-translated with Wu Luqin, Xia Zhiqing, Xia Ji'an, Si Guo, Zhang Ailing, etc., World Today, 1961), Selected American Poems (co-translated with Yu Guangzhong, Zhang Ailing, Liang Shiqiu, Xing Guangzu, Xia Jing, etc., Today World News Agency, 1961), Seven Modern Novelists of the United States (with Zhang Ailing, Co-translated by Yu Lihua and Ye Shan, World Today, 1967), The Four Seas Collection (co-authored with Huang Guobin, Yu Guangzhong, and Xia Zhiqing, Crown Press, 1986).
His translation works include Lin Yiliang on Translation (Zhiwen Publishing House, 1974), Journey to the West of the Red Chamber: A Detailed Review of the New English Translation of the Dream of the Red Chamber (Lianjing Publishing Company, 1976), and Literature and Translation (Crown Publishing House, 1984). His translation books include The Translation Of Translation (Chinese University Press, 1969), Ten Lectures on Translation (Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 1969), and Translation Series (Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 1983).
At the beginning of the founding of Renditions, Song Qi and Gao Keyi decided to learn from the experience of running Western periodicals, not only publishing the semi-annual journal "Translation Series" itself, but also publishing derivative products "Translation Series", including "Renditions Books" and "Renditions Paperbacks". In this series, Song Qi has written or co-edited four books, Song Without Music: Chinese Tz'u Poetry (Hong Kong Chinese university press, 1980), Yesterday today (Crown Press, 1981), Mists: New Poets from China (University of Chinese Press, 1983), and There is Wood on the Mountain: Selected New Chinese Poems. (Trees on the Mountain: An Anthology of New Chinese Writing, co-edited with Min Fude, University of Chinese Press, 1984), A Brotherhood in Song: Chinese Poetry and Poetics (University of Chinese Press, 1985).
In the above translations, writings and compilations, Song Qi has more or less left his thoughts on translation. For example, "Lin Yiliang's Poetry" seems to have nothing to do with translation, but looking at the table of contents, you can see that there are three articles directly related to translation: "Essay on Translating Poetry", "On the Difficulty of Translating Poetry", and "On the Difficulty of Translating Poetry Again". This confirms what Qiao Zhigao said: "Lin Yiliang is an experienced editor and an outstanding literary critic." He has been writing books, screenplays, magazines, and translations through different mediums. (Qiao Zhigao, 1984:11)
1.3 Collect good translators and re-translate famous masterpieces
Song Qi's contribution to translation is also reflected in his organization of a series of translations, the launch of a group of excellent translators, and the publication of a number of high-quality translations. This can be divided into two periods, one is when he worked for the United States Information Service (USIS) and the other is when he edited the Translation Series.
After arriving in Hong Kong, because the money stored in the Sihai Bank opened by Shanghai people was swept away by some shareholders, Song Qi had to find a job. Translation was certainly his handy job, and from 1951 he worked in the American News Service's Book And Periodicals Compilation Department. According to Xia Jian, Song Qi is very qualified for this job, because "his brain is quick, he is responsible, and with his experience in doing business, it is not easy for Americans to find such a capable 'Chinese member'." (Wang Dong, 2016:184) At the Meixin Division, Song Qi recruited a large number of good translators in both Chinese and English, in addition to Yu Guangzhong and Zhang Ailing in the Selected Poems of the United States, there are also famous Xia Jian Xia Zhiqing Kunzhong, Bishop Xu Chengbin, Tang Xinlin (later editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Reader's Digest) and Fang Xin (that is, his own wife Song Kuang Wenmei, Kwong Wenmei and other different pen names such as Yang Wenjing and Mei Wenjing). As a result of this, some American masterpieces such as Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" (translated by Zhang Ailing) and Owen's "Li Bo's Big Dream" (that is, "The Legend of Sleeping Valley" and translated by Kwong Wen) have had high-quality Chinese translations, which have played a very important role in the spread of American literature in China.
After Song Qi took charge of the translation department of the Meixin Department, he changed the situation that the department had not published a single book in the first five years, and the main measure was to greatly increase the translation remuneration on the one hand, which was five or six times higher than the previous honorarium, (Lin Yilang, 2015: 60) On the other hand, it was to contact and recruit high-level translators. This measure indirectly solved the economic dilemma of some scholars, such as Xia Ji'an, who mentioned it many times in his letters to his brother Xia Zhiqing. (Wang Dong, 2016: 143, 184, 308)
Due to health reasons, Song Qi resigned from his job at the Meixin Office in January 1953. However, the mode of work he opened was still preserved in the New United States. This was the result of Qiao Zhigao's (4) translation of O'Neill's "The Long Night" (1973) and Fitzgerald's "The Tale of the Tycoon" (1974), and Tang Xinlin's translation of Fitzgerald's "The Night Before the End" (1980).
1.4 Establish a translation center, the Hong Kong Translation Society and establish translation publications
After resigning from Meixin, Song Qi was recuperating from illness while engaged in the writing of film scripts. In 1956, he joined the Hong Kong Electric Mao Company as a production director, and resigned due to illness in 1965. In 1965, he was invited to join the Shaw Film Company, and resigned due to illness in 1967. (Lin Yilang, 2015: 62-78)
In 1968, at the invitation of Lee Cheuk-min, the founding president of the University of Chinese in Hong Kong, Song Qi served as the special assistant to the president. (Chen Fangzheng, 2000:64; Xie Gang, 2018:306) Li Zhuomin himself majored in literature, and during his presidency, he also served as the director of the Institute of Chinese Culture. Therefore, he has been very diligent in the literary and cultural development of hong Kong Chinese University. The reason why he hired Song Qi as the principal's special assistant was also to value Song Qi's cultivation and achievements in literature and culture. Therefore, when Song Qi proposed to set up a translation center at the University of Chinese in Hong Kong and a translation society in Hong Kong, he received strong support from him. In 1971, Song Qi began to organize the Translation Center of the University of Chinese in Hong Kong, with Sun Shuyu as its first director, and Song Qi as the director of the Translation Center two years later. In the same year, Song Qi and a group of like-minded friends in the literary circle of River Translation co-founded the Hong Kong Translation Society. These efforts laid the foundation for the creation of the Translation Series.
In fact, the establishment of a journal is not unusual for Song Qi, because Song Qi began to run a journal as early as 1940. He ran two magazines in 1940: Western Literature (founded in May 1940) and Yanjing Literature (founded in November 1940). "Yanjing Literature" was founded in Beijing, semi-monthly, published on the fifth and tenth days of each month; "Western Literature" was co-organized with Xu Chengbin and distributed by Lin's Publishing House, and the magazine ceased in August 1941. In December 1972, at the invitation of Hu Xian of Sing Tao Daily, Wenlin Magazine was founded, and in March 1973, Song Qi resigned, and Wenlin Magazine was discontinued after a year of operation. (Lin Yilang, 2015: 87-90)
Among the various publications founded by Song Qi, the most important is the Translation Series. The journal is well-known at home and abroad and is well received by Western intellectuals. In 1972, Song Qi founded the academic journal Renditions at the Translation Center of the University of Chinese in Hong Kong with the support of all parties, and the first director hired his good friend Gao Keyi, a senior Chinese-English bilingual scholar retired from the "Voice of America", and Song Qi succeeded him two years later until he stepped down in 1985. There are various reasons for the success of "Translation Cong", of which there are at least two important reasons: one is that "Translation Cong" has a group of outstanding Chinese and foreign scholars who specialize in chinese and foreign studies as translators, and the other is the effective editing principles of Song Qi and Gao Keyi. Due to space limitations, I will not go into depth here, and I intend to write a follow-up article to discuss it specifically.
Song Qi and Kwong Wenmei and his wife
Second, Song Qi's translation ideas are explored
Because Song Qi became interested in translation as early as the age of 16 and began to practice translation at the age of 21, (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 3) and Song Qi has always been good at thinking, summarizing the problems encountered in translation in a timely manner. Therefore, if we examine Song Qi's writings, translations, and compilations, the most involved is translation, followed by literature.
Song Qi believes that the translation of Freedom and Culture in 1954 was the first time he consciously reviewed the theory and practice of translation, and opened up a way for his later research on translation. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 3-4) For various reasons, the academic research on Song Qi is not commensurate with his achievements. It is gratifying that in recent years, both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the three places have gradually studied Song Qi's academic achievements in depth. For Song Qi's achievements in translation, it needs to be further summarized and summarized. Through the detailed reading of Song Qi's writings, translations, and compilations, some of Song Qi's ideas on translation can be summarized.
2.1 The "reader-centric" view of translation
Always focusing on the reader when translating can be said to be a major principle of Song Qi's translation. This principle is epitomized in his collaboration with Lou Yizhe in compiling The famous American philosopher Dewey's Freedom and Culture (Freedom and Culture) (1939).
They translated this work three times before it was finalized and published. They found that the problems encountered in translation were by no means just some literal, literal meaning problems, often far beyond the scope of the translation itself. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 11) When translating for the first time, they adopted the principle of being as faithful as possible to the original work, and generally trying to be word-to-word and sentence-to-sentence. After the translation, I asked two friends to try it out, but they couldn't read two pages, so they shook their heads and said they didn't understand anything. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 11-12) Having their first experience in translation, they decided to take a different approach to translation: first perusaling the original, then discarding the original function Chinese rewriting it; that is, they expressed Dewey's original meaning in the authentic Chinese language, in order to make the translation completely conform to the tastes and habits of Chinese. After the translation is done, I ask two friends to review it. After reading the translation and comparing it with the original work, the problems they pointed out included: the places that the original work particularly emphasized Chinese often lightly, sometimes even completely ignored, and there are many places where Chinese the original work is fundamentally misunderstood and distorted, and the prudence and rigor of the original work's position cannot be seen in the Chinese. From this, they concluded that this might be a pamphlet on democracy, but by no means Dewey. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 11-12) After these two failures, they found that the problem was that the preparation before the translation was not done well, and they were also biased against Dewey: first, they believed that social philosophy could not be regarded as pure philosophy, so it was not orthodox; second, dewey's talk in this book was mostly cliché, there was no novel contribution to speak of, and his articles were also clumsy, inflexible, and obscure, far less than the vigor and neatness of Russell among contemporary philosophers, or the symmetrical and meticulousness of Santhayena. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 13) How can one be prepared? They summarized two points: on the one hand, they read several of Dewey's other books, which would help them understand Dewey's methods of writing and the style of his writings; secondly, the writers and works that Dewey referred to or mentioned in this book, all of which were vague and ominous, tried to trace the source of the original work, so that they could corroborate Dewey's opinions and clarify the ambiguities in the book. In particular, their writings about and discussing Dewey were of great help, and the most inspiring of them was the part of Irwin Edman's Philosopher's Vacation that deals with Dewey. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 13-14) Through Aitmen's "The Philosopher's Holiday", they understood three truths: (1) ordinary truths are difficult to write, and they must be calm and calm to read in order to approach and understand; (2) Dewey's works are not only difficult for foreigners to read, but people who specialize in philosophy in his own country may often feel out of place at the beginning; (3) our ordinary habits of thought have a kind of inertia, and like to use general, ready-made terms and terms to answer all questions. And like the black and white answer: yes or no, good or bad, true or false, this is a kind of mental laziness, unwilling and unwilling to think more; if this habit is not abandoned, then it will be difficult to understand Dewey. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 14-16) So they made a third attempt: when translating, the method they used was no longer to look at a translation of a paragraph, but to look back at the above text when they had a slight doubt, and then look at what was said below, so that they would "penetrate". (Lin Yiliang, 1968:17)
From the above detailed summary, it can be clearly seen that the key to Song Qi's inspection of the quality of the translation is whether the reader can read their translations, and whether they can read the original author's intentions from their translations. Arguably, their translations are strictly "reader-centric".
2.2 Adequate preparation before translation
Song Qi has always believed that we must make full preparations before translation. If the preparation is not sufficient, then there will certainly be no good translation results. The key reason for the failure of the first translation of Dewey's Freedom and Culture, mentioned above, song qi and Lou Yizhe is inadequate preparation.
How do you think you're well prepared? According to Song Qi's various treatises on translation, the following points can be roughly summarized:
First of all, of course, is the most basic, technical, that is, to have an accurate understanding and grasp of some literal and literal meanings. Song Qi pointed out that if the translator does not understand the meaning of the facts or words and sentences, coupled with the translator's inconsistent translation of the same name, the result is of course chaos. The translator himself is confused, how can the reader have a clear understanding of the translation? (Lin Yiliang, 1984b: 69) However, Song Qi also found that translation is difficult, not in the understanding of these words and literal meanings, but in problems beyond the translation itself, such as the ideological problems of the original work. (Lin Yiliang, 1968:11)
The second is the deeper problem, that is, to have a precise understanding of the original work, not biased. When they translated Freedom and Culture, the first two unsuccessful translations were due to their prejudice against Dewey, which led to their failure to grasp Freedom and Culture better from a philosophical point of view. (Lin Yiliang, 1968: 13) In order to translate the book well, in order to be ready to translate this book, they not only read this book, but they also read in depth some of Dewey's other works related to this book; the works of other authors mentioned in Dewey's book, they all tried to trace the roots to determine that they could accurately understand Dewey's original meaning; regarding the discussion of Dewey's work, they also tried to find references to confirm whether their understanding of Dewey was in place. The ultimate goal is to be thoroughly aware of their ambiguities. (Lin Yiliang, 1968:13-14) This is true not only for translating philosophical works, but also for translating works of other genres. For example, when translating the Selected Poems of America, their principle is the same: the translator does not get the poem to be translated and immediately translates it, but after reading the poet's complete collection, he does not translate it. (Lin Yiliang, 1961: 5) In commenting on the translations of Pride and Prejudice, he also made it clear that "when translating literary works, especially classics, it is not enough for the translator to read only the one he intends to translate." (Lin Yiliang, 1984:77)
Third, we must grasp the style of the original work. Song Qi's reading and translation of works is mainly based on literary works, and his method of grasping the style of the original work is also quite literary: reading the original work and the translation several times, so that the translator and the original author have reached a kind of spiritual fit; after the translation, it is best to give the translation to the circle of friends with special achievements in writing to read and chant, to see if the translation can also withstand the test of recitation. (Lin Yiliang, 1984:42)
Fourth, solving the language problem is of course the basis for good translation, in addition to the need to solve more and bigger problems than the language. According to Song Qi, "from the people's feelings, customs, systems, habits, religion, geography, history, national conditions, and nationality of that country to the unique movements and expressions of that country," (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 78) If you can generally understand it, it will certainly be much more convenient when doing translation. Of course, the more you learn, the more helpful the translator will surely be.
In addition, to do a good job of translation, you must also pay attention to the version of the original work, and it is interesting to have sufficient time. (Lin Yiliang, 1984:78)
2.3 Views on some of the basic principles of translation
Translation involves a number of basic principles, which have always been a hotly debated issue in the translation community. On the basis of his own translation practice, Song Qi also encountered some similar problems, for these problems, he has his own independent thinking, mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, do not dwell on the issue of "literal translation" and "paraphrasing". Song Qi clearly pointed out that the so-called "literal translation" and "paraphrasing" dispute itself has no meaning to speak of; (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 27) Regardless of the composition of "literal translation" and "paraphrasing", a good translation must conform to the grammar of the original Chinese; (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 29) The problem in translation is sometimes not a problem of "paraphrasing" and "literal translation", let alone a problem of "faith, da, and elegance", but a question of the translator's outlook on life and his understanding of the realm of literature. (Lin Yiliang, 1984:36)
Second, advocate the theory of translation. He believed that "it is a matter of course and righteousness to translate foreign languages into Chinese, which should be based on Chinese", "Lin Yiliang, 1974: 124) translating "foreign literary works into Chinese and the name should be Chinese proficient in foreign languages." (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 83) In the history of translation, all influential translations are translated from foreign languages Chinese, rather than translating domestic works into foreign languages, such as Arthur Wally's translation of Bai Juyi, Li Bai, and Journey to the West into English and bringing them into english classic series, without seeing him translate Shakespeare and Eliot into Chinese; Wilde was able to write Salome in French, Elliott and Shi Wenpeng (A. C. Swinburne) was also able to write French poems, but they did not see them translate works by Famous English Artists into French. (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 83) The international translation community usually regards foreign translations as the Chinese words as a smooth translation, and the translation of domestic works into foreign languages as reverse translations. It can be seen that Song Qi supports the shun translation. At present, the translation of Chinese works into foreign languages in China is in full swing, but from Song Qi's point of view, there is still a certain reference significance, and domestic translators should at least establish a good cooperative relationship with foreign scholars, so that these translations have more favorable translation factors, rather than the opposite.
Third, the conditions for translating literary works: verbal ability and non-verbal ability. The former requires the translator to be able to read, write, and speak; the latter requires the translator to have common sense, sense, and sensibility. Translators should have a wealth of common sense, know and hear about all aspects of society, so that they can have basic judgment; in addition, translators are prone to be mistaken by the literal meaning, if they are not sensitive to words, just like a blind man riding a blind horse, he will fall into a trap at any time. (Lin Yiliang, 1984:86-89)
Fourth, translate the theory of evolution. This has two connotations: first, translation, like other things, is always progressing in the general direction; (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 38) Second, translation should constantly introduce new ideas, and every once in a while, there should be new translations to replace or replace the previous old translations, because the times have changed, the language of the text has changed, and people's way of thinking has changed because of it. (Lin Yiliang, 1984:84)
Fifth, the neoclassical view of translation. This is mainly reflected in Song Qi's understanding of how to translate poetry. Song Zijiang summarized that Song Qi's poetry translation propositions are rooted in his neoclassical poetics: the sentimentality of opposing Romantic poetry, opposing the new poems without rhyme, and adding rhymes to Whitman's rhymeless poems are all concentrated expressions. (Song Zijiang, 2018: 95-99)
Sixth, the possibility of translation. Song Qi believes that translation is impossible. Strictly speaking, a translation that truly fully expresses the meaning and spirit of the original text is impossible. (Lin Yiliang, 1974: 117) He gave two examples to illustrate, one is the term "father", which supposedly exists in all languages in the world, because the relationship and concept of "father" and "son" are universal in themselves, but there is an Indian tribe in the United States, and their language has two nouns, both of which are spoken as "father", and are mutually exclusive, and cannot be used as a substitute; second, the number should be universal, but "ninety" in French is quatre-vingt-dix. That is, four twenty plus ten, and the English seventeen years translated as "seventy years old" is certainly no problem, but the bible's three-score years and ten, if translated as "seventy years old", invisibly sacrifices the original desolate and majestic taste. (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 27) However, translation is possible and necessary. This involves the social function of translation. On the one hand, if the translator can thoroughly understand the original text, grasp the style of the original text, have a very strong expressiveness of the national language, have extremely rich translation experience, and make full preparation before translation (Lin Yiliang, 1984: 29-42), then it is possible to do a good translation. On the other hand, the most important contribution of translation is in the modernization of society: if the content and ideas of a famous book are to be part of oneself, translation is more effective than reading and familiarizing oneself with the original; if one really understands the philosophical system of thought, the novelist's compassionate outlook on life, the most recent and acute social, economic, and cultural problems, the best way is to translate these works into the mother tongue and make them a part of us. (Lin Yiliang, 1974:125)
Seventh, the question of when translation teaching should begin. Song Qi considered this question based on Hong Kong's special circumstances: because Hong Kong returned to the embrace of the motherland in 1997, Chinese became the official language of the law, and more and more bilingual talents in Chinese and English were needed. (Lin Yiliang, 1974: 147) He believes that the teaching of translation should start with secondary school, because in our society, not everyone can enter the university, and secondary education is often the end of formal education. (Lin Yiliang, 1974: 149) In view of the various realistic conditions, he believes that the translation course may be started in secondary four, because by the time of secondary four, students already have a basic understanding of Chinese and English, and it is too early for the first year. If the course content is substantial and mr. teaching is good, the two years of translation in secondary school should be able to lay a good foundation for students to connect with the translation courses of the university. At the same time, he also believes that qualified teachers and teaching materials also play a great role in translation teaching. (Lin Yiliang, 1974:150)
Song QiZhe heir Song Yilang
epilogue
Song Qi's thinking on translation has lasted for nearly 60 years, and it is certainly not something that can be completely summarized above. Moreover, although Song Qi has engaged in various work, including drama, screenwriting, editing, creation, etc., the practice of translation and his rational thinking about translation has always been one of the aspects he has thought about the most in his life, or the area he has paid the most attention to.
If you want to understand the relationship between Song Qi and translation more comprehensively, it is necessary to further study the relationship between Song Qi and other fields, such as Song Qi's literary thought, editorial thought, screenwriter thought, translation review thought, etc. It is also of great significance to the formation of Song Qi's translation concept. This is undoubtedly the meaning of the topic of in-depth study of Song Qi in the future.
exegesis:
(1) In 1982, the Taipei Dalin Publishing House reprinted the work under the title Of Poetry and Emotion (Dalin Bunko 51).
(2) "Foreword and Afterword" was first published by Hong Kong Main Text Publishing House in July 1968 and republished by Taipei Cactus Publishing House in November of the same year; "Going to a Higher Level" was first published by Taipei Jiuge Publishing House in May 1987, updated and republished in March 1998, and republished in July 2006. Selected Poems of the United States was first published in September 1961 by Hong Kong Today World Agency, and republished in October 1989 at Sanlian Bookstore in Beijing. "Seven Modern Novelists in the United States" was first published in May 1967 by today's World Agency, and republished in 1988 by Beijing Sanlian Bookstore. Freedom and Culture was published by Today World In 1954 and republished by Taipei Student Bookstore in 1976. "Attacking the Heart" was first published by the Hong Kong Torch Compilation Society in 1956 and republished by Taipei Crown Publishing House in 1981.
(3) There is an epilogue by the editor Chen Zishan in the "WensiLu", "The splendid article has lasted for a long time - the republishment of "A Higher Level" has a sense of feeling". Judging from the title of the afterword, it seems that "Wen Si Lu" is a reprint of "Go To the Next Level". In fact, this is not the case. In addition to retaining the title of "One More Level", the "WenSiLu" has added many more articles, which is more than "One More Floor".
(4) Qiao Zhigao, whose real name is Gao Keyi and whose English name is George Kao, has worked for voicing Inland for 19 years, and was hired as the first editor-in-chief of Translation Series after retirement.
bibliography:
[1] Tsai Denge, "Unforgettable Two Generations of Love: An Interview with Song Yilang on Zhang Ailing and the Little Reunion"," see Cai Denge, Re-examination of the Republic of China: From Zhang Ailing to Du Yuesheng, Taipei: Independent Writer, 2014.
[2] Cai Yijiang, "< the > Essentials of the Dream of the Red Chamber: A Collection of Treatises on Song Qihong Studies", Journal of the Dream of the Red Chamber, No. 2, 2000, pp. 291-293.
[3] Chen Fangzheng, Growing Up with CUHK: A History of the University of Chinese and the Institute of Chinese Culture, Hong Kong (1949-1997), Hong Kong: Chinese University, Hong Kong, 2000.
[4] Chen Zishan, "Editor's Afterword", see Lin Yiliang, Collected Writings of Lin Yiliang, ed., Chen Zishan, Taipei: Crown Publishing House, 2001.
[5] Xie Zhixi, "There are strange legends of art and literature, but I am afraid to take it for granted: Wu Xinghuazhang, The Legend of Song Qi, is wrongly bound", Eastern Wu Academic, No. 2, 2017, pp. 5-10.
[6] Kong Huiyi, "Song Qi From the Storm", see Chen Fangzheng, Growing Up with CUHK: A History of the University of Chinese and Chinese Culture in Hong Kong (1949-1997), Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000, pp. 215-217.
[7] Kong Huiyi, "Song Qi: A Life of Several Ups and Downs", in Kong Huiyi, ed., Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2017, pp. 57-71.
[8] Li Jing, "From The Differences in the Original Works to the Gains and Losses of Huo's Translation: On the Characteristics of Song Qi's Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber"," Chinese Cultural Studies, No. 2, 2018, pp. 154-167.
[9] Li Xueying, "The Ideal Tragedy of Lin Daiyu: A Discussion with Mr. Song Qi", Fudan Journal (Social Science Edition), No. 2, 1989, pp. 109-111.
[10] Li Qing, "Song Qi is for gentlemen and does not flow", Beijing News, January 17, 2015.
[11] Song Yilang, The Legend of Song Qi: From Song Chunfang to Zhang Ailing, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2015.
[12] Lin Yiliang, "Preface", in Selected Writings of Lin Yiliang, Selected Poems of the United States, Hong Kong: World Today, 1961.
[13] Lin Yiliang, "Preface to "Preface and Afterword", see Lin Yiliang, Foreword and Afterword, Hong Kong: Literary Monthly, 1968.
[14] Lin Yiliang, "Lin Yiliang on Translation", Taipei: Zhiwen Publishing House, 1974.
[15] Lin Yiliang, Literature and Translation, Taipei: Crown Publishing House, 1984.
[16] Lin Yiliang, "Qu Gao and Widow: A Famous Novel That Sensationalized Anglo-American Television," in Lin Yiliang, ed., Four Seas Collection, Taipei: Crown Publishing House, 1986.
[17] Qiao Zhigao, "Qiao Zhigao Preface", see Lin Yiliang, Literature and Translation, Taipei: Crown Publishing House, 1984.
[18] Song Zijiang, Chinese compilation of American poetry (1934-1961), 2018 PhD, Lingnan University.
[19] Sun Lianwu, "The Collected Writings of Lin Yiliang", China Reading Daily, January 17, 2018, 14th edition.
[20] Sun Lianwu, "Indifferent Contemplation: Wu Xinghua, Song Qi, and the JingPai," Journal of Modern Chinese, No. 2, 2020, pp. 69-78.
[21] Wang Dong, ed., Collected Letters of Xia Zhiqing, Xia Ji'an: Vol. 1 (1947-1950), Notes by Ji Jin, Hong Kong: University of Chinese, Hong Kong, 2015, p. 281, note II.
[22] Wang Dong, "People and Things in Volume V", in Wang Dong, ed., Xia Zhiqing, Collected Letters of Xia Ji'an: Volume V (1962-1965), Notes by Ji Jin, Hong Kong: University of Chinese, Hong Kong, 2019.
[23] Wang Yuping, "World Comedy and Song Qi's Film and Drama Practice", Journal of Modern Chinese, No. 2, 2012, pp. 32-38.
[24] Xie Gang, "In the Cicadas: The Generation of Literary Pluralistic Structures and the Exploration of The Path of Cosmopolitanism", Hong Kong: Zhonghua Bookstore (Hong Kong) Limited, 2018.
[25] Xiu Wei, "The First Song Qi Translation Research Symposium Was Held in Our University", https://www.jsu.edu.cn/info/1076/9819.htm.
[26] Zhang Feng, "Harvard Inquiry: 30 Years of Dialogue with Harvard Professors", Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House, 2015.
[27] Zheng Yanguo, "Discussion on the Translation of Hong Kong Scholar Song Qi", Foreign Languages and Translation, No. 3, 2002, pp. 32-33.
About the Author:
Li Weirong, Professor, School of Foreign Chinese, Hunan University, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and World Literature, Sichuan University, research direction is comparative literature research, paradigm shift research on the spread of the Five Classics of China outside the territory, contact information: [email protected].
Original link:
https://pan.baidu.com/s/1D0D44ShvGBEZWlf4htFJSQ
Extraction code: bche