Studies of the Han Dynasty Fu in the English-speaking World:History and Current Situation
As a literary genre characterized by the use of rhythmic language,fu was as popular throughout the Han dynasty as poetry would late become in the Tang dynasty and ci lyric in the Song dynasty.As such,fu has been attracting much attention from both the translators and the scholars of classical Chinese literature in the English-speaking world,and yet their productive efforts in making this ancient Chinese genre accessible to non-Chinese readers remain largely unknown in China.Having collected all the available English translations of and English-based scholarly works on the Han-dynasty fu,this paper subjects the history of fu translation in English-speaking countries,including the source texts selected,the translators involved,and the channels of publication and distribution used,to a comprehensive examination.Three approaches,based respectively on the foundational assumption of translation as documentation,translation as literature,and translation as a unique way of studying classics,are adopted for the examination.A close analysis of the data collected reveals not just the features and the values of English renditions of fu,but also what still falls short in its translation and what has caused the problems.The findings are expected to promote reflections not just on English translation and studies of fu,but also on comparative studies of Chinese classics in general.
fuliterary genrethe Han DynastyEnglish translationtranslation history
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
