中國上古文獻翻譯研究
Issues in the Translation of Early Chinese Texts

Introduction and Syllabus

Stephen Durrant


No problem is as consubstantial
with literature and its modest
mystery as the one posed by
translation.
Jorge Luis Borges
“Las versiones homéricas”

This course has four goals: 1) to understand the importance and nature of translation in general; 2) to gain a better understanding of the particular difficulties in the translation of early Chinese texts; 3) to assess where the field is now and what important translation tasks remain to a would-be translator; and 4) to gain some practical experience in producing translations. As the last of these goals implies, three of the final sessions of this course will be a workshop, in which class participants present short translations they have prepared during the duration of the course. I do not presume, however, that all members of the class wish to make translation a significant part of their careers. Rather, I will argue that translation is an exercise in cross-cultural communication at its most profound level and that our modest efforts in class, as well as teaching us about the challenges of rendering early Chinese literature into a world far-removed from the original in time and space, can teach us important lessons about the cultural and linguistic challenges of communication in an increasingly interconnected world.

Our study of the challenges early Chinese literature poses to the translator will deal not only with issues of accuracy, tone, and style but also such issues as rendering titles (direct translation versus “functional” translation) and names (that is, at what point does a proper name carry content that requires translation rather than simple transcription). We will also go beyond usual discussions of translation to consider how publication market and potential readership might shape a translation and determine the amount and type of scholarly apparatus surrounding the translation itself.

Session 1: The Trials of a Translator Wrestling with Zuozhuan.

Session 2: Just Why Does Translation Matter? Reading: Edith Grossman, “Introduction,” Why Translation Matters (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010).

Session 3: The Old Argument between “Strict” and “Loose” Translations. Readings: John Dryden and Eugene Nida in Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader.

Session 4: “Strict” and “Loose” Translations of Shijing 詩經 (A Discussion). Readings: sample translations of James Legge, Ezra Pound, Arthur Waley, Bernard Karlgren, and Xu Yuanzhong.

Session 5: Cultural Understanding and Misunderstanding in Translation. Can Two Different Worlds Ever Meet? Readings: Roman Jacobson and Giyatri Spivak in The Translation Studies Reader.

Session 6: Cultural Understanding and Misunderstanding in Translations of Analects 論語 (A Discussion). Readings: sample translations of Arthur Waley, D.C. Lau, Bruce Brooks, Edward Slingerland, Chichung Huang, and Henry Rosemont/Roger Ames.

Session 7: Who is the Target Reader of a Translation and How Does That Shape the Work? Reading: Edith Grossman, “Authors, Translators, and Readers Today,” in Why Translation Matters.

Session 8: The Target Reader and the Most Helpful Format in Translations of Zuozhuan (A Discussion). Readings: sample translations of James Legge, Burton Watson, Recent Beijing Translation, Durrant/Li/Schaberg.

Session 9: Translation of Early Chinese Texts into Modern Chinese is Also Translation (A Discussion). Readings: translations of the same Zuozhuan passages considered in session 8 above from modern Chinese translations of 沈玉成，劉寧， 李宗侗，王守謙等，etc.

Session 10: Discussion: translations of the same Zuozhuan passages considered in session 8 above from modern Chinese translations of 沈玉成，劉寧， 李宗侗，王守謙等，etc.

Session 11: The State of the Field. What New Translations from Early Chinese Texts Should Be Done Next? Assignment of translations (Each student will select a segment of a text and begin preparation of a ten-page sample. Translations may be into English or Modern Chinese . . . a translation from an English “classic” into Chinese might also be allowed.)

Section 12: The Particular Problems of Translating the Chinese Text: Tone and Style in Two Very Different Languages.

Session 13: Technicalities in Translating the Chinese Text: Names, Dates, Place Names, Titles, Footnotes, etc.

Session 14: Presentation and Discussion of Student Translations (Workshop I).

Session 15: Presentation and Discussion of Student Translations (Workshop II).

Session 16: Presentation and Discussion of Student Translations (Workshop III).

Session 17: Presentation and Discussion of Student Translations (Workshop IIII).

Session 18: Conclusion: The Future of Translation.

Readings:
Grossman, Edith. Why Translation Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.
Venuti, Lawrence. The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge Press, 2004.

I will also prepare and disseminate on the first day of class a large bibliography of translations of early Chinese texts for student reference. This will draw extensively upon on-line resources and upon Michael Loewe’s Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographic Guide (Early China Special Monograph, No. 2). Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1994.

成績評量方式：
平時表現（含上課討論、課堂作業、出席率）20％
分組報告：40％
將視同學意願選擇報告繳交或紙筆測驗。40％