As we all know, Mr. Shi Jingcun is a master of modern Chinese literature, a "master of social science", and an accomplished translator. When studying the history of modern translation, We should not miss Mr. Shi.
Although Mr. Shi's literary translation began later than his friend Dai Wangshu, he translated poems by the Irish poet Schage and Madame Bertha Garland by the Austrian writer Shannischler in the summer of 1927 (Shi Jiecun: "The Last Old Friend - Feng Xuefeng"). The following year, he became interested in Anglo-American Iconographic poetry and French Symbolist poetry and tried to translate them, but he considered himself to be bad at French, and he did not dare to translate French poetry literally from the original. Mr. Shi's earliest published translation was Mrs. Belda Garland, which was first published by Shanghai Shangzhi Book Company in January 1929, but the title of the book was changed to "Very Vulgar" (in Mr. Shi's language) "The Amorous Widow". Nevertheless, Mr. Shi was the forerunner of introducing Xianni Zhile to the Chinese people, but it is certain. Four months later, his translation of the Italian writer Boccaccio's Ten Days of Discussion was launched by the Shanghai Guanghua Bookstore. Mr. Shi translated Boccaccio as Pukaku and himself as Liu An. This should be an earlier Chinese translation of "Decameron", an earlier Chinese translation of the world's famous work. Mr. Shi's literary translation career thus officially began with the two great writers Boccaccio and Xiannischler.
People have long been familiar with a vivid analogy of Mr. Shi, that is, he has likened his life to opening four windows, namely, the study of Chinese classical literature in the east window, the new literary creation in the south window, the translation and research of Chinese literature outside the west window, and the study of the golden stone inscriptions in the north window. So, when did the four-window talk start? A few days ago, I learned from a friend that Mr. Shi published an article entitled "Literary Prospects for the First Year" in the "New Year Special Issue" of The Zhengqi Daily, Literature and Art Special Issue in Gannan province on January 3, 1945, which began by saying:
My study room has three windows, and I often open one window to my own ancient literature, one window to Western literature, and the last window to new literature. In this way, I took turns admiring the scenery outside the window, and spent four years here in the War of Resistance.
At that time, Mr. Shi was teaching at Xiamen University in Changting, Fujian Province. This reference to "three windows" clearly shows that he had formed the prototype of the "four windows" at that time. Moreover, in Mr. Shi's view, the window of "Western literature" is very important, and translation or research is indispensable. He has always been fascinated by the scenery outside the window of "Western literature", and has always spared no effort to translate foreign literature like the Zhou brothers. Before 1949, 13 of his literary creations were published, and 16 of his translations were published, which has surpassed the number of creations. After the 1950s, Mr. Shi's literary creation almost completely stopped, but the window of his literary translation was never closed, and he still overcame various difficulties to translate carefully, and also translated such a tome as the Danish writer Nixor's "Belle the Conqueror" trilogy. Until his later years, he also translated such interesting works as "The Wise Nun" for the newly launched Vientiane. These cannot be left out without mention.
It should also be pointed out that the number of countries, the length of the time span and the breadth of genres that Mr. Shi translated foreign literature are beyond our imagination and were extremely rare in the Chinese literary translation community in the 20th century. In terms of novels alone, he translated the works of austrian, Italian, German, French, British, Spanish, Russian and later the Soviet Union, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Israel and the United States, with a particular focus on the works of writers from weak and small nation-states. The time spans from the beginning of the European Renaissance to the first half of the 20th century, and the genre of works, in addition to long, medium and short stories, but also poetry, prose (including prose poems), plays, children's literature and literary criticism, can be described as a variety of things. This also shows that Mr. Shi's literary vision is very broad and unique. Although it is not without the urgency of the rice sorghum, he thinks that it is worth introducing to domestic literary workers and enthusiasts, and he is willing to translate. His 1980s publication of The Transboundary Poetry, which was widely popular in the literary process of the new period, is a convincing example.
Mr. Shi attaches so much importance to translation and strives to practice it, which is of course closely related to his translation philosophy. In the 1980s, the Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House edited and published the "Department of Modern Chinese Literature", and Mr. Shi vigorously opposed the public opinion, insisting that the "Great Series" must have a translation volume, and personally served as the editor-in-chief of the translation volume. He believes that there have been two translation climaxes in the history of Chinese culture, and the period 1890-1919 is the second translation climax in China after the translation of Buddhist scriptures. Whether it is the translation of Buddhist scriptures in the Tang Dynasty or the translation of foreign literature and cultural classics in modern times, it has had an extremely far-reaching impact on the thinking and culture of Chinese. And Mr. Shi himself also knows literary translation from such a height, engaged in literary translation, he really loves translation, his translation is highly conscious, is his active choice. As for the interactive relationship between his literary translation and his literary creation, it is worth our in-depth study.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of East China Normal University, and the Emperor's 12-volume "Complete Works of Shi Jiecun Translations and Novel Volumes" will be published grandly, which is not only a congratulatory gift for the school, but also the first comprehensive display of Mr. Shi's novel translation achievements, including the little-known short story collection "Transformation" translated and published in Hong Kong and many newly discovered prose pieces. After that, poetry volumes, prose criticism volumes, and script volumes will also be launched. At that time, we will feel more and more strongly that the name Shi Jingcun is particularly glorious among the "translators on the riva river".
Author: Chen Zishan
Editor: Guo Chaohao