The always whimiscal Beijing Review this month extolls the importance of translators in bridging the cultural gap between East and West. Given the stilted nature of the Review’s English-language articles, we were all wondering when they’d notice how important a good translator can be, but I digress:
The harmonious coexistence of different nations owes much to translation work, which at its best is able to remove linguistic barriers and facilitate communication between societies, cultures, regions and countries. The result of successful communication is inspiring, allowing new thoughts, wisdom and perspectives to seep into society.
Previously, China has experienced three main upsurges in its translation history: the surge of Buddhist sutra translation that began during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) and continued through the Tang and Song dynasties (AD 618-1279), the sci-tech document translation work that took place in the early 17th century during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and the translation of Western Studies between the Opium War and the May 4 Movement (1840-1919). All three periods have one thing in common: these translations played a leading role in the cultural and ideological progress of their respective eras.
Since the introduction of China’s reform and opening-up policies 30 years ago, translation in China has experienced a fourth upsurge, unmatched in its scale, quality or contribution to the country. Translation is no longer simply an instrument for conducting foreign affairs, or the preserve of literature and theoretical studies. It has also played a central role in the political, economic, cultural, scientific, technological and military domains. Translations provide a bridge in every sense for exchanges between China and the rest of the world.
All true as well as it goes, but it seems that now more than ever (can anyone guess why?) a few good men/women are needed to step forward and rescue the lost with translation:
The Olympics provide an example of the demand for translators major international events can create. Over 100 professional translators are needed for the Games in Beijing, says an official from the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, and over 7,000 reports and speeches are waiting to be translated. Some 150 interpreters in over 140 languages are required for press conferences and award-issuing ceremonies. Needless to say, there will also be a big demand for translators to deal with the huge influx of foreign delegations and tourists during the event.
Which would be fine…except the translation community of Beijing is dwindling by the day as their visas go unrenewed. Some of the best translators–including, for my money, THE best translator, have been forced to take unexpected and expensive visa holidays, and a few won’t be returning until after the games.
Ah, Beijing Review, thy name is whimsy, thy need is irony.
19 responses so far ↓
1 Dan // Jun 27, 2008 at 12:39 am
Damn. I thought you were going to explain the TV sh0w Lost, by drawing from Chinese history.
2 Jeremiah // Jun 27, 2008 at 6:10 am
Dan,
Sorry. You know, I’ve never seen Lost. I tend to LIKE shows like that, and I don’t have the time to get sucked into another one.
To paraphrase (very loosely) Confucius: let me understand my own confusing amorphous reality before I attempt to decipher JJ Abram’s confusing, amorphous reality.
3 peony // Jun 27, 2008 at 9:29 am
OK, I am intrigued about who you think is The best translator– especially since I suspect that person will turn out to be an interpretor! If you ever are unblocked, I responded to this at my place.
PS: I also thought you were going to deconstruct the TV show Lost…
4 Jeremiah // Jun 27, 2008 at 9:35 am
Admittedly, this was a bit of an inside joke here in Beijing…
but there is a group of translators here (the same bunch who run the Paper Republic blog) who, while young, are becoming quite a force in Chinese literary translation.
Of that group, the consensus is that Brendan O’Kane, a bit of prodigy really, is The Man. Brendan is currently in the US on a little visa holiday and we’re hoping he’s back in the capital very soon.
5 Cao Meng De // Jun 27, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised if Brendan is indeed the best translator. He is the only expat on Peking Duck who gets my alias. Plus he also thinks the ole Tom Friedman is bit of a doddering fool. A sharp young man, he is.
6 Lindel // Jun 28, 2008 at 4:18 am
Others expected a reference to the move Lost in Translation. I enjoyed the movie, the title did not quite match the story. Seemed more about separation by gender, age, culture, language etc and then making connections across the separation. Except exeryone is translating everyday from someone else’s point of view to their own.
I would suggest that more translators is not called for, not more specialists, but a broading of ability among the commoners.
In Yangshuo an american tourist can be surrounded by middle school students learning english, but a chinese tourist in arkansas would be hard pressed to find anyone who knew anything about chinese at all.
With the widespread study of english, others are gaining understanding of us, while we are failing to reciprocate to the same degree from our side of the the cultural divide.
7 chriswaugh_bj // Jun 28, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Good point, Lindel. And yes, we certainly do need more people in Anglo countries to start learning foreign languages- and not just Chinese.
Trouble is there’s a damn sight more to translation than simply speaking two languages. That’s why Brendan is considered to be such a prodigy- the man has a particular genius that is surprisingly rare in even the most poly of glots.
What we need is both a broadening of the base and more specialists.
8 Lindel // Jun 29, 2008 at 10:45 am
I don’t know Brendan. I am not rendering any judgement on him at all.
I am aware of the concept of translation and also understand that effective translation can require unique skills to render a translation that does justice to the meaning of the original text and is more than just a literal word for word or sentence by sentence translation.
Every summer here in DC a fresh cadre of advance degrees from Georgetown, GWU, SAIS, AMU, and elsewhere descend upon the government, the NGO’s, the non-profits, and various institutions, each and every one excitedly informs anyone listening that they are a brilliant prodigy and are anxious to get started in their first real job as Secretary of State formulating policy and running the world.
I believe you that Brendan’s skill in translation is deserving of the term prodigy.
9 Jeremiah // Jun 30, 2008 at 3:34 pm
One thing worth mentioning, and this is something Brendan himself is fond of saying, is that too many translators are skilled in reading the original language, but not nearly as well in writing the target language. I do a bit of translation myself, mostly for research purposes where accuracy trumps beauty, but I can definitely see where an expansive vocabulary and the ability to match meaning, context, and syntax can be quite a challenging problem. Kudos to those who do it for a living.
10 peony@ puragtorio // Jun 30, 2008 at 3:58 pm
It is exactly that.
A translator’s career is made or broken by the quality of the language she is translating into (in my case that would be english)… I have been a translator for most of my entire adult life and lately I’ve started to feel the talk is like something Dante dreamed up sinners doing in hell– my only question is which Circle?
I just uploaded my 2nd post on the subject at my place if you have time.
11 Jeremiah // Jun 30, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Peony,
I turned on my proxy and was finally able to read the post but didn’t see a place to comment, so I am doing so here. I think what you wrote is all very true and put better than I, a mere translation dilletante, could ever muster.
Totally off topic, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about neologisms from Japan, words like 卫生 that had meanings in classical Chinese but were used by Japanese translators to render foreign concepts into Japanese in the late 19th century/early 20th century and which were then reimported back into China. I use ‘weisheng’ as one example if only because I recently finished re-reading Ruth Rogaski’s book ‘Hygenic Modernity,’ but the whole thing is a topic probably worth a post of its own.
12 peony@ puragtorio // Jun 30, 2008 at 4:22 pm
J– you were too fast, work came in and interrupted me before I uploaded the 2nd one. It’s up now– if you have time (its in my folder Ramblings in the Qing dynasty) if you want to check later..
There are a TON of such words like you are talking about, mostly to express “foreign” concepts like “freedom” or “fine art”; actually I just finished an entire translation for a philosophy professor here whose main point was that these foreign concepts have so completely come to inform the field of japanese art history (especially in terms of the fine arts) as to function basically as a kind of “violence” (ie cultural imperialism)
I tried to change that expression but lost that fight. I lose all my fights I’m afraid … From Japan they made their way to China. It is fascinating….
I’m still waiting for my post on my man from Italy, though
13 zuiweng // Jul 2, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Lovely post, Jeremiah.
On the subject of neologisms in modern Chinese (from Japan or otherwise) I’d like to recommend a book:
Lydia H. Liu: Translingual Practice. Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity - China, 1900-1937.- Stanford UP, 1995
Among its many other virtues it boasts several appendixes (pp. 259-378!), sorting the neologisms into different categories and annotating their origins and their sometimes complex ways into Chinese, e.g. there is a category for neologisms derived from Missionary-Chinese texts, one for “kanji terms coined by the Japanese using Chinese characters to translate European words”, one for “kanji terms that arrived in modern Chinese without necessarily involving European languages”, and so on. Highly recommended!
Greetings,
Sulishan Zuiweng
14 Jeremiah // Jul 3, 2008 at 7:20 am
Zuiweng,
Thanks for stopping by! I actually wrote a little post on Lydia Liu’s book a couple of years ago. It’s a good book for discussing issues of translation, as a historian I had my quibbles with it, but I agree that it is worth reading.
Cheers.
15 zuiweng // Jul 3, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Jeremiah,
same author, different book, I’m afraid.
Just read your post on Lydia Liu’s Clash of Empires and I must say that charges of excessive PoMoLitCrit jargon usage could also be leveled at Translingual Practice, but I always got so caught up in the adventures of words, as documented in the appendixes, that I didn’t mind (even though I usually break out in a rash at the mere mention of Derrida et.al.).
Best regards.
16 wu ming // Jul 11, 2008 at 7:11 am
LOST is phenomenal. i highly recommend it, having just burned through the first 3 seasons on DVD.
17 Jeremiah // Jul 11, 2008 at 7:19 am
Yeah, that’s what I hear and it’s available free here through the various file sharing web sites.
Here’s the point: Given my previous addiction to The West Wing, Sopranos, Entourage, and a few other serial dramas/comedies, I’m trying to avoid getting hooked on any more in the interest of productivity.
That said: Lost is at the top of my list, as is The Wire.
18 peony // Jul 11, 2008 at 7:23 am
Well, I must chime in that LOST is different. I didn’t watch American TV for ten years– not once. And then I watched Lost!! You would love it! I haven’t seen Season 3 yet, though.
19 wu ming // Jul 12, 2008 at 3:37 am
do an exchange: one addictive show for another. i hear good things about the wire, but haven’t started renting it for the same reasons.
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