On Translation-enabled Cultural Interpretation and Transmission:With Bazin's French Translation of Shui Hu Zhuan(Water Margin)as a Case in Point
In 1850,French sinologist Antoine-Pierre-Louis Bazin published the first abridged French translation of Shui Hu Zhuan(Water Margin),which is also the classical Chinese novel's first extensive rendition into a Western language.Bazin researched into the original while translating it,simultaneously aiming at revealing its literary qualities,highlighting its cultural and historical values and providing references for the pedagogy of vernacular Mandarin in Europe.As a result,three features stand out concerning the cultural transmission his French version was able to achieve.First,Bazin resorted to historical research methods to verify the authenticity of the cultural descriptions in the source text and was thus able to represent many cultural details with precision.Secondly,Bazin made judicious use of additions,rewritings and inserted comments in his translation so as to better convey to his readers his understanding of the Chinese culture.Thirdly,by way of a vivid and fluent style of writing,Bazin was able even to impart between the lines of his translation subtle Chinese cultural messages,thus succeeded in achieving a seamless integration of literary and cultural transmission.
Shui Hu ZhuanChinese-French translationBazincultural transmissiontranslation of classical Chinese literature
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