Original title: The new Chinese translation of the seven-volume “Reminiscence of Things Past” was launched, and many foreign literary works were revised and republished (quote)
Classic retranslation and re-version, is it still necessary (topic)
Wen Wei Po reporter Xu Yang
A number of foreign literary classics have been re-translated and re-published, which has attracted the attention of the industry: the new Chinese translation project of Proust’s “Reminiscence of Things Past” was launched by CITIC Publishing Group, and will be published successively in ten years. A new translation independently completed by the author; the commemorative edition of “Reminiscence of Things Past” from Yilin Publishing House has recently appeared, with a newly revised translation and upgraded binding design, which has attracted the attention of literature lovers and made online reservations for “hands-on speed”.
It is not difficult to find that there are dozens or even nearly a hundred Chinese translations of long-selling world classics, which makes readers confused. Is it still necessary to retranslate the classics? The reporter interviewed a number of people in the industry, and they believed that “it is necessary and promising.” “Retranslation is not a repetition in the literal sense, just change the cover, but calls for translation results that have made achievements, provide new value, and new aesthetics.” Critic Pan Kaixiong said that foreign literary classics that have entered the public edition are selected as the topic of “repeated publication”. Li usually accounts for the highest number of varieties, but the industry opposes behaviors such as “flocking to follow suit or even collage plagiarism”. Instead, it hopes that more translators will improve the quality of translations in a down-to-earth manner, and complete a new round of recommendation and promotion of classics.
Experts said that with the development of the times, the number of translated works has increased exponentially, and the number of people who know foreign languages has also increased year-on-year. However, there are not many but few retranslations and reprints of literary classics with real quality. Especially the famous works that have entered the public edition are like a vast ocean, and the retranslation of the famous works can make the text brighter and brighter over time.
Awaken the enlightenment of the great works of a hundred years ago to the present, so that the classics can be read and updated frequently
“Life is too short, but Proust is too long.” This year marks the 100th anniversary of Proust’s death. “In Search of Things Past” consists of seven volumes. The unique way of expressing the language makes it very difficult to translate the work, which discourages many translators.
In the 1980s, the only full translation in the Chinese world, “Reminiscence of Things Past”, was launched, which gathered the strength of the entire domestic French literary translation circle at that time. Li Hengji, Gui Yufang, Xu Yuanchong, Xu Jun and other translators discussed it many times. Just the title of the book has been considered for a long time, and the summary of each volume, the list of translations of names and places, and the annotations of each volume have also been formulated and printed;
The full translation was completed in three years from 1989 to 1991, filling a gap in Chinese publishing history. Since then, two translators, Zhou Kexi and Xu Hejin, respectively contributed two sets of unfinished translations (three volumes and four volumes), but no other translations appeared. Neighboring countries Japan and South Korea have each published five or six full translations of “Reminiscing about Things Past”.
Right now, Kong Qian, a lecturer in the French Department of Nanjing Normal University and winner of the Newcomer Award of the Fu Lei Translation Award, will be the translator of the new Chinese version of “Reminiscences of Things Past”.
Both are senior French translators, Xu Jun, a senior professor of liberal arts at Zhejiang University, and Dong Qiang, a professor of French at Peking University, believe that after so many years of continuous reading and understanding of Proust, it is willing to spend at least ten years to find a suitable young translator. Devotion is exciting. “Compared with the previous efforts of more than a dozen translators with different translation styles, one translator is relatively better able to maintain the unity of the language style of the target text as a whole.”
The industry believes that perfect literary translation does not exist, and even the translations of predecessors may have regrets, such as misunderstandings, incompatibility between Chinese and foreign languages, and a sense of lag between vocabulary and current cognition. Every retranslation and revision, with varying degrees of revision, is to further awaken the inspiration of the classics to the present.
In order to ensure the quality and academic level of the new translation of the “Proust Project”, especially “Reminiscence of Things Past”, Xu Jun, Yu Zhongxian, Dong Qiang, Yuan Xiaoyi and other scholars and translators will form an “Academic Advisory Group” to provide youth Translator “Escort”. The project is also supported by Jean-Yves Tatier, editor-in-chief of “Reminiscence of Things Past” edition of “Seven Stars Library” of French Gallimard Publishing House, and will give academic guidance.
The presence of “translation criticism” enhances the “added value” of reading experience
At the same time as the retranslation of the classics, many foreign literary works have also been revised and republished. The reporter noticed that when reprinting, publishers often pay more attention to improving the “added value” of readers’ reading experience, adding expert reading guides and online and offline seminars, and allowing “translation criticism” accompanying the text to be present, which is more helpful for young netizens to understand classic.
For example, the commemorative edition of “Reminiscence of Things Past” further improved the quality of the translation. Some living translators revised and polished the translation, and some translators made suggestions for translation optimization; unified proper nouns before and after, and adjusted some annotations; The translated title of the whole book has been modified according to the current norms. For example, the title of the fourth volume was changed from “Sodom and Gomorrah” to “Sodom and Gomorrah”; the relationship between characters has also been reorganized.
In addition to the revision of the internal text, Yu Zhong, a translator and French literature research expert, first recorded an audio interpretation for the new edition, which lasted about two hours, and conducted a comprehensive analysis of the content and style of the work. Readers can scan the QR code to listen to it for free. The new edition adds 28 color illustrations, all of which are paintings mentioned in “Reminiscing about Things Past”. The cutting-edge designer Shanchuan optimizes the page layout, emphasizes the bright and warm qualities of Proust’s works, and restores the delicate emotions of the novel. The seven volumes come in exquisite envelopes, and a separate volume and exlibris are presented as gifts.
The “Proust Project” is not only a heavyweight translation project, but also a literary cross-border action. In the next ten years, as the new translations of “Reminiscence of Things Past” are published one after another, the publisher will plan a series of activities such as the International Proust Symposium, Cross-Border Art Exhibition, etc., to provide new touches and inspirations for contemporary literature.
Cultural and creative peripherals also make classic texts more lifelike. Shanghai Translation Publishing House launched a new hardcover edition of Woolf’s anthology series, and developed exquisite cultural creations such as brass ornaments and book clips, which were commented by netizens as “growth in my aesthetics”. This set of essays is in a small format, using a retro book jacket that pays tribute to Woolf’s sister Vanessa Bell, and the layout is clear and pleasing to the eye. Cotton book bags, brass lacquer ornaments, brass book holders decorated with Woolf’s abstracts, writer commemorative bronze medals and other cultural and creative peripherals, so that more people start a book journey and get closer to the woman writer of stream of consciousness heart.