The change of the name of Alai’s Chenai Luoding when translated into English may be a starting point for us to think about the positionality of Alai’s writing. According to the Chinese name “Chenai Luoding”, the English name should be “the Dust Has Settled”, which is also the title of the last chapter, telling the death of the protagonist. With the “full stop” of the protagonist and his interesting experiences during his lifetime as a prince of a Tibetan chief, readers could easily understand the name “the dust has settled ” as a Buddhist karmic metaphor for the nihility of the life. However, in the English version, the book’s name is changed as “the Red Poppies”, the plant for making opium, which is also a crucial clue of the novel. Coaxed …show more content…
Whether the floating and unsettled dust, or the psychedelic red poppies, all point to a nihilism toward life. Maybe the only difference is that for the original name, readers would understand it until finishing the homonymic last chapter, but for the translated name, western reader would be attracted and infected by the dazzling and exotic image of red poppies before reading this book, and then start reading with an “Orientalist” reading expectation. From the translators’ perspective, is it an intention to reinforce the metaphor of exoticism and allurement for western readers? Furthermore, when the protagonist’s life comes to an end in the last chapter, obtaining liberation from the phantom of life, will western readers get liberation from the phantom of the “Orientalism” reading of this …show more content…
Genealogically speaking, “Ziming Zhong”, as a word/knowledge, comes into being in the encounter of the “West” and the “East” (the Han) in pre-modern period. Beneath this word lies a translation structure of “West/East”, and for its spread into interior mainland area, I can only imagine it by the second translation structure of “Han/Tibetan”, or specifically speaking, “Civilization/Barbarian”. However, in the novel, the Tibetan chief receives the “Ziming Zhong” directly from the western missionary, and the word “Ziming Zhong” is used naturally in Alai’s writing. Therefore, I think that my “odd feeling” comes from the absence or suspension of the Han as an intermediary of language and knowledge. Furthermore, I would rather argue that it is exactly the contradiction in Alai’s writing that causes this odd feeling to readers like me. Alai writes in Chinese, which means that he has already taken the position of the Chinese language as a translation of the unique encounter between the “West” and the Tibetan. However, this encounter, miniaturized as the subtle “Ziming Zhong”, which involves no Chinese, becomes untellable, or untranslatable for Alai, or intelligible for other “Chinese” readers unless Alai writes it in Chinese. From this example, I would like to argue that, not only our reading, but also Alai’s writing is trapped into hegemony of Chinese in the context of “Chinese literature”
Although still adopting a traditional literary form, the poetry writing can be regarded as an example of the heterogeneity and border-crossing of cultural-scape in globalization period. Those poems were produced under the brunt of the international mobility that is propelled by the capitalist globalization, but precisely and paradoxically, in a suspending situation caused by national regulation, a “state of exception” of this mobility. The juxtaposition of the frustration on foreign life and the flare of nationalist emotion (with the rhetoric emulating ancient barbarian-expelling heroes), may imply a paradoxical consequence in globalization: the international mobility undergirding the national awareness instead of undermining it. Following this thread, the publication of this kind of poetry in 1930s, the oblivion of it after war, and the subsequent re-discovery, recognition, and research of it can be all taken as symptomatic traces of the localization, articulation, and transformation of national consciousness (both as “Chinese” and “American”) in the continuous globalization. Needless to say, those poems are deeply flawed in terms of aesthetics due to the rather poor literacy of their authors. It would be invoking to put these poems beside those “high art” works also produced in globalization context, such as the works on the Eiffel Tower and the London fog by Huang Zunxian (黄遵宪), a late Qin intellectual caught in between the East and the West, the
Searing the mind with stunning images while seducing with radiant prose, this brilliant first novel is a story of damaged lives and the indestructibility of the human spirit. It speaks about loss, about the urgency, pain and ultimate healing power of memory, andabout the redemptive power of love. Its characters come to understand the
Through careful practice of intertextuality (the shaping of one text's meaning through reference or application of a previous text) and narrative experimentation in Crossing the Mangrove, Conde demonstrates that objectivity in every sense is impossible. Using the French language is not an act of capitulation to the colonizer and acceptance of all things “French” in the same way that one person’s retelling of an event is not the ultimate truth. In Crossing the Mangrove, Conde presents the strange and dark history of Francis Sancher from multiple perspectives and simultaneously works on aspects of the Western literary canon (specifically, William Faulkner). This emphasis on literary and real-life incoherency is iterated by the symbolic motif of trees and their roots throughout the novel. In analyzing Crossing the Mangrove, it is evident that the amalgamation of intertextuality, shifting narrative perspectives, and the motif of trees and their roots contextualizes the fragmented nature of diasporic identity.
Cao Xueqin’s Story of the Stone is a classic in Chinese literature, showcasing the life and exploits of the wealthy Jia clan during the feudal era. Through Cao’s depiction, the reader is afforded a glimpse into the customs and lifestyle of the time. Chinese mode of thought is depicted as it occurred in daily life, with the coexisting beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism. While the positive aspects of both ideologies are presented, Cao ultimately depicts Taoism as the paramount, essential system of belief that guides the character Bao-yu to his eventual enlightenment.
The period that followed the Han dynasty was known as the Warring States Period, during which China suffered frequent invasions by nomads from Central Asia. The documents of “The Four Noble Truths” (Doc1) and Zhi Dun (Doc2) demonstrate the initial compatibility of Buddhism with the time period. The Buddhist sermon in the Four Noble Truths outlines the many steps in the path of stopping all misery, and the Zhi Dun document demonstrates the Chinese peoples’ embracing this form of salvation as a response to putting control in their own hands. If they could not control the nomadic invaders, at least they could follow many rituals with the promise of release from the material world through Nirvana. However, the sermon preached by Buddha was for a large audience, meaning it had to have a mass appeal toward the lower castes in order to reconcile them with their suffering (Doc1). Zhi Dun expressed a political statement, which served a purpose of conveying to the people a sense of sanctuary (Doc2). Being from the point of view of an upper class scholar who was wealthier than those of lower classes, documen...
China has gone through many changes in its history. Changes include economic, political, and social. In the early 1500 and throughout history, mostly all social classes followed Confucianism. Confucianism is a type of religion based on an ideal society (Chang 2012, 22). China was molded though Confucianism but that slowly deteriorated as years went on. One main group that has been a main part in these changes is the Chinese literati. The Chinese literati include the higher-class people such as officials and scholars. The Chinese literati were the dominant social class during the 1500’s but their power slowly decreased throughout history. Throughout my paper, I will explain the Chinese literati involvement as centuries passed.
Introduction: The novel Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan follows the hapless journey of twelve Bay Area tourists destined for Burma, accompanied by the ghost of their dear friend Bibi Chen, who died under “mysterious circumstances” just before the departure. The journey continues in a downward spiral until eleven of the tourists go out on a misty lake one morning and disappear. Miss Chen, the omniscient voice of the book, is caught between two worlds and is along for this journey. It isn’t until the end of the book that readers realize many events that occur are actually a metaphor for human relations; and the central theme is that the line between reality and fantasy can be tricky to discern, and things can be vastly different from
Dinaw Mengestu’s novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is a story about an immigrant from Ethiopia named Sepha Stephanos that discovers the freedoms he travels to the United States for are not easily accessible and that sometimes you can lose yourself trying to figure out who you are. The passage that most clearly represents this notion comes as Stephanos is reflecting at the end of the novel, he says: “What was it my father used to say? A bird stuck between two branches gets bitten on both wings. I would like to add my own saying to the list now, Father: a man stuck between two worlds lives and dies alone. I have dangled and been suspended long enough” (Mengestu, 228). This paper will examine the metaphor of the two worlds Stephanos
With regard to the Han Dynasty, movement and religion seem to all relate to the “naturalistic” and anti-authoritarian ethos. At that time, Taoism is a natural characterization of the ideology ‘behind any non-Confucian or anti-conformist strains of thought, with its inherent focus on ways’ (Wang & Chanzit, 2004). It results in that it has become a deeply malleable concept which defers to scholars of religion, in ancient Chinese society, to sort out ‘the conceptual limits of Taoist religion and baldly focus on what philosophical content can be extracted from the classical exemplars: Laozi and Zhuangzi’ (Wang, 2011, pp.107). For instance, ‘The way which can be uttered, is not the eternal Way. The name which can be named, is not the ‘Eternal Name’ (Laozi., Waley & Laozi., 1998).
Author’s Techniques: Rudolfo Anaya uses many Spanish terms in this book. The reason for this is to show the culture of the characters in the novel. Also he uses imagery to explain the beauty of the llano the Spanish America. By using both these techniques in his writing, Anaya bring s the true culture of
In life, people experience different situations and live different realities. It is not illogical to say that the different journeys in life sometimes give us different ways of viewing the world. This was evident upon a closer examination and analysis of Wu Cheng’en’s “The Journey to the West”, and Mary Shelly “Frankenstein”, where the two main characters of the book, a Monkey and a creature, each have a different way of viewing life. The monkey see’s life as a journey that should be explored, while the creature has no way of exploring and sees life as something he cannot enjoy. In the end, what can be taken away from the works of literature is that no matter the journey taken, it is important to remember that one’s subjectivity, built on our experiences, determines reality.
... be translated from Japanese to English. Due to cultural barriers, those who read the translated versions of the novels fail to see the importance of names like Noboru and Tomoe, and the impact that these names have on the rest of the work. Consequently, some of the literary value of the novels is lost in the translation. By using personal names as primary sources of characterization, Endo and Mishima offer a concluding suggestion that, whenever possible, it is best to read works of literature in the language in which they were originally written.
McDougall, Bonnie. "Problems and Possibilities in Translating Contemporary Chinese Literature." The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs (1991): 37-67.
Xuanzang was a highly educated Buddhist monk from China, who in 629 C.E. made the long and treacherous journey along the Silk Road to India. His main objectives in his sixteen years away from home were fundamentally religious; he only wanted to study more complete scriptures to answer questions he had, which he deemed unsolvable in his own country. It is important to understand Xuanzang’s own position within the Chinese society and the type of situation it was in: Chinese Buddhists had many disagreements
The paths leading toward knowledge (of self, of others, of the world around us) are circuitous. Thomas Pynchon, in his novel The Crying of Lot 49, seems to attempt to lead the reader down several of these paths simultaneously in order to illustrate this point. Our reliance on symbols as efficient translators of complex notions is called into question. Beginning with the choice of symbolic or pseudo-symbolic name, Oedipa Maas, for the central character of his novel, Pynchon expands his own investigation of symbol as Oedipa also attempts to unravel the mysteries surrounding the muted horn of the Tristero.