Detailed analysis of the translation strategies used by the Yangs

The history of translations of Lu Xun’s short stories into English reveals a clear pattern of growth and acceptability as the popularity of Lu Xun’s works spread in the English-speaking world. Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang made outstanding contributions to Lu Xun’s worldwide recognition. They took the lead in translating all 33 short stories in three collections. Then faithful and smooth translation style won great popularity among English readers. The value of their translations was not just in providing reading material for their readers; then translations have also been used as a vital resource for future translators in retranslation. Lyell (1990, p. xlii) claimed that the Yangs’ four volumes of Selected Works of Lu Hsun were “the first attempt at a systematic introduction to Lu Xun in English”. Denton (1993, p. 175) commented that “their translation is both accurate and smooth.” and Ge (1981. p. 29), the renowned Chinese translator, offered these words of praise: “When translating Lu Xun’s works from English to the third language, most foreign translators use the Yangs’ as the base version. From this perspective alone, they have made an exceptional contribution.”

First employed by the Foreign Languages Press in 1952, Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang started hanslating Lu Xun’s works in 1953. Republications of published materials were used by the Yangs. In every translation they republished, they revised the preceding version - its wording, its tenses and its punctuation. For example, in translating Û Û K life s¹1⁴ l"J W S Hj l'ADt, fêîï

-jSÎW, êW.WW; aHlBWra

M, (Lu. 2003), the translation in the 1972

version "From the pale, lowering evening clouds issue frequent flashes of lightning, followed by a rumbling sound of firecrackers celebrating the departure of the Hearth God; while nearer by, the fire crackers explode even more violently, and before the deafening report dies away the air is filled with a faint smell of powder" was revised to “Intermittent flashes from pallid, lowering evening clouds are followed by the rumbles of crackers bidding farewell to the Hearth God and, before the deafening reports of the bigger bangs close at hand have died away, the air is filled with faint whiffs of gunpowder” in the publication in 1980 - the later translation is more compact and flexible in structure and more accurate in wording. Then^- last revision was published in 1981. The remainder of this study uses the 1981 version of the Yangs’ translations to illustrate then^- translation methods: literal translation, literal translation with footnotes, down-playing and omission.

Distinctive char acteristics of the Yangs’ translations

This section of the chapter examines three situations that define the characteristics of the Yangs’ translations.

Literal translation as the main method

Working for the Foreign Languages Press as in-house tr anslators, the Yangs were tasked with translating Lu Xun's collected stories for the purpose of "spreading Chinese culture.” With a writing philosophy based on “faithfulness and fluency,” the Yangs adopted literal translation as the main method to ensure that the meaning of the original writing would not be distorted. Examples are provided below. The use of bold text in the examples is my emphasis.

Example: WJ

AWT

(Lu, 2018, p. 82)

However, the truth of the proverb “misfortune may prove a blessing in disguise” was shown when Air Q was unfortunate enough to win and almost suffered defeat in the end. (Lu, 1981)

This extracted passage describes Air Q, who seldom won in gambling and lost the money immediately. In the English language, “every cloud has its silver lining” is a saying that encourages people to remain hopeful even in hard times. However, the Yangs did not apply the English saying to translate “SfiijjjiOn^h-fia” but used the phrase “misfortune may prove a blessing in disguise and vice versa,” which refers to a Daoist Chinese saying: "Good fortune follows upon disaster; disaster lurks within good fortune.” Because of their deep and rich knowledge of both Chinese and English languages and cultures, the Yangs were able to convey the nuances of Chinese philosophy to the readers in then^- translations.

Example: in

(Lu, 2018, p. 87)

If the monk paws you, why can’t I?

(Lu, 1981, p. 79)

All Q. having been beaten soundly by the Bogus Foreign Devil, was considering venting his anger on a third person, when a little nun from the Convent of Quiet Self-Improvement came walking towards him. He cursed the little nun for a while and pinched her bald head. When the nun fought back. All Q retorted "If the monk paws you, why can’t I?” The Yangs’ translation keeps the same rhetorical question and the same image of "monk" used in the source text to show Ah Q’s justification of his acts. According to Buddhist teachings, monks were forbidden to touch a woman’s head. Ah Q assumed that even monks could touch a nun’s head, so "why can’t I?” The translation faithfully portrays All Q’s vulgarity. The English proverb “Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander” could basically convey All Q’s self-justification, but it would not be as effective as the use of the questioning expression in showing All Q’s psychological activity.

In addition, the word "monk’’ could express a Buddhist taboo in Chinese culture. From the choice of diction and the use of rhetoric, the Yangs showed their preference for literal translation and their intention to remain loyal to the source text. Yang Xianyi (1998, pp. 83-84) was explicit about this: “the top principle as I insist, is to avoid any addition or omission on the source text. It is inappropriate to translate ‘a flower’ to ‘a rose flower,’ or to translate ‘a red flower’ to ‘a flower.’” To him, faithfulness in translation was the primary and dominant principle.

Xin. Ma, & Wu (2018. p. 223) argued that

it was out of then own admiration of Lu Xun and a close study of his works that Yang Xianyi and his wife translated Lu Xun. They had exquisite and accurate understanding of Lu Xun’s thought and language features, and this ensured the accurateness in language use, means of rhetoric and cultural conversion.