On August 29, a personal public account for "out-of-print good books" released a personal public account entitled "I'll go! According to the Guangxi Normal University Press ...... article, the "Anthology of Shakespeare's Tragedies", translated by Cui Jie, an associate professor at Liaoning University and published by Guangxi Normal University Press, is suspected of plagiarizing the old translation of Shakespeare's works by the well-known translator Zhu Shenghao (1912-1944). According to the article, the book replaced Zhu Shenghao's original translation of "ouch" with "I go", while only some of the names were changed, and the rest of the translation was "almost copied".
Screenshot of the "Problem Book" posted in the article
The incident quickly attracted attention online. The staff of Guangxi Normal University Press responded that the books involved did have problems such as low translation quality and suspected plagiarism, and after receiving reports from readers in 2018, the publishing house removed the problematic books from the shelves.
At the same time, a staff member of the discipline inspection department of Liaoning University said that he had received a report on Cui Jie, and the school had intervened in the investigation, and if the plagiarism was true, it would be dealt with impartially.
University associate professor caught in plagiarism storm when translating famous books: accused of only changing people's names and replacing "ouch" with "I go"
For example, the above-mentioned official account article said that compared with Zhu Shenghao's old translation, the fourth act of "Romeo and Juliet" in "Selected Tragedies of Shakespeare" translated by Cui Jie replaced the original translation of "ouch" in many places with "I go". The article questioned that such a term was inappropriate in a famous book.
In addition, the article also pointed out that compared with Zhu Shenghao's old translation, Cui Jie's translation version is "almost copied". For example, in the text, the original translation of "my only life" is replaced with "my only life", and the original translation of "let me see" is replaced with "let me take a look"; Or only the name of the person is replaced in the translation, such as "Othello" is changed to "Odero", and the rest of the content is almost the same as Zhu Shenghao's translation.
The Red Star News reporter searched on "Dangdang.com" and found that the "Anthology of Shakespeare's Tragedy" referred to in the above-mentioned official account article was published by Guangxi Normal University Press in June 2017, and the author of the translation was Cui Jie, which is one of the "100 Masterpieces of World Literature" series of the Guangxi Normal University Press. According to reports, the book has a total of 437 pages, priced at 39.8 yuan, and the book is still available on Jingdong, Dangdang and other online platforms.
Screenshot of Dangdang.com
The publisher involved responded:
(1) In 2018, the report was received and removed from the shelves
Subsequently, the Red Star News reporter called the "Reading Quality Inspection Department" of Guangxi Normal University Press, and a staff member on the line said that the publishing house has noticed the relevant situation on the Internet about the suspected plagiarism and improper use of words in Cui Jie's translated works, and has received reports from enthusiastic readers, and the editor-in-chief of the publishing house has begun to deal with it.
The staff member said that after receiving the report and complaint, the relevant personnel of the publishing house read the book involved again, "We also believe that there are indeed problems in the translation of this book, and the suspected plagiarism of Zhu Shenghao's works reported by readers basically exists, and there is indeed a problem of inappropriate words in the description of the fourth act of "Romeo and Juliet"." ”
According to the staff member, since the book was published in 2017, some readers have reported relevant problems to the publisher in about 2018. At that time, the publisher had noticed the poor quality of the translation of the book, so it instructed the relevant departments to remove the problematic book from the shelves. The book has not been reprinted since the first edition.
The Red Star News reporter also saw on the online shopping platform that this "Anthology of Shakespeare's Tragedies" was only published and printed in June 2017 and has not been reprinted since. According to the above-mentioned staff member, "About 5,000 copies were published after the first printing, but they were not reprinted because of the quality of the translation. ”
In response to the recent public opinion of the book due to the quality of the translation, the staff member explained, "Although the publishing house has removed the book from the shelves and has not reprinted it, because there is a phenomenon of pirated books in the market, readers may still buy pirated copies of the book." ”
(2) The quality supervision work is not in place, or the responsible editor is held accountable
The Red Star News reporter noticed that the "Problem Books" mentioned in the preface of the preface: "Most of the books we have compiled are retranslations of rookies in the translation world. So, how did this retranslation, compiled by a "rookie in the translation world", pass the review and control of the publishing house and finally enter the market? The above-mentioned staff member explained that Cui Jie was not actually the author or translator contracted by the publishing house, and there was no cooperative relationship with the publishing house.
The reason why the publishing house published the book compiled by Cui Jie, the staff member said that at that time, Han Moumou, the editor in charge of the book, was mainly responsible for contacting relevant translators to retranslate the famous work, but how Han Moumou contacted these translators, how to organize the compilation work in the future, and whether there were any work omissions, the publishing house is still investigating, and the specific situation is not clear.
The staff member said that the legal department of the publishing house determined that Han Moumou should at least be jointly and severally liable for problems with the quality of the books. However, how to hold Han Moumou and other relevant personnel accountable in the future still needs to be studied and discussed.
"After my personal reflection, I feel that before the book is printed and published, there may be problems in the management and review of the book quality supervision by the relevant departments of the publishing house." The staff member said that after receiving reports from readers in 2018, the publishing house conducted a self-inspection as soon as possible, and after determining that there was a problem with the book, it urgently notified it to be removed from the shelves.
As for how to deal with readers who have purchased "problematic books", the staff member proposed that if readers buy relevant "problematic books", they can mail them to the publishing house, and the publishing house will verify whether there are problems such as piracy and piracy. At the same time, the publisher is also planning to apologize and pay compensation to readers whose interests have been damaged.
"At present, the editor-in-chief office of the publishing house and other departments are following up and investigating the incident, and the follow-up treatment is being further studied and judged, and there are further investigation results and handling opinions, and we will release a unified statement of the situation." The staff member said.
Liaoning University responded: It has received a report to intervene in the investigation, and if there is plagiarism, it will be dealt with impartially
The Red Star News reporter checked the official website of Liaoning University and saw that Cui Jie graduated from Central South University, majoring in English and American language and literature, and is now an associate professor at Liaoning University.
The Red Star News reporter tried to contact Cui Jie, the translator of the book, but his office phone was never answered.
The Red Star News reporter consulted the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Department of Liaoning University, and a staff member who answered the phone revealed that the school had received a report of suspected plagiarism of Cui Jie's translation works, and the school had intervened in the investigation and verified the situation with Cui Jie himself. If the investigation determines that Cui Jie has plagiarism and other academic misconduct, the school will deal with it impartially in accordance with the regulations.
Red Star News reporter Yang Yuqi
(Source: Red Star News)
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