scholarly journals What’s Modern in Chinese Translation Theory? Lu Xun and the Debates on Literalism and Foreignization in the May Fourth Period

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Tak-hung Chan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Lu Xun ◽  
Chinese Translation ◽  
The One ◽  
Classical Language

Abstract This article attempts to assess the contribution of Chinese translators and theorists of the twenties and thirties, in particular the famous writer Lu Xun, whom I consider the first modern translation theorist in China. It is with him that China entered its modern phase in translation. Not only did he advocate retaining the foreignness of the original text, in a way reminiscent of the entire tradition of German Romantic translation theorists from Schleiermacher to von Humboldt to Goethe; he also explored in his own translations the possibilities for enriching the Chinese language through the importation of Europeanized structures and expressions. It is these foreignizing impulses that set Lu Xun apart most clearly from pre-modern Chinese theorists. At the same time, these impulses connect him with leading giants of translation theory like Nabokov and Benjamin (who emphasized the importance of the literal method in translation) on the one hand, and Venuti and Holmes (who highlighted processes of indigenization and exoticization in translation) on the other. Lu Xun’s ideas had a particular place in the wider cultural and historical context. Views similar to his had been advocated by his predecessors at the beginning of the century, whose attempt to Europeanize the classical language did not, unfortunately, find a large following. In his own time, Lu found ardent supporters among friends and colleagues who either (a) suggested thorough Europeanization, or (b) preferred limited Europeanization. Dissenting views, however, were clearly voiced by some of the other leading writers of the day. So there were (a) those who favored the use of a language based on the actual words spoken by the populace and (b) those who queried why one should not learn a foreign language and read the original instead. My article deals at length with the debates among these theorists and seeks to understand them from the perspective of contemporary Western translation theory.

Shalott’s Song: a Specific Feature Found in Balmont’s Translation of A. Tennyson’s Poem «The Lady of Shalott»

2020 ◽  
pp. 22-33
Author(s):  
Margarita Shanurina
Keyword(s):  
Neutral Word ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
The Other ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Academic Paper ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

This academic paper is devoted to the analysis of a specific feature which could be found in K. Balmont’s translation of A. Tennyson’s poem «The Lady of Shalott». The aim of the work is to study the reasons why Balmont uses the word «волшебница» to describe the heroine in his translation while there is no word with such semantics in the original text. (This word is put in the name of the translated work and it is found in almost every stanza).English analogue of the word «volshebnitsa» (that is, the word «enchantress», which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is closest to this word in semantics), while in the original text of the poem this word is not mentioned, the neutral word «lady» is used andonce (in the speech of the mower who hears the heroine singing, but does not see her) there is the word «fairy». This article, on the one hand, summarizes existing studies on the topic; on the other hand, complements them. The study highlights and considers several reasons for the above-mentioned discrepancy between the original text and its translation: emphasizing the connection with a fairy tale, revealing a number of motifs which play an important role in the work of Balmont himself (namely, motifs of music and creativity as magic) and an indication of the main heroine’s charming beauty.

Monotheism in Isaiah

2020 ◽  
pp. 218-248
Author(s):  
Matthias Albani
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Divine Power ◽  
Crisis Situation ◽  
Catalytic Function ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Future ◽  
The One ◽  
Religious Crisis

The monotheistic confession in Isa 40–48 is best understood against the historical context of Israel’s political and religious crisis situation in the final years of Neo-Babylonian rule. According to Deutero-Isaiah, Yhwh is unique and incomparable because he alone truly predicts the “future” (Isa 41:22–29)—currently the triumph of Cyrus—which will lead to Israel’s liberation from Babylonian captivity (Isa 45). This prediction is directed against the Babylonian deities’ claim to possess the power of destiny and the future, predominantly against Bel-Marduk, to whom both Nabonidus and his opponents appeal in their various political assertions regarding Cyrus. According to the Babylonian conviction, Bel-Marduk has the universal divine power, who, on the one hand, directs the course of the stars and thus determines the astral omens and, on the other hand, directs the course of history (cf. Cyrus Cylinder). As an antithesis, however, Deutero-Isaiah proclaims Yhwh as the sovereign divine creator and leader of the courses of the stars in heaven as well as the course of history on earth (Isa 45:12–13). Moreover, the conflict between Nabonidus and the Marduk priesthood over the question of the highest divine power (Sîn versus Marduk) may have had a kind of “catalytic” function in Deutero-Isaiah’s formulation of the monotheistic confession.

The ‘Zen’ in the western monochrome

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-78
Author(s):  
Simon Morley
Keyword(s):  
Zen Buddhism ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The One ◽  
Contemporary Painting ◽  
The Impact

I look at the impact of Zen Buddhism on western painters during the 1950s and 1960s, focusing on the monochrome in particular, in order to create a historical context for the consideration of transcultural dialogue in relation to contemporary painting. I argue that a consideration of Zen can offer a ‘middle way’ between conceptions of the monochrome (and art in general) often hobbled by models of interpretation that function within a binary opposition between ‘literalist/sensory’ on the one hand, and ‘intellectual/non-sensory’ readings on the other.

scholarly journals Women and Ijtihad: Towards a New Islamic Discourse

2019 ◽  
pp. 12-33
Author(s):  
Heba Raouf Ezzat
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Women's Issues ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Contested Terrain ◽  
The One

A phenomenon of extreme polarization between the Islamist and the secular camps characterizes the intellectual scene regarding social, economic, and political issues in the Arab-Islamic world. This is especially true with respect to women’s issues, which are a very hotly contested terrain. Understanding this reality clearly requires a historic overview to comprehend how this polarization occurred and map the debate between supporters of “modernity and contemporality” (al-hadatha wa-l-mu‘asara) on the one hand, and supporters of “tradition and authenticity” (al-turath wal-asala) on the other. Though this is not at the heart of our research, framing it in its historical context enables us to better understand the roots and origins of the problem, in order to map the debates and foresee future courses more clearly.

scholarly journals AKOMODASI PESANTREN PADA KESENIAN RAKYAT DI CANGKRINGAN, SLEMAN, YOGYAKARTA

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-296
Author(s):  
Kholid Mawardi
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Boarding School ◽  
Folk Art ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diverse Society ◽  
Art Community ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigated the construction of thoughts by KH. Ahmad Masrur and al-Qodir Islamic Boarding School to accomodate folk art; to reveal the relationship among KH. Ahmad Masrur, al-Qodir Islamic Boarding School, and folk art communities in Wukirsari village; and to find out the approaches of accommodation implemented in the folk art Village. The findings of this study led to some conclusions. First, on the one hand, Mr. Masrur (an Islamic expert) wanted to send the goodness and the beauty of Islam not only to be achieved by Moslems but also by other religious community. On the other hand, the folk art community wanted to maintain their existence in the diverse society. Therefore, those two intentions are linked to each other in order to accomplish those goals. Second, the relationship among Mr. Masrur, al-Qodir Islamic Boarding School, and Wukirsari village folk art community; in terms of historical context, it was the repetition of the relationship pattern in the past time that occured during the Islamisation process in Java. It was carried out by placing the locality as the basis of Islam. Mr. Masrur, al-Qodir Islamic Boarding School put themselves as the exponents of folk art; Mr. Masrur had the role as the patron and the community folk art had the role as the clients, and the overall relationship was accomplished based on mutually beneficial relationship. Third, the forms of accommodation  roposed by Mr. Masrur towards folk art in Wukirsari village were through compromise and tolerance. The form of the compromise was visible through the willingness of both parties to feel and understand the circumstances of one to each other party. As for the form of tolerance, it was implemented by Mr. Masrur and al-Qodir Islamic Boarding School deliberately to avoid various disputes and conflicts.

scholarly journals Psalms and Liturgy: Their reception and contextualisation

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-332
Author(s):  
G.P. Braulik
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
The Other ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Lord's Prayer ◽  
Historical View ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Canonical Text ◽  
The One ◽  
Old Testament Studies

In the interpretation of texts in modern Old Testament studies, a double change in perspective, which has important consequences for the liturgical use of the Psalms, is currently taking place. In the first reorientation, the movement is “from the hypothetically reconstructed ‘original’ text to the text written down in bookform and then to the canonical text”; in the second, the attention moves “from the text to the recipient”. On the one hand, the whole Psalter and its connec-tions with the totality of Holy Scripture are thus increasingly becoming the focus of attention. On the other hand, reception aesthetical, reader-oriented exegesis is overcoming the cleft caused by a purely historical view, in favour of a situational perspective. The article delineates this change and applies especially the first approach to the Psalms. The Psalter then appears neither as a mere lectionary nor primarily as a prayer text, but as a text for meditation. Its technique of the juxtaposition of certain Psalms (iuxtapositio) and of the chainage or concatenation of keywords (concatenatio) opens up new and diverse dimensions of meaning.This is illustrated according to Psalm 103. Its connections to its immediate context are first explained, upon which a few lines of canonical intertextuality within the whole Bible are traced. We are thus lead to recognise a certain multi-perspectivity, reaching from the Sinai pericope to the Lord’s prayer.

The translator’s immobility

Target ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Venturi
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
The One

Translations are facts of target cultures, but the perceived status of source texts has a bearing on how these are reflected or refracted in the target language. This proposition is particularly evident in the case of classics: when translators have to work on literary creations occupying a pivotal position in the source/target cultures, they adopt strategies of literalness and ennoblement which betray a quasi-religious awe—on the one hand, a desire to ruffle the surface of the revered original as little as possible; and on the other, a determination to reproduce the supposed ‘classical qualities’ of the classic even when they are not present in the source. In the following article, I examine how the ‘idea of classic’ influences translation theory and practice, substantiating my theoretical observations by looking at Italian translations of English classics. A marked—and historically determined—disparity between source and target readerships, and the translators’ reverence for their prestigious originals, conspire to produce Italian versions which are much more ‘wooden’ and ‘elegant’ than their English counterparts.

The Use of evangelicus in the Paraphrases

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-160
Author(s):  
Dean Simpson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Word Study ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The One

This article is a word study that analyses and interprets how Erasmus uses the adjective evangelicus, -a, -um in his New Testament Paraphrases. The development of the idiom ‘gospel-blank’ (evangelicus + noun) is analyzed diachronically; the phrases denoting gospel things are divided into six semantic categories. The study shows, on the one hand, that there is a general consistency in how evangelicus is used, the most common pairings predominating in most Paraphrases on the Epistles and Gospels, while, on the other, there is some broadening and lowering of the nouns with which evangelicus is joined, moving from the Paraphrases on the Epistles to the Gospel Paraphrases. Erasmus’ changing attitude to the project of paraphrasing the New Testament provides biographical and historical context in which to place the study’s findings. The study concludes by highlighting the New Testament Paraphrases as Erasmus’ humanistic response to worsening divisions in the early 1520s.

The Callimachus Prologue and Apollonius Rhodius

1930 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-112
Author(s):  
W. M. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
The Other ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Apollonius Rhodius ◽  
Obvious Consequence ◽  
The One

In making the following suggestions I have assumed the chronological possibility of allusions in the Aetia Prologue on the one hand to the quarrel with Apollonius Rhodius, and on the other to Arsinoe II. (obiit 271–270 B.C.). That such a combination is possible is maintained by Rostagni in Rivista di Filologia, 1928, pp. 1 sqq. The textual supplements offered here, while intended to support the double hypothesis, differ from his in some points; notably in regard to the question of where the allusion to Arsinoe is to be introduced into the text of Callimachus (see below). It need hardly be said that the supposed allusions to the queen and to the rival poet do not necessarily stand or fall together. In the case of the former it might not be altogether incredible (pace R.) that such an allusion should have been made after her death; whilst the most obvious consequence in regard to Apollonius would be that, if a date before 270 B.C. be accepted for the Prologue, his birth would have to be placed as early as possible—say, 295–290 B.C. However this may be, it is here sought to complete, in the above sense, certain passages in the Prologue (P.) with the aid of the British Museum Scholiast (S.). In regard to the latter a fresh study of the original text by the editor (Mr. H. J. M. Milne) has been utilized, to say nothing of his valuable suggestions and criticisms; in the case of P. the facsimile in Ox. Pap. XVII. is depended upon. The silence of S. on some of the supposed points may fairly be adduced in objection to them; but it may be noted that he does not comment on Πυγμαίων (P. 14), and that his exposition, where it can be checked, seems to be somewhat hasty and unbalanced. Further, we do not know what may have preceded the portion of his work which has survived.

Greek Necromancy: Reality or Myth?

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-51
Author(s):  
Tomáš Vítek
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Classical Period ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The One ◽  
Source Ability

SummaryThe article investigates the extent to which Greek necromancy fits into the wider eschatological, cultic and historical context of an epoch demarcated on the one hand by Homer and on the other by the Classical period. The oldest purported necromantic ritual, with the help of which Odysseus descended into the underworld, is a literary construct inspired especially by the heroic tomb-cults. Scenes depicting funereal necromancy, written by dramatists of the Classical period, were also drawn from this source. Ability, behavior and appearance of heroes were additionally ascribed to the so-called restless spirits and revenants and later came to include all the dead. The main cause of this was a change in eschatological ideas and especially heroization, which in the Roman period spread nominally to all the dead. Reports about necromancy include a high percentage of mythical and literarily-dramatized elements that simply do not correspond with contemporary ideas about the soul, the dead, the underworld and chthonic deities. It therefore appears almost certain that, at least to the end of the period described, necromancy was not carried out in reality but remained only the literary surmise of the possibility indicated by Homer.

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