Day 2
Thurs. Aug. 24
Talking about “context” in Chinese
Context and genre
Translating a note on the fridge
Homework:
➤ (Optional) try your hand at translating “This is Just to Say…”
If you’re interested, try creating your own Chinese translation of William Carlos Williams’ “This is Just to Say…” You will find the possible versions we generated in class right here. Needless to say, there are probably many existing Chinese translations online for you to consult. If you do this, please share your version with us by uploading it to the folder “3-(optional) This Is Just to Say translations!”
➤ Translate “Ad” by Kenneth Fearing
This poem, written in 1938 by the American poet Kenneth Fearing, “borrows” the language of help-wanted ads (招聘广告) with an ironic effect. Work with your assigned classmates to translate it into Chinese:
Group 1: 颜辰钊 Chenzhao, 何思樾 Hester, 王睿宁 Jonathan
Group 2: 邹梓龙 Simon, 刘姝彤 Shutong, Isaiah Hu
Group 3: 邱卫健 Jason Qiu, 邬一禛 Zoey, 廖天惠 Tianhui
Group 4: 钟育哲 Yuzhe, 凌嘉琪 Minara, 蕭智瑞 Zack
The role of the more confident (“native”) English speakers in the group should be to help the other students understand the nuances of the English text. The role of the more confident Chinese speakers should be to render the poem into Chinese in such a way that it feels both like a poem and a help-wanted ad.
Your group should submit its translation (one translation per group) to me privately by WeChat or email. Once I receive them, I will upload them to SharePoint so we can all compare versions.
➤ Read the “Translation Challenge menu” and submit your preferences
Read the directions on this handout carefully, then browse the descriptions of the translation challenges and the texts to translate. (View the texts by clicking on the links. The folder containing all the texts is here.)
Then fill out the form “Translation challenge preferences.” Rate the challenges from 1 to 16, with “1” being “most interested” and “16” being “least interested.” Send me your preference sheet privately (by WeChat or email). I will assign you to groups based on your interests and language competencies.
➤ Read Beginning of “Paradise temple”
Read the first seven paragraphs of the short story 《西天寺》by Lu Min 鲁敏 with its English translation by Brendan O’Kane. Ask you read, ask yourself:
In this translation, what is lost?
What is gained (“added in”)?
What translation choices are interesting or surprising?
Be ready to share one specific example (a specific sentence) of each of these things: something lost, something gained, and an interesting or surprising choice.
➤ Supplementary reading
The chapter 《无用之用，其乐无穷》 in 《翻译之镜》by 王岫庐 contains some interesting insights about the “Plums in the Icebox” exercise we did in class. (Full disclosure: I got the idea from reading this chapter!) You might find it interesting to read. (Chinese learners: I recommend just skimming over the academic parts and reading the description of the exercise itself.)
