元雜劇的英語譯介、改編與接受研究

Abstract

The history of the translation, adaptation, and reception of Yuan zaju has been nearly 300 years, leaving a large volume of texts, documents, and historical-cultural information. Although scholars from home and abroad have made some important achievements in this field, they are far from presenting the richness and in-depth facets of this field. Regarding dissemination forms and carriers, the English translation of Yuan zaju travels around the world mainly in three ways: in the form of original Chinese texts, in the form of translation and introduction texts, and in the form of textual adaptation and theatrical adaptation. Through translation, adaptation, and criticism, Yuan zaju has been deeply involved in the history of cultural and ideological exchanges between China and the West since modern times and plays a significant role in writing the history of Chinese literature and Chinese drama.

By adopting the combined research methods of description and interpretation, and comparative study, this thesis explores the original Chinese texts, English translations, adaptations, theatrical performances, and dramatic critiques of works related to Yuan zaju. In this thesis, an in-depth study of the translation, dissemination, and reception of Yuan zaju in the English world is carried out under the investigation of the literary history writing, translation history, and the history of Sino-Western social-cultural exchanges.

Chapter one divides the history of the English translation of Yuan zaju into two stages. Before the 1930s is the early stage. The French and German translations thoroughly influenced the English translation in this period, and there appeared little consciousness of independence in selecting and introducing the original Chinese scripts. The 1930s and onward belong to the second stage, during which the English translation of Yuan zaju presented noticeable features of self-consciousness and independence. This chapter classifies the English translation texts of Yuan zaju into three categories and comprehensively evaluates these texts’ material carriers and forms. The first category is the English translation of the plays, including plays translated directly into English according to their Chinese scripts and those re-translations from other European languages. The second is the English translation and introduction texts, including excerpt translation, selected translation, and synopsis translation. The third is the English adaptions, including the texts published or unpublished, works in the form of reading or performing, and cross-genre adaptations.

Chapter two takes the subject of the English translation and introduction of Yuan zaju as the object, such as John Francis Davis, Willian Dolby, Dale R. Johnson, Stephen West, and Wilt Idema, to explore their translation purposes, strategies, characteristics, and their contributions in the history of Sinology and intellectual history. John Francis Davis intends to understand the customs and life of Chinese society through the translation of Chinese drama; therefore, his translation emphasizes on continuity of the plots and the coherence in story-telling to cater to the taste of Western readers. Dolby’s translation activities are closely related to his history writing of Chinese drama. His translations serve the argument on the essential features and representative dramatic works of his History of Chinese Drama. West and Idema’s translation activities, guided by cutting-edge academic horizons, emphasize discussing the historical value and social-cultural significance of the dramatic scripts and documents. Therefore, their translation shows a prominent feature of the thematic study. In addition, this chapter makes a comparative study of three different English versions of Han gong qiu to highlight the importance of the equivalence of the stylistic form, textual structure, and poetic regulations during the English translation process of the Yuan zaju and to present the significance of disseminating the aesthetic and cultural values of the traditional Chinese drama through translation.

The third chapter discusses the rich and diverse adaptation forms of Yuan zaju and divides all types of cross-genre and cross-media works into three categories for a reasonable evaluation and analysis. The first category is the dramatic adaptation for reading; the second is the theatrical adaptation for stage performance; the third is the textual adaptation of non-dramatic genres. The relevant adapted works all show the challenge to the potential recognition that the original text enjoys more priority or authority. The adapted works present the “re-creation” structure and their cross-cultural significance in adapting the English versions of Yuan zaju. All the adaptation forms of Yuan zaju constitute the “growth of the existence” of the original Chinese scripts and their English translations.

Concerning the four streams of the dissemination and reception of Yuan zaju in the English-speaking world, chapter four studies the dramatic ideas, literary trends, and historical events that play an essential role within these streams. First, this thesis presents the basic facts of the reception history and reexamines the specific and representative viewpoints. Secondly, it analyzes these representative critical viewpoints and selects the norms of European classical drama, the concept of “tragedy” and the prevailing concept of “melodrama” in the Victorian era of England to present how these influential concepts played as the critical and receptive context in the overseas dissemination and reception of Yuan zaju. Thirdly, taking the receptive context of the English translation of Lao sheng’er as an example, this chapter presents the complex causes of the cross-cultural dissemination of Yuan zaju and reflects on the problems faced in today’s Chinese drama translation and cross-cultural communication.

Chapter five discusses the interaction and exchange of the English translation and study of Yuan zaju in the “history writing of Chinese literature and Chinese drama.” Through the circulation of the original Chinese scripts and their English translations, Yuan zaju with dubious literary status has been “disembedded” from the traditional Chinese literature; however, under the narrative of the novel-drama centric view, the Western writers have re-embedded Yuan zaju as a representative genre in their writings of the history of Chinese literature and Chinese drama. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the practice of Chinese intellectual elites in writing the history of Chinese literature was deeply influenced by the novel-drama- centric view. So, Yuan zaju gained a higher literary status in native writings of Chinese literary history. In the transition from traditional China to modern China, the process of “disembedding” and “re-embedding” in literary history writing has objectively promoted the literary and academic status of Yuan zaju and traditional Chinese drama.

This thesis reexamines the history of translation, adaptation, and reception of Yuan zaju and the exchange and mutual illumination between Chinese and Western literary history. Based on existing studies, this thesis expands the understanding of the history of Western Sinology and presents the landscape and characteristics of the English translation history of Yuan zaju. By placing the English translations and introduction of Yuan zaju in the broad cross-cultural “literary travel” space, this research reflects on the vicissitude of the concept of Chinese literary historiography and the evaluation of the literary status of Yuan zaju between China and the West based on comparative studies. Generally speaking, this thesis provides an empirical example and reference for the heatedly discussed academic and cultural topics, such as the foreign translation of Chinese cultural classics and the mutual illumination between Chinese and Western civilizations.

Date of Award	2 Nov 2023
Original language	Chinese (Traditional)
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Hok Yin CHAN (Supervisor) & Yun Cheng (External Supervisor)