scholarly journals The constraints of translating martial arts fiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-264
Author(s):  
Andrea Musumeci ◽  
Dominic Glynn ◽  
Qu Qifei

This article comments on the notion of ‘constraint’ by analysing the specific difficulties in the translation of a martial arts (‘wuxia’) novel into French and English. The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳, she diao ying xiong zhuan) is the first part of the ‘Condor Trilogy’ (射鵰三部曲, she diao san bu qu), the masterpiece of Chinese writer Jin Yong (金庸). Little known in the West, the novel was recently translated by Anna Holmwood and Wang Jiann-Yuh. This article studies the strategies adopted by each translator to render the cultural specificities of the source context in the target culture. By so doing, it contributes to theoretical debates concerning transfers between two distant literary and cultural systems.

Babel ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Mok

The strategies of translating Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain, a martial arts novel by Jin Yong, into English are determined mainly by the skopos of bringing Jin Yong’s work to life for a Western audience, shaped also by the translator’s ideology and the poetics dominant in the receiving culture. It follows that the functions associated with translating this literary text, a major genre in contemporary Chinese literature, would include introducing martial arts fiction as a literary genre; introducing Jin Yong as a master storyteller; and presenting genre-specific devices employed in penning a classic work. An overriding strategy adopted by the translator proved to be extensive rewriting into the target language as the translated work only materialized after serious efforts at recreative translating. The fluent translation strategy, when aptly used, is the one that effects transparency, thereby evoking authorial presence in a literary translation.


Barnboken ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Axelsson ◽  
Ragnhild Næsje

This article investigates how the covers of two novels, Vaffelhjarte (Waffle Hearts, 2005) and Tonje Glimmerdal (Astrid the Unstoppable, 2009) by the Norwegian children’s fiction author Maria Parr, are visually and verbally translated into German, French, and English. The central question of this study is how representations of characters, theme, and geographical context are rendered in the target text paratexts. Methodologically, the study is inspired by Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen’s grammar of visual design. The results show that the target paratexts to a large extent reflect the novel, but in different ways and not necessarily by staying close to the source paratexts. Previous research on paratexts and translation shows that exotic source text elements tend to be foregrounded in translation. This is something that we also see regarding the French and the British Parr translations, but not the German. Drawing on previous research by Kathryn Batchelor and Maria Pujol-Valls, we would like to put forward the hypothesis that verbal text – that is, the narrative in the novel – and paratexts behave differently in translation. As verbal text, according to previous research, often is more adapted to the target culture when migrating from a peripheral system (Norway) to more central ones (France and Great Britain), the opposite seems to be the case for translated paratexts, where exotic source culture elements are reinforced in central systems. Concerning the German cover, where there was no foregrounding of exotic source culture elements, we raise the possibility that such foregrounding is not needed, since German readers are already familiar with Scandinavian children’s literature.


Target ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Mok

This paper explores the translational phenomenon of why so little of martial arts fiction has been translated into Western languages, compared to the copious amount into other Asian languages. Investigation into the translational migration of martial arts fiction demonstrates that the “normal” position assumed by translated literature tends to be a peripheral one. However, different patterns of behaviour can be observed, depending on the hegemonic relations between source and target cultures. In the West, martial arts fiction in English translation is being relegated to an extremely peripheral position. But martial arts fiction is able to make inroads into Asian countries, to the extent of stimulating a new literary form or (re)writing martial arts fiction in some indigenous languages.


Author(s):  
Б. Ниясалиева ◽  
Н. Алтыкеева

Аннотация. Ч.Айтматов “Кылым карытар бир күн” романында ачыктап бере албаган бийлик маселеси кийинки демократиянын учурунда романдын уландысы катары берилген “Чынгызхандын ак булуту “ аттуу чыгармасында таама көрсөтүлдү. Аталган чыгарма сталиндик бийликти сынга алуу менен бийликтин курмандыктары болгон күнөөсүз адамдардын оор тагдырын чагылдырат. Сталиндин образын ачуу максатында элдик легендага кайрылып, Чынгызхандын образы аркылуу Сталиндин образын чагылдырган. Чыгармадагы Тансыкбаевдин образы мансапка манчыркап, адам тагдыры менен ойногон наадан адамдардын образын ачууда колдонулган. Абуталип, Эрдене, Догуланг – булар бийликтин курмандыктары. Алар алдыда өлүм күтүп турса да, өз көз караштарынан тайышпады, өлүмгө тике кароо менен жеңиш дайыма алар тарапта экендигин аныктай алышты. Ырас, Тансыкбаев да өз максатына жете алган жок, Чынгызхан болсо батышты багынтам деген тилегине жетпеди, ал эбегейсиз күчүн жоготту, мындан ары анын жолу болбоду. Түйүндүү сөздөр: образ, демократия, каарман, легенда, идея, көркөм ой жүгүртүү. Аннотация. Проблема правительства, которую Ч.Айтматов не смог раскрыть в романе “И дольше века длится день, ярко показаны в произведении “Белое облако Чингизхана” созданное во время демократии как продолжение названного произведения. В данном произведений критикуется и отражается тяжелая судьба безвинного народа, которые стали жертвами сталинского режима. Писатель обратился к народной легенде для раскрытия образа Сталина, через образ Чингизхана. В произведений образ Тансыкбаева применятся для раскрытия образов людей, которые ради собственного нажива использовали судьбы народа. Абуталип, Эрдене, Догуланг – они жертвы правительства. Несмотря ни на что, они не отреклись от своих убеждений, стояли на смерть ради справедливости. В статье говорится о не достижении своей цели Тансыкбаева, о не покорении Чингизханом Запада, о том, что Чингизхан потерял всю свою силу и удача его покидает. Ключевые слова: власть, образ, демократия, герой, легенда, идея, художественное размышление.. Annotation. The problem of the government, which Ch. Aitmatov could not reveal in the novel “And the day lasts more than a century”is clearly shown in the works “White cloud of Genghis Khan” created during the democracy as a continuation of the title work. In this work criticized and reflected the heavy fate of innocent people who were the victims of the Stalinist regime. The writer appealed to the folk legend to reveal the image of Genghis Khan the writer conveys the image of Stalin. In the work (composition) the image of Tansykbaev will be used to reveal the images of people who used the people’s destinies for their own profit . Abutalip, Erdene, Doulan-they are the victims of government. No matter what, they didn’t renounce their beliefs, stood to death for justice . The article says about not achieving the goal of Tansykbaeva, about not conguering the West by Genghis Khan and that Genghis Khan lost all his strength and good luck leaves him. Key words: power, image, democracy, hero, legend, idea, artistic reflection.


Author(s):  
Robert Louis Stevenson ◽  
Ian Duncan

Your bed shall be the moorcock’s, and your life shall be like the hunted deer’s, and ye shall sleep with your hand upon your weapons.’ Tricked out of his inheritance, shanghaied, shipwrecked off the west coast of Scotland, David Balfour finds himself fleeing for his life in the dangerous company of Jacobite outlaw and suspected assassin Alan Breck Stewart. Their unlikely friendship is put to the test as they dodge government troops across the Scottish Highlands. Set in the aftermath of the 1745 rebellion, Kidnapped transforms the Romantic historical novel into the modern thriller. Its heart-stopping scenes of cross-country pursuit, distilled to a pure intensity in Stevenson’s prose, have become a staple of adventure stories from John Buchan to Alfred Hitchcock and Ian Fleming. Kidnapped remains as exhilarating today as when it was first published in 1886. This new edition is based on the 1895 text, incorporating Stevenson’s last thoughts about the novel before his death. It includes Stevenson’s ‘Note to Kidnapped’, reprinted for the first time since 1922.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shohei Sato

AbstractThis article re-examines our understanding of modern sport. Today, various physical cultures across the world are practised under the name of sport. Almost all of these sports originated in the West and expanded to the rest of the world. However, the history of judo confounds the diffusionist model. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a Japanese educationalist amalgamated different martial arts and established judo not as a sport but as ‘a way of life’. Today it is practised globally as an Olympic sport. Focusing on the changes in its rules during this period, this article demonstrates that the globalization of judo was accompanied by a constant evolution of its character. The overall ‘sportification’ of judo took place not as a diffusion but as a convergence – a point that is pertinent to the understanding of the global sportification of physical cultures, and also the standardization of cultures in modern times.


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